Bill Gates and UAE Minister warn 200,000 young lives at risk without urgent action

Urgent action is required if the lives of 200,000 children are to be saved, an Abu Dhabi summit featuring Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has heard.

Mr Gates was in conversation with Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Co-operation, at the Goalkeepers Abu Dhabi event, organised by the Gates Foundation and the Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity, at Manarat Al Saadiyat on Monday evening.

Mr Gates and Ms Al Hashimy warned that the world is at risk of reversing decades of progress in child survival – a theme echoed repeatedly throughout the evening.

Child mortality is projected to reach an estimated 4.8 million deaths by the end of the year, a rise of 200,000, the first time the number has increased this century, according to a new report by the Gates Foundation.

“This has to galvanise us,” said Ms Al Hashimy. “We can’t wait for root causes to be fixed before acting. We have to work on humanitarian, development and political tracks simultaneously.”

The humanitarian crisis facing the world was brought into sharp focus on Tuesday, with President Sheikh Mohamed directing the UAE to commit $550 million to support an appeal from the UN to provide aid to those in need.

The goal of the UN’s Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) is to raise $33 billion in 2026 to support close to 135 million people across 23 humanitarian operations worldwide, including programmes supporting refugees and migrants, the stat