The Gates Foundation honors Ursula von del Leyen for her “inspirational efforts” to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenhas been recognized by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as the global leader of the year who has best contributed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) from the ONU. This was announced at the gala for the Goalkeeper Awards that the philanthropic entity delivers in an annual event within the framework of the UN General Assemblywhen the anniversary is celebrated (this year, the seventh) of this international agenda to achieve a more just, peaceful world and a still habitable planet by 2030.

“In the worst of the pandemic, the world was lucky to have a leader like her. From the beginning, he understood the importance of fighting covid-19 on all continents”, said Bill Gates on stage at the Jazz Lincoln Center in New York, where the gala was held in person, after two years in which the Foundation organized virtual events for the pandemic. “In the global response, she became one of the most visionary and hard-working leaders,” the philanthropist continued.

In the worst of the pandemic, the world was fortunate to have a leader like Ursula von der Leyen

Bill Gates

Specifically, the co-founder of the Gates Foundation has underlined that the president was decisive in the creation of initiatives such as MINUTES, a global collaboration to accelerate the development, production and equitable access to tests, treatments and immunizations for covid-19. “To date, the European Union has exported 1.8 billion vaccines. And that wouldn’t have happened without her. In addition, the Commission provided €1 billion to boost manufacturing capacity in Africa, which will help the world better tackle the next health crisis and accelerate progress towards the Global Goals. And all this happened under his mandate ”, Gates has valued. “She is a true Goalkeeper”.

In addition to its merits in the fight against covid-19 and the promotion of health in general, Melinda French Gates, highlighted the example that von der Leyen has set for millions of girls and women around the world. “Including me”, she has recognized when inviting the president to the pulpit.

We need to help Africa and Latin America build vaccine manufacturing capacity in their regions and for their territories

Ursula von der Leyen

In his speech, von der Leyen dedicated the award to the “millions of ordinary Europeans” who have contributed to confronting the pandemic, from scientists to front-line health workers in hospitals. “This recognition is also for them,” he said, raising the statuette of the iconic colored donut that symbolizes the 17 SDGs. Below, the President of the European Commission shared the lessons that humanity must draw from the pandemic. “We have achieved excellence through competition”, she has opined in reference to the development of a vaccine against covid-19 in just 10 months. “And millions of lives have been saved.”

The other lesson, von der Leyen has followed, is the importance of “sharing technologies.” It is not sustainable, he has criticized, that the African continent still imports 99% of its vaccines. “We have to help Africa and Latin America build manufacturing capacity in their regions and for their territories.” And he has finished his brief intervention with a self-criticism: “Let’s remember that there was a lack of global preparation; and that you, Bill, had warned us in a famous video on YouTube in 2015. But we have learned and we are building a preparation system.”

From left to right: Vanessa Nakate, Melinda French Gates, Malala Yousafzai and Zahra Joya.PAULA L0B0 (Getty/Gates Foundation)

A women’s podium

Three other women have accompanied von der Leyen on the podium. “The four winners are women”, underlined the host of the gala, Tumelo Mothotoane, presenter of the South African news channel eNCA.

Ugandan climate activist vanessa nakate has received the 2022 Campaign Award. Malala Yousafzai has been in charge of announcing his name. “Equipped with a visionary mind, a passionate heart and tremendous tenacity, she is contributing to building a greener and fairer future”, she has valued the Nobel Peace Prize. “We can all learn from her. She inspires me on a daily basis”.

Leaders need to stop making empty promises

Vanessa Nakate, climate activist, Uganda

The Gates Foundation has appreciated how Nakate has managed to draw international attention to the effects of global warming in Africa and promote the installation of solar panels in 24,000 rural schools without access to electricity in his country. “Leaders have to stop making empty promises”, the founder of the movement asked the audience Rise Up Climate. “I think they can hear us and see the strikes that we organize. But the response we get is statements, and what we really want is action,” she said in a conversation prior to the event. “His words from him do not stop the suffering of the people, nor does it prevent the global temperature from rising.”

Nakate began by going on an educational strike, carrying cardboard signs. “I thought that my protest would last seven months, I would resume my studies, find a job and have a normal life. I never imagined that I would be here today ”, she has confessed. This Tuesday she has raised her voice again, in a very different forum from the streets of Kampala, but with the same message: “We are all under the same storm, but we travel in different boats.”

