Dubai: Abu Dhabi plays a crucial role in global aid initiatives in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, according to the foundation’s annual letter released on Thursday.
“We have a lot in common,” Bill Gates said in the annual letter. “Believing in lifting up the poor, agricultural productivity to both feed the poor, to make sure there is no food shortages and basically improving lives.”
The Foundation has set a 15-year agenda to eliminate four diseases, one of which is polio, and Africa’s ability to feed itself.
Though the Foundation tackles challenges such as extreme poverty and poor health globally, it also aims at fixing shortcomings found in the American education system.
Melinda Gates spoke about other goals to be achieved for developing countries such as cutting in half the number of deaths for children under the age of five.
According to the annual letter, 15 per cent of children who were malnourished or left untreated from standard childhood illnesses die before the age of five.
The $42 billion foundation aims to eradicate diseases such as polio, malaria and many more through provision of necessary vaccines.
In April 2013, General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Bill Gates, co-chair of the Foundation co-hosted a vaccine summit held in Abu Dhabi. The summit highlighted the importance of both vaccines and immunisation systems when achieving global child health and development goals. Witnessing India become polio-free and seeing an end to outbreaks in previously polio-free countries is a clear demonstration of the power vaccines have in changing the world.
According to the Foundation, the summit was held in Abu Dhabi to recognise the efforts made by Middle Eastern and Islamic countries with immunising children against polio and other diseases.
Speaking about the region at the summit, Bill Gates said that the foundation has worked with Dubai, Abu Dhabi and many countries in the Middle East on a variety of causes.
He pointed out that Abu Dhabi has played a major role in eradicating polio in many parts of Pakistan.
“Abu Dhabi, in particular, has been a real partner on polio, not only providing resources but also taking the great relationships they have on reaching out to get some of the top areas in Pakistan where vaccinators haven’t been able to get out to the kids,” he said.
Bill Gates left Microsoft in 2008 to work full-time at the foundation and focus on achieving the aspired goals in developing countries.
The foundation works on building partnerships, especially with Islamic countries, and expects them to continuously grow. Gates said the foundation is working with Islamic Development Bank on agriculture and health and that Islamic countries themselves are very generous donors to these causes.
They conclude in the letter the key to form effective movements for change is the participation of hardworking,informed and passionate individuals.
The Foundation, which was established in the year 2000, has reached out to countries in the past five years and works with partner organisation worldwide to of enhance health care and reduce extreme poverty.
Maria Botros is a trainee at Gulf News.
