Ministry of ICT Kenya to give keynote address at Aid & Development Africa Summit in Nairobi

16 January 2017

With Aid & Development Africa Summit fast approaching, Aid & International Development Forum (AIDF) is excited to share the agenda and recently confirmed speakers, who will deliver invaluable insight into technological innovations and best practice to improve aid delivery and development strategy in sub-Saharan East Africa.

Sammy Itemere, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Information, Communications & Technology, Kenya, will give an opening keynote address on the first day of the Aid & Development Africa Summit. Dr Olawale Maiyegun, Director of Social Affairs at African Union will deliver a keynote speech on second day of the Summit.

The Aid & Development Africa Summit will bring together 300+ representatives from UN and government agencies, NGOs, donors, development banks and the private sector. By attending Aid & Development Africa Summit 2017, the participants will gain practical advice from over 70 speakers and discover innovations in mobile technology to support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), regional health programmes, strengthening community health resilience and tackling communicable diseases in the region.

The first panel on Mobile Technology Innovations to Support Community Resilience will be moderated by by Brice Rambaud, Regional Director, Sub-Saharan Africa, Internews​. The speakers will discuss the impact of mobile devices on development work and utilizing mobile technology to better reach and engage communities. Mathias Lardinois, Program Coordinator, Belgian Development Agency (BTC) will share best practice and lessons learned for scaling mobile-based initiatives while Ronald Rwakigumba, Uganda Country Coordinator, Agri-Fin Mobile, Mercy Corps will present a case study on mNutrition and mAgri programmes in Sub-Saharan East Africa.

The second panel at Aid & Development Africa Summit 2017 is dedicated to Data Strategy to Support SDGs, highlighting the importance of shared platforms and data exchange among aid and development stakeholders. Mark Irura, Project Manager and Technical Analyst, Development Gateway will look into latest trends in data collection and management. Furthermore, Jack Kaburu, Manager, Global Knowledge and Information Management, Catholic Relief Services will address challenges and benefits data sharing through crowd sourcing and open source knowledge solutions.

Peter Mwarogo, Country Director, Kenya, FHI 360 will moderate a panel on Innovations and Reforms to Support Health SDGs. Hear from Peter Vowles, Country Director, Department for International Development (DFID), Abshiro Halake, Deputy Secretary General, Kenya Red Cross Society and Colin Rasmussen, Country Director, International Medical Crops who will provide an overview of current health threats and reforms in the region and discuss how to build Africa’s capacity to meet health SDGs and deal with public health threats. In particular they will look into strengthening health programmes through the use of mobile technologies and explore medical innovations and future outlook.

The second health panel is dedicated to Tackling Communicable Diseases in Sub-Saharan East Africa, providing an update on regional health programmes, disease prevention and control programmes, including vaccinations, testing, monitoring and rapid testing solutions. Miriam Maluwa, Country Director, Ethiopia, UNAIDS will lead the panel with speakers Rosemary Mbaluka-Kilonzo, Assistant Country Director at CARE Kenya and Cynthia Mwase-Kasanda, Head, Africa and Middle East Department at The Global Fund. Special focus will be given to improving access to HIV/AIDS prevention and scaling up HIV treatment and care, e.g. via CD4 count or T-cell tests.

Furthermore, Dr Azmach Gebregiorgis, National Program Officer and project coordinator, Ethiopia, World Health Organization (WHO) will join panel on Improving Maternal And Child Health. Gift Malunga, Deputy Representative, UNFPA and Carol Sherman, Country Director, Kenya, Plan International will address sexual and reproductive health and how to best overcome challenges of child and maternal health in remote areas and temporary settlements.

For more information about Summit agenda and speakers, visit http://africa.aidforum.org/agenda

The participants will benefit from 8+ hours of structured networking sessions with key players in Africa’s humanitarian aid and development sector in order to strengthen foundation for effective collaboration and influence regional development and humanitarian goals.

To register your participation at the Aid & Development Africa Summit 2017, click here. Please note that places are limited.

For all enquiries, please contact Alina O’Keeffe, Head of Marketing, Aid & International Development Forum at marketing [at] aidforum.org