Ambassador Tibor Nagy has recently briefed journalists, drawn from various Africa countries concerning relation between Africa and US in combating the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic and other epidemic diseases as well as in establishing researches model. The digital conference was hosted by US embassy in Ethiopia, for the Ethiopian journalists including The Ethiopian Herald. This issue has significance to Ethiopia in creating a click with US and other western countries as well as Africa countries in terms of setting up partnership with neutral think-thank groups to respond to manmade and natural calamities in the country. Excerpt:
Herald: What relation does the US government have with the Africa continent?
Ambassador Nagy: our relationship with the African people will come out of it even stronger. I say this from experience and from the knowledge that our commitment to Africa will endure.
In addition to our long-standing partnership on health, we are working together towards good governance, increased trade and investment, enhanced development of Africa’s youth and women’s entrepreneurship, and increased security across the board. As Secretary Pompeo has repeatedly stressed, now is the time to reinforce Americans long-standing partnership with our African friends. We have a long history of working together, on meeting public health challenges, and I’m confident that our relationships and shared experiences over decades will help us meet today’s crisis.
Under President Trump, that partnership has continued to grow ever stronger. We are by far the largest donor nation to Africa and our impact is felt across the board. The United States has committed more than 100 billion USD over the past 20 years towards public health on the African continent, trained over 285,000 healthcare workers. With PEPFAR alone, over 18 million lives were saved in 18 years.
The administration is also actively working to save lives in Africa by fighting Malaria, Ebola, Avian Flu, and Cholera. The Presidents Malaria Initiative, or PMI, has helped save over 7 million lives while preventing over a billion cases of Malaria in the last 20 years. Where PMI is present, Malaria deaths have seen a 60 percent decline since 2006.
And now, in the fight against COVID-19, that commitment continues. No other nation is doing more than we do. Of the more than 780 million USD the U.S. has pledged worldwide to fight the virus, close to 250 million USD is geared towards Africa. And our response goes beyond this new money.
In places such as Ghana, Senegal, Uganda, Sierra Leonne, and Mauritania, field hospitals, tents, and ambulances intended for international peace-keeping missions were repurposed for COVID-19 efforts. Our mutual trust built over the years has also played a role given the enormous efforts by African Governments, airlines, and others to help repatriate over 10,000 Americans from the continent.
Furthermore, it is not just our government leading; we also have what we call an allof-America approach. Businesses, NGOs, faith-based organizations have contributed. Together, Americans have committed nearly 6.5 billion USD.
This also is a time to reflect on the importance of transparency. It is times like these that show who you can trust and Im proud to say our African partners have, by and large, been there for us as we have for them. Unfortunately, there are other actors in this world who have not lived up to that virtue, but rather made it worse through secrecy and deceit.
We recently marked World Press Freedom Day and we note with concern that some countries have used this COVID-19 crisis to further constrain media freedoms, particularly in response to independent reporting relating to the crisis. Government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic must focus on protecting public health. Governments should not use the disease as a pretext for repression of people or ideas in the media or elsewhere.
A vibrant, free press is more important than ever to ensure the public receives timely and accurate information about the virus and how to stop its spread. Government transparency and accountability and freedom of expression, including for members of the media, are critical for an effective response to COVID-19.
As we reflect on the importance of transparency and other matters, such as aid, debt, and health information, the benefits of working with a free and open society versus one that is not is readily apparent. I trust our African friends will see the difference.
As always, the United States will continue to collaborate with our African partners to address COVID-19 and whatever other challenges come our way. We will come through this as always for the health and security of the American homeland and the African continent.
Question: What is the United States response to African countries welcoming Chinese doctors and medical supplies to help deal with the COVID-19 pandemic on the continent?
Ambassador Nagy: Well, again, countries are sovereign. Countries can decide who they are to deal with and in what manners. Our asking or urging is for transparency, full transparency from all donors, whether it regards assistance on COVID or whether it regards debt alleviation or aid programs in general.
The United States of America, we are very focused on providing assistance across the board, making sure that the material we send is of the highest quality. So again, the only thing I would say is pick your partners as you will. We totally support sovereignty and freedom of choice. Just make sure that you are making a wise decision.
Question: how much of that of US support is really geared towards research? Because I think if we are well-empowered to do research, we should be able to bring solutions, possible solutions.
Ambassador Nagy: Unfortunately, I cannot give you dollars and cents as to what the specific components of that are, because the funding that we are making available is basically across the board from A to Z. So it includes medical supplies, medical equipment, the ventilators. Of course, it involves supporting research, it involves medications, it involves supporting healthcare professionals, institutions, and for the other purposes.
And of course, here iss the important part: Again, with the United States, its not only the CDC, health and human services, other government health agencies that are involved in this, but the hundreds and hundreds of U.S. universities, because so much research is done through universities. We have a number of the U.S. universities that have very strong partnerships with African universities, with African labs. So, its a whole-of-world approach.
BY MEHARI BEYENE
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday Edition 24/2020
