President Paul Kagame has received the 2022 Outstanding African Leadership Award for exemplary Covid-19 response.
The award is an initiative of the US-based American Academy of Achievement which has for six decades brought young leaders face-to-face with the extraordinary visionaries and pioneers who have helped shape the world.
The award comes following Rwanda’s achievements in fighting COVID-19 have been recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) for establishing rapid responses and measures to prevent the spread of the virus through mass mobilization, treatment and care for patients.
Rwanda achieved the WHO target of vaccinating 40 percent of the entire population by December 2021 with 7,587,808 Rwandans aged 12 years and above (60 percent of Rwanda’s population) having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of December 31, 2021.
The academy also awarded Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, with the ‘Outstanding African Leadership Award’ in recognition of the Green Legacy Initiative- started in 2019 with an ambition of planting 20 billion seedlings in a span of four years.
Having exceeded the set goal and fulfilling the four-year challenge with 25 billion seedlings planted throughout the country, Ethiopia has been recognized globally for its reforestation efforts and contribution to addressing climate change.
Kagame also took the opportunity to present the ‘Golden Plate Award’ to the President of Senegal, Macky Sall and the World Trade Organization Director General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who emerged as the winners this year.
Earlier this week at the American Academy of Achievement, President Kagame received the 2022 Outstanding African Leadership Award for exemplary Covid-19 response. He also presented the Golden Plate Award to President @Macky_Sall & WTO DG @NOIweala as a 2017 recipient himself. pic.twitter.com/o67mHvKhqm
— Presidency | Rwanda (@UrugwiroVillage) December 14, 2022
President Kagame is a former recipient of this award, which was handed to him in 2017 for spurring development and turning around Rwanda after the 1994 genocide against Tutsi. He received the award while attending the International Achievement Summit in London.
The ‘Golden Plate Award’ is the highest honor for an individual’s contributions to Science, arts, public service, Sports and industry.
The Golden Plate Award has been presented since 1961 by the American Academy of Achievement to approximately 621 winners since its initiation.
