WHO calls for more funding to African countries hosting refugees

More funding is required to control communicable diseases particularly in Africa and other developing countries which host refugees.

Dr Santino Severoni, Director of World Health Organization’s (WHO) Department of Health and Migration, is calling on the international community to channel more resources to such countries that are facing financial challenges.

He spoke during the opening of an international conference on economic transformation for Africa at Mount Kenya University’s (MKU) main campus in Thika, Kiambu County, on Thursday.

The 8th annual international conference of the Centre for African Research on Enterprise and Economic Development (CAREED) is being held under the theme, “Fostering Economic Transformation in African Ecosystems: The Impact of Trade, Infrastructure and innovation.”

More than 70 papers from renowned global scholars will be presented across several parallel sessions during the two-day conference which is being held on 27th and 28th of June 2024.

“There is an ongoing discussion on health and immigration especially now that there are new infective vectors and the lack of essential protection where communicable diseases might appear like in the case of tuberculosis which is associated with poverty and living conditions. This is another area of concern,” said the WHO official.

Dr Severoni expressed concern that though there have been major improvements in the control of communicable diseases such as malaria, chronic ailments remain a major health challenge globally.  There is rising mortality from lifestyle ailments such as cardial-vascular diseases, diabetes and hypertension, among others, he noted.

“These diseases emerge from our personal choices of life like smoking and drinking hence the need to invest in health promotion education for populations on nutrition, risk factors and other unhealthy behaviours like lack of exercise and how to avoid them.

Dr Severoni, a keynote speaker at the forum,  has worked for governments, NGOs, and foundations in eastern Africa, central Asia, the Balkans, and Europe. His areas of expertise include global health, health sector reforms, health systems strengthening, health diplomacy, aid coordination effectiveness and management of complex emergencies. Prof. Dr. Charles Mulli,  Founder of  Mully Children’s Family Trust (MCF) based in Machakos county, Kenya, was the second keynote speaker.

Welcoming delegates to the forum, the MKU Chancellor who is also Director at CAREED for University of the West of Scotland (UWS), Professor John Struthers, said this year’s meeting is significant as it is being held in Africa for the first time. “This year’s conference is also noteworthy because of the number and range of papers being presented and the many African countries represented,” he said.

He added that proper communication has been lacking on issues of migrants who are not just in Africa but all over the world including Europe.

Dr Gaitho said CAREED’s five key areas of interest”, namely, commodities and exporting; logistics and supply chain management; enterprise and entrepreneurship (including gender enterprise); enterprise and entrepreneurship, governance and ethics” as shall be reflected in the conference proceedings, should also be well ear-marked as areas of future research and development in Africa by Africans.

“We must remind ourselves of the need to have the youth in African in all what comes with this new entity. Available literature supports this need of deliberate involvement (and not by chance!) of the youth on every socio-economic transformation engagements in African including the series of CAREED conferences,” he said.

The Pro-chancellor appreciated the WHO’s migration health discourse guided more specifically, by the International Organization for Migration and the Center for Health and Migration as significant entities in international movements of goods and people and related logistics.

“We look forward to receive recommendations from this conference that will be used in reaching out to more stakeholders to take advantage of the conference proceedings and publications as tangible, action areas in driving the future of the African Continent for the overall good of the African people,” he said.

MKU Vice Councillor, Prof. Deogratius Jaganyi said the University of the West of Scotland and MKU have continued to enjoy a synergetic partnership, exemplified by the recently concluded Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project. The project is funded by Innovate UK and partnered with Farmtrack Consulting, a private company in Kenya.

The VC said trade contributes to 15 per cent of Africa’s GDP, infrastructure development can boost economic growth by 2-3% annually, and innovation has the potential to increase productivity by up to 30%. “As we forge a united front towards fostering economic transformation in African ecosystems, the impact of trade, infrastructure, and innovation cannot be overemphasized,” he added.

Appreciating the delegates and speakers participating in the conference, Prof Jaganyi said these key themes are instrumental in supporting livelihoods and promoting economic prosperity across sub-Saharan Africa.

According to Prof Struthers, the year since the 7th Annual Conference was held at the Paisley Campus of UWS in 2023 has been a busy and eventful period for Careed, with many new members joining the centre. Highlights include: the first Distinguished Lecture presentation by Professor David Luke of the London School of Economics (LSE) based on his recently co-edited book How Africa Trades; more short papers written by CAREED colleagues for the centre’s Policy and Practice Insights Series.

Last year, a new initiative by the renowned Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) to promote links between Scottish Universities and African Universities across a range of subject themes commenced.  Prof Struthers said CAREED will lead this RSE initiative in the area of Enterprise and Economic Development.

Other key milestones during the past year have been the completion of the African Agriculture Knowledge Training Partnership (AAKTP) project in which MKU and Farmtrack Ltd in Kenya are partners.  A new agriculture project commenced in Nigeria at the end of 2023.

In the last year one year, a significant number of doctorate degrees were awarded to CAREED research students, several of whom have joined the academic staff at UWS in the School of Business and Creative Industries.

On his part, Prof Mulli is a renowned social entrepreneur globally. He established the children’s home, trust and Christian charitable organisation in 1989, dedicating to providing dignified livelihoods to children, youth, and marginalised members of society.

The joint planning committee for this year’s forum includes Dr Henry Yatich of MKU and Dr Ephias Ruhode and Dr Mbusiro Chacha of UWS and Deputy Director of CAREED, Dr Adebisi Adewole. The sponsors for this year’s conference were  Superior Homes (Kenya) Ltd; Henderson Properties (Scotland); Overseas Students House (Ghana); Grace Education (Kenya) and IEIS Ltd.