The East African Community (EAC) Secretariat has announced that the heads of state of member states will Thursday hold a summit on Infrastructure Financing and Investment in Health in Kampala, Uganda aimed at accelerating the attainment of the objectives of the EAC Development Strategy, Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals in the infrastructure and health sectors.
According to the EAC secretariat, the joint retreat is convened at a time when the region’s ten year infrastructure priorities have transitioned from conception phase to the implementation phase.
The retreat will review the status of implementation of the priority projects including relevant policy directives, mobilization of the required financing and implementation of the resolutions proposed to address the challenges observed at the 3rd retreat back in 2014.
The occasion will also be targeting key priority projects in railways, ports and inland waterways, energy and connecting roads prioritized to decongest the cities and enhance ports logistics.
“As agreed during the 3rd retreat, the 4th retreat is expected to receive a report on the projects and programmes of the civil aviation and airports sub sectors. Further, the Heads of States will consider the strategies being developed to engage with the private sector development of these projects, the enhanced collaboration with the development partners” reads the statement.
Health Summit
According to the EAC secretariat, the first EAC heads of state summit on investment in health is the first and biggest ever event of the EAC Heads of States on matters of health.
The summit was recommended in June 2016 by the 12thSectoral Council on Health and adopted in April 2017 by the 35th Meeting of the EAC Council of Ministries.
“Convening of the event is in recognition of the fact that the EAC region is undergoing major public health transformations fueled by changing human-animal-environmental interactions, population dynamics and socio-economic development”
“The region and other middle-income regions, is experiencing a concurrent triple burden of common infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis and maternal and child health complications; non-communicable diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and cancers; and epidemic and pandemic diseases related to increasing globalization, trade and climate change” reads the statement.
During the Retreat, partner states will have an opportunity to showcase prioritized projects and engage with prospective investors for project uptakes.src igihe
The Express News
