February 13

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DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2018 11
Politics
Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced,
where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is
made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to
oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor
property will be safe — Frederick Douglass
Thumbay Group of Dubai
calls on First Lady
ON FRIDAY, February
9, 2018, the Thumbay
Group of Dubai
led by the
Founder/President,
Mr Thumbay Moideen, led a delegation
made up of Dr Vinod Abraham,
Director –External and Internal
Affairs of the Thumbay Group, the
Board Chairman of National Health
Insurance, Professor Yaw Adu-
Gyamfi and Madam Cecilia Dapaah,
the Minister for Aviation to call on
Her Excellency Mrs Rebecca Akufo-
Addo, following a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) signed with
the Ministries of Health and Education
for the establishment of a Medical
University and Teaching Hospital
in the Greater Accra Region, by the
Thumbay Group of Dubai.
Dr Abraham indicated that
the US$ 600 million ultra-modern
health project, will help to pioneer innovative
solutions to health delivery
in Ghana and beyond, particularly in
the West African sub-region.
He said that when completed, the
• Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo (M) with Thumbay Group delegation
university will be the “first of its kind
in the West African sub-region” and
will be a unique medical research and
innovation centre in West Africa offering
programmes including medicine,
dentistry, pharmacy, nursing and
physiotherapy.
He also noted that “the university
will not only cater for Ghanaian students
but also international students
and offer state of the art virtual patient
learning, advanced simulation
centre, among others, which will
transform medical education in the
country and in the region as a
whole.”
In addition to the university, Dr
Abraham said the Teaching Hospital
proposed would have 300 beds and
would be a tertiary care centre for
Ghanaians as well as those from the
sub-region. This, he noted will “help
position Ghana as a medical tourism
destination.”
He assured the First Lady that
the hospital would also provide cost
effective and affordable care to the
poor and needy as well as provide direct
employment to 2,500 Ghanaians
when both projects are completed.
The First Lady expressed her gratitude
to the Thumbay Group for
choosing Ghana for such an enormous
project and pledged her support
to see the project completed.
Thumbay Group is a diversified
international business conglomerate
with its headquarters in DIFC-
Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The
Group is a pioneer in using innovation
to constantly find solutions to
health issues.
Realisation of the SDGS key to
Africa’s future — Prez Akufo-Addo
THE PRESIDENT of the Republic, Nana Addo
Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has described the realisation
of the 17 United Nations (UN) Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) as an investment in
the future of the youth and children of the
African continent.
According to President Akufo-Addo, the 17
UN SDGs “present our generation with the great
opportunity to fight inequality on all fronts, wipe
out extreme poverty, tackle the issues of climate
change, and reverse the degradation and unsustainable
use of our environmental resources.”
It is for this reason that Ghana, the President
indicated, has taken up the challenge of the
SDGs.
“We have captured them in our Co-ordinated
Programme for Economic and Social Development
Policies, which was submitted to Parliament
last November, and we have set up a Governmental
Inter-Ministerial Committee to co-ordinate and
monitor the implementation of the SDGs,” the
President added.
President Akufo-Addo made this known on
Friday, February 9, 2018, when he delivered the
opening remarks at a public lecture addressed by
Queen Mathilde of Belgium, at the Great Hall of
the University of Ghana.
The President, who is the co-Chair of the
Group of Advocates of Eminent Personalities of
the SDGs, noted that the Group of Advocates,
which includes Queen Mathilde, has the duty to
promote the universal character of the SDGs, the
engagement of new stakeholders in the implementation
and financing of the global goals, encourage
partnership with civil society and the
private sector, and to share knowledge and best
practices necessary to support accelerated implementation
of the goals.
•President Nana Akufo-Addo in a tete-atete
with Queen Mathilde of Belgium
“We must succeed in removing millions of
people out of poverty, protect our planet, and
provide hope of a secured future to the teeming
youth in the world who have the greatest stake in
the SDGs. And this is exactly what I am firmly
committed to championing, as Co-Chair of the
Advocates,” the President stated.
With Africa at a critical stage in its development,
he noted that the realisation of the SDGs
could mark a major turning point for the continent.
“With some 75 percent of
the world’s poor living in
Africa, poverty eradication remains
an enormous challenge.
But we have a great opportunity,
with the SDGs, to reverse
that, and, with smart policies,
make considerable inroads in
eradicating poverty, and bringing
prosperity and increased
human development to the
continent,” he added.
Achieving SDGs
Achieving the SDGs, President
Akufo-Addo said, “we will
take bold ambition in thought and actions, creativity,
innovation, hard work, and, most critically,
connecting to the positive and abundant energies
of the youth.
“The story of Africa’s hitherto inability to develop
is primarily the story of our damaging colonial
heritage and bad governance. We must make
governance and our governance systems work for
the eradication of poverty and the creation of
prosperity and wealth. And, as we embark on this
path, we must commit to building accountable and
transparent institutions,” he stated.
The President added, “we cannot grow out of
poverty and achieve the SDGs through charity
and the benevolence of others. If we are going to
succeed to move Africa Beyond Aid, this cannot
be a mere slogan. It will take adopting more effective
and appropriate development models, doing
business differently, and making the tough choices
necessary to accelerate inclusive growth in the
economy.”
President Akufo-Addo reiterated his belief
that a key accelerator to achieving the goals is a
strong and vibrant private sector, which has the
space to grow, flourish and unleash the entrepreneurial
talents of the people.
As the African Union’s Gender Champion, he
added that “for our continent to achieve the
SDGs and capture totally our grandeur, we must
succeed in fully unleashing the potential of
Africa’s women. This is an absolute priority for
me, as it should be for one privileged to be labelled
the African Union Gender Champion.”