Honorees include Lula, President of Brazil, and 10 leaders working to improve health and nutrition in their communities.
NEW YORK, USA, September 25, 2024 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, at its Goalkeepers 2024: Recipe for Progress event, honored remarkable leaders who are advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through solutions that aim to keep people healthy and nourished in a rapidly warming world.
The annual event, hosted by media personality and presenter Janet Mbugua, was held during the week of the United Nations General Assembly. It highlighted solutions to ensure better nutrition for all, enabling everyone to reach their full potential. Guests included singer, songwriter and performer Jon Batiste; Christy Turlington Burns, Founder and President of Every Mother Counts; Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Saul Guerrero Oteyza, UNICEF Senior Advisor on Financing for Child Nutrition and Development; Muhammad Ali Pate, Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister for Health and Social Welfare; and Marcus Samuelsson, world-renowned chef and award-winning philanthropist. Adriana Diaz, co-host of CBS Mornings Plus, and Francine Lacqua, anchor for Bloomberg Television, moderated the session.
“Goalkeepers is about bringing together a global community of changemakers who champion the Sustainable Development Goals to inspire leadership and keep progress going,” said Mark Suzman, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “This year, we’re focusing on the more than 400 million children who aren’t getting the nutrients they need to grow and thrive. While climate change is making this challenge more complex, progress is still possible. By expanding existing tools, investing in promising research, and shining a spotlight on champions like the ones we celebrate today, we can help ensure all children reach their full potential and build global resilience in the face of climate change.”
In 2023, the World Health Organization estimated that 148 million children were stunted, a condition that prevents children from reaching their full mental and physical potential, and 45 million children were wasted, a condition that weakens children and puts them at increased risk of developmental delay and death. These are the most severe and irreversible forms of chronic and acute malnutrition.
The event followed the release last week of the foundation’s eighth annual Goalkeepers report, “A Race to Feed a Warming World.” The report highlights that without immediate global action, climate change will condemn an additional 40 million children to stunting and 28 million to wasting between 2024 and 2050. It highlights proven tools to combat malnutrition, build resilience to the worst impacts of climate change, and reduce child mortality. The report calls for renewed commitments to global health spending, including for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund, and the Child Nutrition Fund.
Celebrating the World Goalkeepers
The 2024 Global Goalkeeper Award, which recognizes a leader who has advanced the Sustainable Development Goals globally, has been presented to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. During his first term, President Lula launched Bolsa Familia, an anti-poverty and social inclusion program that has lifted millions of people out of poverty and reduced stunting rates in Brazil from 37% to 7% over three decades. President Lula is building on this national success by introducing the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty as the flagship initiative of Brazil’s G20 Presidency. The initiative adopts proven, evidence-based strategies to improve food security, health, reduce poverty, and promote equity at scale.
The event also honored 10 Goalkeeper Champions – experts, innovators, activists and leaders from around the world – who are leading major battles to create a better fed world.
Dr Tahmeed Ahmed, Bangladesh : Executive Director of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), he works with the government to implement treatments for moderate and severe child malnutrition, and to analyze the barriers to effective implementation of maternal nutrition programs. He also chairs the drafting committee of the Bangladesh Nutrition Policy.
Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbusi, Nigeria : Director of Nutrition in Nigeria’s Ministry of Health, she is leading the federal government’s plans to train 38,180 frontline health workers to improve nutrition, communication and services for mothers, infants and children.
Beza Beshah Haile, Ethiopia: Founder and Executive Director of HOPE Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (HOPE-SBH), she has provided information and skills training to over 3,000 families. She works with government agencies to implement and enforce the national food fortification mandate, particularly the addition of folate for pregnant women.
Dr Zahra Hoodbhoy, Pakistan : Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at the Aga Khan University, she combines public health interventions with AI tools to support mothers before and after childbirth. She is also the principal investigator of a clinical trial of next-generation multiple micronutrient supplements.
Dr. Nancy Krebs, United States: A professor of pediatrics and nutrition at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, her research has influenced global health organizations, including the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr Jemimah Njuki, Kenya : Economic Empowerment Officer at UN Women, she has over 20 years of experience in the agricultural sector in Africa and Asia. She is a strong advocate for women’s empowerment to impact food security and improve nutrition for children and families.
Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, Rwanda : As Minister of Health, he is prioritising a series of interventions in nutrition and maternal and child health, including the launch of a pilot programme of multiple micronutrient supplements for pregnant women.
Lilian dos Santos Rahal, Brazil: National Secretary for Food and Nutrition Security, she is one of the leading voices in the fight against hunger and malnutrition in Brazil.
Bhavani Shankar, Royaume-Uni : Research Professor at the University of Sheffield, he studies food, health and environmental sustainability. He is co-lead of INFUSION, a five-year programme aimed at better understanding the nutritional functioning of rural food markets and providing evidence for interventions to improve access to nutrient-dense foods in rural Indian communities.
Ratan Tata, India: Chairman of Tata Trusts, he supports the prevention and recovery of malnourished children by improving nutrition and healthcare in India. They have pioneered food and nutrition security efforts through the fortification of salt, milk and edible oils with essential micronutrients.
Photos from the event are available here.
The full text of the Goalkeepers 2024 report is available here:
Additional Goalkeepers documents are available here:
Goalkeepers 2024 Report Material
Goalkeepers 2024 Data Visualizations
Images Goalkeepers 2024
Distributed by African Media Agency on behalf of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Media contact: media@gatesfoundation.org
About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that all lives have equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and providing opportunities to end hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people, especially those with the fewest resources, have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and in life. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman, under the direction of Co-Chairs Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates and the Board of Trustees.
About Goalkeepers
Goalkeepers is the foundation’s campaign to accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals). By sharing facts and data related to the Global Goals in an annual report, the Gates Foundation hopes to inspire a new generation of leaders—Goalkeepers who will raise awareness of progress, hold their leaders accountable, and take action to help achieve the Global Goals.
About the Global Goals
At the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 25 September 2015, 193 world leaders committed to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals). These are a set of ambitious goals and targets aimed at achieving three extraordinary objectives by 2030: ending poverty, fighting inequality and injustice, and tackling climate change.
Source : African Media Agency (AMA)
2024-09-25 13:26:21
#Gates #Foundation #Celebrates #Champions #Child #Health #Nutrition #Goalkeepers #Recipe #Progress #
