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Gates Honours Brazil’s President, Nigeria’s Ladidi

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The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has honoured Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Nigeria’s Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbusi who is the director of nutrition at the Ministry of Health for their role in children’s health.

The duo among nine others were honored with the award of nutrition champions at the Gatekeepers event that took place in New York, as part of activities marking the 79 UN General Assembly.

The 2024 Global Goalkeeper Award, which recognizes a leader who has driven progress on a global scale toward achieving the Global Goals, was presented to Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

During his first term, President Lula launched Bolsa Familia, a robust anti-poverty and social inclusion program that helped lift millions out of poverty and reduce the nation’s stunting rate from 37% to 7% over three decades.

President Lula is building on this domestic legacy to champion the Global Alliance on Hunger and Poverty as the signature initiative of Brazil’s G20 presidency.

The initiative embraces proven, evidence-based strategies to improve food security, enhance health, reduce poverty, and promote equity at scale.

Also, Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbusi of Nigeria is the director of nutrition for the Ministry of Health of Nigeria, where she guides the federal government’s plans to train 38,180 frontline health workers to enhance maternal, infant, and childhood nutrition, communication, and services.

At its event, Goalkeepers 2024: Recipe for Progress, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation honored remarkable leaders who are advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals) with solutions to keep people healthy and nourished in a rapidly warming world.

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The annual event was hosted by Janet Mbugua, media personality and anchor.

The event, which highlighted opportunities to ensure better nutrition for all so everyone can reach their full potential, also featured special guests, including Jon Batiste, singer, songwriter, and composer; Christy Turlington Burns, founder and president of Every Mother Counts; Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Saul Guerrero Oteyza, UNICEF’s senior advisor on financing for child nutrition and development; Muhammad Ali Pate, coordinating minister for health and social welfare of Nigeria; and Marcus Samuelsson, award-winning celebrity chef and philanthropist. Adriana Diaz, co-host of CBS Mornings Plus, and Francine Lacqua, anchor for Bloomberg Television, served as session moderators.

“Goalkeepers is about bringing together a community of global changemakers who champion the Sustainable Development Goals to energize and inspire each other to continue making progress,” said Mark Suzman, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“This year, we’re focused on the more than 400 million children who aren’t getting the nutrients they need to grow and thrive. While climate change is making that challenge harder to solve, progress is possible. By scaling up existing tools, investing in promising research, and lifting champions like the ones we’re celebrating today, we can help ensure all children can reach their full potential—and build global resilience as the world gets hotter.”

In 2023, the World Health Organization estimated that 148 million children experienced stunting, a condition where children don’t grow to their full potential mentally or physically, and 45 million children experienced wasting, a condition where children become weak and emaciated, leaving them at much greater risk of developmental delays and death. These are the most severe and irreversible forms of chronic and acute malnutrition.

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The event followed last week’s release of the foundation’s eighth annual Goalkeepers report, “A Race to Nourish a Warming World.” The report finds that without immediate global action, climate change will condemn an additional 40 million children to stunting and 28 million more to wasting between 2024 and 2050. It highlights proven tools that are helping solve malnutrition, building people’s resilience to the worst impacts of climate change, and further driving down childhood deaths. The report calls for renewed commitments to global health spending, including for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund, and the Child Nutrition Fund.

Others honoured include; Dr. Tahmeed Ahmed of Bangladesh; Beza Beshah Haile of Ethiopia; Dr. Zahra Hoodbhoy of Pakistan; Dr. Nancy Krebs of the United States; Dr. Jemimah Njuki of Kenya; Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana of Rwanda; Lilian dos Santos Rahal of Brazil; Bhavani Shankar of the United Kingdom and Ratan Tata of India.

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Tinubu tasks NOUN on technology advancement

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President Bola Tinubu has assured the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) of his government’s support to ensure the advancement of its Open and Distance Learning (ODL) structure.

Tinubu gave the assurance on Saturday in Abuja at the 14th convocation of the university, where the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas and Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President, African Development Bank (AfDB), were conferred with honorary doctorate degrees.

While Abbas was conferred with an honorary doctorate degree of Doctor of Business Administrator, Adesina bagged an honorary doctorate degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.

The President , who was represented by the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, through Hajia, Rakiya Gambo, Director, Tertiary Education, Federal Ministry of Education, said NOUN would be strongly supported through Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TetFund).

