Statement by Vera Songwe at the 40th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union

Abstract

Statement By Vera Songwe United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) at the 40th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council. Ms. Songwe, on her remarks highlighted that, Africa, like the rest of the world today needs to build resilience against a number of threats: climate change, cyber security risks and pandemics and infectious diseases, weak governance and conflict. Africa pooled its risks and, relying on 20 years of building solidarity, it created the African Medical Supplies Platform to access protective equipment. We once again pooled risks to create the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust and provide ourselves with the first large scale delivery of procured vaccines on the continent. Building resilience is not about predicting the largest risks but about having the right technologies and strong institutions to solve for risk when they materialize. Our most powerful insurance policy is a healthy population capable of developing mitigating solutions for the impending nutrition and other risks.