The winners of the Kuwait-sponsored, Al-Sumait 2015 Health Award and 2016 Food Security Award have been announced by the prestigious Board of Trustees at a meeting in Kuwait City
Today’s Board of Trustees meeting of
the Al-Sumait Prize for African Development (www.AlSumaitPrize.org/)
honored ground-breaking research on tackling childhood malaria and
addressing undernourishment through Africa, which both impact the
lives of ten millions of children across the continent.
The Board awarded the 2015 Al-Sumait
Prize for Health to Professor Kevin Marsh, from the University of
Oxford and African Academy of Sciences, Kenya, for his sustained
efforts to control and eradicate malaria, which impacts the health of
tens of millions of African children.
The 2016 Al-Sumait Prize for Food
Security honored two organizations The Sweet Potato for Nutrition
Team International Potato Centre, Peru, in advancing the contribution
of sweet potato to African farmers and households to address Vitamin
A deficiency, one of the most pernicious forms of undernourishment,
and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Nigeria, for
its work in improving the yields and nutritional quality of major
staple food crops, such as cassava, banana and maize.
Al-Sumait’s Board is chaired by H.E.
Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Other board members include
Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr.
Donald Kaberuka, Former President of the African Development Bank,
Dr. Kwaku Aning, Former Deputy Director General of the International
Atomic Energy Agency, Mr. Abdulatif Alhamad, Director General and
Chairman of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, Mr
Tareq Al-Mutawa, Executive Member of the Board of Public Gathering
Charity Committee and others.
Dr. Adnan Shihab-Eldin, Director
General of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences
(KFAS), which administers the awards, said the Board of Trustees is
‘proud to award the prizes to all three recipients who have made
major contributions to improving the lives of millions of people
throughout Africa.
“We are deeply humbled by the efforts
demonstrated by Al-Sumait prize laureates in the pursuit of
scientific discoveries to meet the challenges of disease, nutrition,
food production and climate change,” he said. He added all the
laureates were in the frontline of Africa’s challenges, yet have
succeeded despite limited resources.
Al-Sumait Prizes honor individuals or
institutions who help advance economic and social development, human
resources development and infrastructure in Africa through their
sustained research and or innovative projects that result in major
impact on the lives and welfare of the people of Africa especially
the poor and underprivileged. The awards were instigated on the
initiative of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- Sabah,
the Amir of the State of Kuwait.
With each award worth one million
dollars and a gold medal, Al-Sumait awards are administered by the
Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) and a Board
of Trustees who oversee the selection of the recipients. The awards
acknowledge the work of the late Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Sumait, a Kuwaiti
doctor who dedicated his life to addressing the development
challenges confronting Africa and established the Direct Aid
humanitarian organization.
The winning laureates will receive
their awards from the Amir of the State of Kuwait and the President
of Equatorial Guinea during a ceremony at the Fourth Arab African
Summit in Equatorial Guinea on November 22, 2016.
“Each of the winners represent
innovative, exciting initiatives being done to address the challenges
facing Africa,” said Dr. Adnan Shihab-Eldin.
For more information, please visit
www.AlSumaitPrize.org and www.mynewsdesk.com/al-sumait-prize.
Distributed by APO on behalf of Kuwait
Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS).
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