Director-General’s address 71st session of the Regional Committee for the Eastern …
Honourable Minister Dr Ali Haji Abubakar,
Honourable Minister Dr Hanan Mohamed Al-Kuwari,
Regional Director Dr Hanan Balkhy,
Honourable Ministers and heads of delegation,
Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
Good morning, greetings from Berlin, and I apologise that I cannot be with you in person.
I thank Qatar for hosting this year’s Regional Committee Meeting, which comes at a very difficult time for the region, with conflict in the occupied Palestinian territory, Sudan, Yemen, and now in Lebanon.
A month ago I was in Sudan with Dr Balkhy, where we saw for ourselves the effects of the conflict that has caused such destruction, death, disease and the displacement of more than 13 million people – one quarter of Sudan’s population.
We visited a nutrition stabilization centre and in IDP camp, where we were brought face-to-face with the people who are paying the price for this conflict.
The following week I visited Chad, where I met some of the 680 thousand Sudanese refugees who have left their country, seeking security and food.
And of course, Sudan’s civil war is just one conflict in this troubled region.
As the war in the occupied Palestinian territory enters its second year, the people of Gaza and the West Bank face mounting threats to their physical and mental health.
In the past year, WHO and our partners have supported Gaza’s health system and health workers as best we can, under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions.
We’ve delivered almost 2500 metric tonnes of supplies;
We’ve coordinated Emergency Medical Teams from 24 partner organizations, involving more than 1000 personnel, who have performed