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35 million Euro for health and education in East Africa
Germany will invest 35 million Euro towards vaccination and scholarship programmes for East African students in a bid to improve health and education in the region.
The East African Community (EAC) and the Republic of Germany signed a government agreement in support of health and education in the EAC on November 20.
35 million Euro will be invested in vaccination programmes as well as a scholarship programme for East African students.
In appreciation and acknowledgement of the EAC’s efforts to immunise every child, Germany has been supporting the immunisation programme in the region in close collaboration with the EAC and Gavi, the vaccine alliance, since 2013.
The region has made great progress in introducing new, life-saving vaccines.
However, challenges remain in reaching out to children in remote areas, achieving high coverage rates for newly introduced vaccines and acceptable coverage rates in the new EAC Partner State South Sudan.
Therefore, Germany is contributing 30 million Euro to immunisation programmes in the EAC with the signed government agreement.
The project is successfully being implemented by Gavi, the vaccine alliance, in close collaboration with Unicef, WHO and the Partner States’ immunisation programmes.
Germany’s total contribution to the EAC immunisation programmes thus amounts to a total of 120 million Euro.
Furthermore, Germany will be contributing 5 million Euro to the EAC for a scholarship programme in cooperation with the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA).
Goal of this programme is to promote EAC’s regional integration agenda by supporting higher education students and their role in fostering awareness for the East African integration process, creating social change as well as economic growth.
The scholarship programme is designed as a regional approach supporting East African students with academic talent and leadership qualities.
Beyond the provision of scholarships, the EAC scholars will be actively promoted through programme activities such as regional leadership seminars and mentoring schemes.
After graduation beneficiaries of the EAC Scholarship Programme will become highly-skilled “change agents” for their home communities as qualified professionals with a strong understanding of regional challenges, approaches and expertise in their respective subject fields.
Dr. Detlef Wächter, German Ambassador to Tanzania, said: “The new commitments underline that Germany continues to be a strong partner for the EAC in pushing the integration process forward.
Education and health are core pillars of sustainable economic development and we are glad to be able to contribute to that in this regional context.”
For almost two decades, Germany has been supporting the East African Community through financial as well as technical cooperation. Germany's contribution to the EAC amounts to a total of almost 285 million Euro.