Tinubu said there was the need to advance technology in tertiary institutions to guarantee a robust learning especially for the ODL.

“The Federal Government under my leadership is committed to supporting education by leveraging information technology to enhance learning.

“Through strategic intervention, we are ensuring that education remains the key to our technological development.

“As such, the Federal Government through TetFund, is financing the fibre optic infrastructure at NOUN to provide seamless Internet access to substantial number of students at study centres across the go-political zones of the country.

“This initiative harnesses the power of technology to improve access to education as faster as possible.

“This university has benefitted immensely from various government intervention provided through TetFund and we remain committed to ensuring that possible financial resources are consistently provided for the advancement of education through ODL in Nigeria,” Tinubu said.

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The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Olufemi Peters, said NOUN had continued to receive requests for the establishment of additional study centres from prominent individuals, community leaders and associations.

This, he said, was a testament of the essential role the educational institution had played in serving the nation.

“To meet the demand of our expanding reach, we leverage cutting-edger Information and Communication Technology to enhance instructional delivery and improve learning outcomes.

“Our global learning culture is further enriched through innovative collaborations and partnerships with institutions such as the University of South Africa, the Open University, UK, the Open University of Tanzania and so on,” he said.

According to Peters, the 14th convocation was another opportunity for NOUN to celebrate the academic achievements of its students, out of which 17,420 graduated, comprising of 10,967 undergraduates and 6,413 postgraduate students.

The Pro-Chancellor of the University, Malam Isa Yuguda, had earlier urged the Federal Government to incorporate NOUN graduates into its National Youth Service Corps programme, to encourage more youths to enrol in the ODL structure.

Yuguda also appealed to the government to allow the admission of NOUN Law graduates into the Law School, to give room for more student to enrolment into the University Law Faculty. (NAN)

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Nigeria, Others Get Hit As U.N. To Cut 20% Staff Capacity

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The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has listed Nigeria and nine other countries as countries to be affected as it will cut 20% of its staff due to a shortfall of $58 million.

The U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher revealed this as he briefed staff after OCHA’s largest donor – the United States – cut funding.

“OCHA currently has a workforce of around 2,600 staff in over 60 countries. The funding shortfall means we are looking to regroup to an organization of around 2,100 staff in fewer locations,” Fletcher wrote in a note to staff on Thursday, as reported by Reuters.

OCHA works to mobilise aid, share information, support aid efforts, and advocate for those in need during a crisis. It relies heavily on voluntary contributions.

“The U.S. alone has been the largest humanitarian donor for decades, and the biggest contributor to OCHA’s programme budget,” Fletcher said, noting that its annual contribution of $63 million would have accounted for 20% of OCHA’s extrabudgetary resources in 2025.

Since returning to office in January for a second term, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has slashed billions of dollars in foreign assistance in a review that aimed to ensure programs align with his “America First” foreign policy.

Fletcher said OCHA would “focus more of our resources in the countries where we work,” but would work in fewer places.

“OCHA will scale back our presence and operations in Cameroon, Colombia, Eritrea, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Gaziantep (in Turkey) and Zimbabwe,” Fletcher said.

“As we all know, these exercises are driven by funding cuts announced by Member States and not by a reduction of needs,” he said. “Humanitarian needs are on the rise and have perhaps never been higher, driven by conflicts, climate crises, disease, and the lack of respect of international humanitarian law.”

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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last month announced a new initiative to improve efficiency and cut costs as the world body turns 80 this year amid a cash crisis.

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Explosion Kills Seven, Injures Several Commuters In Borno

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The explosion followed an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by Boko Haram terrorists on the dilapidated and deserted road which passes through the Sambisa forest.

According to several sources, the explosion happened while cars on a scheduled military-escorted convoy were transporting passengers from Damboa to Maiduguri on Saturday leaving several others with varying degrees of injuries.

The Maiduguri-Damboa Road links Maiduguri to several local government areas in Southern Borno and has been a hotspot for Boko Haram terrorists for over a decade.

The road was closed to vehicles and commuters until the administration of Babagana Zulum opened the road for passengers to travel to Damboa, Chibok and other LGAs in southern Borno with the help of a military convoy serving as security cover for the commuters.

The convoy traverses the road two times a week after scanning for IED by the military and this has been going on for over two years now.

The injured persons whose numbers are yet to be specified have been conveyed to a hospital in Maiduguri for prompt medical attention.

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