The Director General of the West African Health Organisation (WAHO), Dr Melchior Athanase J. C. Aïssi, held a strategic bilateral meeting with Mr Ciyong Zou, Deputy Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), on the margins of the twenty-first session of the UNIDO General Conference, taking place from 23 to 27 November 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The discussions highlighted the long-standing cooperation between WAHO and UNIDO and explored new areas of collaboration aimed at advancing industrial development for health, strengthening manufacturing capacities, and promoting innovation across ECOWAS Member States.
Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to deepening joint initiatives in pharmaceutical production, health technologies, capacity-building, and support to regional value chains, in line with the objectives of the Global Industry Summit 2025: “The power of investment and partnerships to accelerate the SDGs.”
The meeting also offered an opportunity to discuss WAHO’s engagement in the thematic segments of the General Conference including the Investment and Partnership Day, Women’s Empowerment Day, and Generation Future Day to ensure that West Africa’s priorities in health security, industrial resilience, and sustainable development are well represented.
Dr Aïssi commended UNIDO for its leadership in promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and reiterated WAHO’s readiness to contribute to the success of the General Conference and to long-term South–South and triangular cooperation.
Participants from both delegations expressed enthusiasm about consolidating the partnership to deliver concrete, high-impact results for the ECOWAS region, particularly toward scaling up local manufacturing and enhancing preparedness for future health challenges.