World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of the World Health Organisation.
Her Excellence Samira Bawumia, the Second Lady of the Republic of Ghana and the ambassador for the United Nation Foundation on Clean Cooking Alliance is lined up among the many speakers to deliver a keynote speech at the High-Level Side Event to launch the Global Health and Energy Platform of Action on Tuesday, May 21, 2019.
The World Health Organisation adopted the idea to establish a new multi-stakeholder Global Energy-Health Platform of Action in 2018 to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 on health and SDG 7 on energy, starting with a focus on clean cooking.
A platform that is used to pilot closely linked sustainable energy and health solutions at country-level to create strong multiplier effects to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and the objectives of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
World Health Organization believes the interlinkages between energy and health are numerous. Clean household energy improves the health and well-being of all, particularly women and children who often bear the greatest health risk from household air pollution. Improvements in energy efficiency and with an increased reliance on renewable energy are critical for ensuring the delivery of health care services, particularly in remote settings, while at the same time minimizing the climate footprint of the health sector.
Several speakers have been scheduled to speak on the day including Dr Zulema Tomás, Peru’s Minister for Health, Ms Dymphna van der Lans, CEO, Clean Cooking Alliance, Mr. Salvatore Vinci, Deputy Director, Country Support and Partnerships Division, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Ms. Isabel Raya, Energy Policy and Partnerships Consultant, Division for the Sustainable Development Goals, UN-DESA; Ms. Sheila Oparaocha, International coordinator and programme manager, ENERGIA & Co-facilitator of the SDG 7 Technical Advisory Group.
