Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.
Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.
The United States House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to send Resolution 245 to the House Floor. The resolution calls for renewed, decisive, and robust international collaboration and coordination to fight COVID-19 across Africa.
The resolution was introduced last week by Congressmember Karen Bass, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Africa.
The vote comes a week after the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa also hosted a hearing on addressing COVID-19 on the continent.
“I want to thank my colleagues for supporting this resolution,” said Rep. Karen Bass. “We all want this pandemic to be over, but this simply cannot happen unless we act in collaboration and coordination to fight COVID-19 throughout the world. Renewed, strategic, respectful, and focused approach to U.S. policy toward Africa will lay the foundation for long-term post-COVID-19 recovery. We must seize this renewed sense of urgency to create momentum around African-designed and led sustainable strategies that will increase its resilience to the next global challenge and contribute to its prosperity.”
The resolution urges the United States House of Representatives to reaffirms that decreasing the spread of COVID-19 in Africa is in the national interest of the United States.
It also call on the international community to ensure equitable global distribution of personal protective equipment to keep African healthcare workers safe; and urges African governments to prioritize education, including by strengthening electrification infrastructure, internet access, and technology to advance and facilitate learning amid the challenges posed by COVID-19.
