News
On 21 February 2018, a two-day Joint East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Retreat on Infrastructure and Health Financing and Development kicks off at the Speke Resort in Munyonyo, Uganda. The Retreat aims to accelerate the attainment of the objectives of the EAC Development Strategy, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Agenda 2063 in the infrastructure and health sectors, in order to facilitate regional integration and socio-economic development in the EAC.
AFIDEP’s Executive Director, Dr. Eliya Zulu, will attend the Retreat as a technical expert to contribute to discussions and decisions relating to the EAC region’s ongoing public health transformations that are fueled by shifting population dynamics and socio-economic development trends.
The forum combines two events, namely the 4th EAC Heads of State Retreat on Infrastructure Financing and Development, and the 1st EAC Summit on Investment in Health and Health Sector Investors and Donors Roundtable and International Exhibition. The theme of the forum is “Deepening and Widening Regional Integration through Infrastructure and Health Sector Development in the EAC Partner States”.
Previously, three EAC Heads of State Retreat on Infrastructure Financing and Development have been held, and these have identified several projects in transport, energy and civil aviation at the regional level and resources mobilised for their implementation. The 2014 Retreat, for example, provided a significant platform for high-level political pressure for investments in major infrastructure in the region.
By incorporating health, the EAC hopes to replicate a similar level of support for the health sector so as to advance the health and well-being of East Africans. Indeed, the EAC hopes to generate consensus on what the priority health infrastructure, systems, services and research investments with the highest potential in accelerating progress towards achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and the health-related Sustainable Development Goals.