Vanessa Nakate started her climate activism by displaying messages on cardboard in the streets of Kampala, the capital of Uganda.
Vanessa Nakate started her climate activism by displaying messages on cardboard in the streets of Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Gates Foundation

He has reiterated in his speech, and in each of the interviews he has given, that Africa is responsible for less than 4% of global emissions, “but there we experience the worst impacts of the climate crisis.” She sees them every day: “In the Horn of Africa there is a drought that has affected more than 20 million people. I recently visited Ghana and was able to meet mothers with children with severe acute malnutrition because they live in a region that is experiencing the worst drought in 40 years,” she explained.

In the category of Agent of Change 2022, it was Angelina Jolie who presented the winner in a video: the Afghan journalist Zahra Jewel, founder of the Rukhshana Media news agency, which covers and disseminates information on the situation of women in her country. In the words of the actress, Joya is an example of courage. “Tonight we also honor each of the girls who are currently studying secretly in their rooms to move forward”, she has expressed emotionally.

The journalist Zahra Joya cries out that the international community does not forget the women of Afghanistan, where they suffer the extreme repression of the Taliban regime.
The journalist Zahra Joya cries out that the international community does not forget the women of Afghanistan, where they suffer the extreme repression of the Taliban regime.Gates Foundation

Precisely because she is a woman and a journalist, Joya has lived in exile in the United Kingdom since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan. “They are terrorists”, she has launched in a chat with EL PAÍS. “Journalism is not my job, it is my responsibility,” she has stated. “We write for our freedom. We fight for our basic rights to study and work. And our battle has only just begun”, she has referred to the extreme repression to which the female population is subjected and the persecution of informants. “There is no longer freedom of expression.” Reasons why the Rukhshana Media team, still in Afghanistan, is forced to work underground.

The Indian Radhika Batra has dedicated her award to the health workers who work on the front lines around the world and “who risk their lives to provide health in the most remote areas”. And she has expressly thanked her teachers and her mother, among those present, for the values ​​they have instilled in her. A few words with which she has started the first spontaneous applause from the audience and has raised her mother from her seat in a dance moved by her pride.

Do not wait for someone else to come and solve the world’s crises. This is your planet, and no one from outside is going to come clean it up. It’s not hard to start

Radhika Batra, founder of Every Infant Matters

the founder of Every Infant Matters, an NGO that offers medical services to the most vulnerable children in its country, has received the Goalkeepers Award in the 2022 Progress category. Since its launch in 2017, the organization led by Batra has saved 74,173 children from blindness; has given prenatal vitamins to more than 40,000 disadvantaged women; and provided education to prevent gender inequality and the stigma of tuberculosis, HIV and blindness to more than 65,000 families.

Radhika Batra founded the NGO Every Infant Matters to close the health gap that prevents the most vulnerable children in India from having access to health.
Radhika Batra founded the NGO Every Infant Matters to close the health gap that prevents the most vulnerable children in India from having access to health.Gates Foundation

Why did you embark on this project? “Several reasons. First of all, I became a doctor because my parents are. When I was a child, my father used to stop when he saw an accident to help the victims. On two occasions, in front of my eyes, he performed CPR. So I thought that he was a magical gift, that he had a superpower to save lives. And I wanted that gift too.” Also when she was little, Batra suffered from a “serious illness”. But it took her a year to get a diagnosis and she spent another seven in treatment to be cured. This was despite her “privileged position”, in her own words. “And I thought that if it wasn’t for it, she would have died from that disease it was so rare. I realized that children do not have that kind of luxury in India and I wanted to make sure that everyone had the opportunity to fight for their lives and survival, as I had, ”she has detailed in a talk on her round of interviews.

“I promise to dedicate my life to fighting injustice in the world, with the conviction that all children matter”, he addressed the public afterwards. For the media audience she has another message: “Don’t wait for someone else to come and solve the world’s crises. This is your planet, and no one from outside is going to come clean it up. It is not difficult to start. You can pick any cause you’re passionate about, start small, and then create a ripple effect for global change.”

I promise to dedicate my life to fighting injustice in the world, with the conviction that every child matters

Radhika Batra

Initiatives such as those awarded are the ones that must be supported, according to the Gates Foundation, to turn around the latest (and bleak) development statistics. Data from your last goalkeeper reportpublished last week, as well as the Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), reveal that there has been a general setback on the path to achieving the SDGs.

“Although the world is far from achieving the Global Goals by 2030, there is still reason for optimism. We have seen how human ingenuity and innovation can lead to game-changing breakthroughs, and that is exactly what we see in this year’s Goalkeepers Award winners,” Blessing Omakwu, Goalkeepers campaign manager, wrote in the ruling.

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The Gates Foundation honors Ursula von del Leyen for her “inspirational efforts” to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals