News24.com | European Union provides €100 million for Covid-19 fight in 12 African countries

13 Dec

European Union provides €100 million for Covid-19 fight in 12 African countries Lenin Ndebele in Zimbabwe 0:00 play article Subscribers can listen to this article

Team Europe avails a €100 million for Covid-19 fight in 12 African countries as the world grapples with the omicron variant.
UNDP says the pandemic is derailing the Sustainable Development Goals targets of 2030.
UNICEF report finds that over 60 million children now living in "monetary poor" households.

The European Union (EU), through the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), has availed a €100 million (around R1.79 billion) grant to help 12 African countries train health workers, shore up logistics, and build confidence in Covid-19 vaccine uptake.

Countries that have been selected are Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Uganda, Lesotho, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mali, and Nigeria.

The 18-month programme will "help ensure that as vaccines arrive, countries are supported and vaccines reach the whole population, including the most vulnerable. Support will be provided through, inter alia, training for health workers, shoring up logistics, and building confidence in vaccine take-up", the EU said in a statement issued this past weekend.

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According to the Reuters Covid-19 daily tracker, Africa is currently reporting a million new infections about every 96 days and more than nine million cases have been reported since the pandemic began.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its assessment of the negative impact of Covid-19 in Africa said the pandemic has greatly disturbed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets of 2030. As such, the new fund from "Team Europe" at a time when the world is grappling with the omicron variant has been widely celebrated.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on communities and children in Africa, taking lives, affecting livelihoods and the ability of governments to provide essential services to children."

"UNICEF welcomes the EU's support to ensure that populations in the 12 countries, including parents and priority groups such as health workers, teachers, and social workers can be vaccinated against Covid-19. Protecting them is key to restoring and improving services to children," said Marie-Pierre Poirier, Unicef Regional Director for West and Central Africa.

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On Friday, UNICEF said over 60 million children now living in "monetary poor" households, and more than 23 million have missed out on essential vaccines, the highest number in more than a decade. The worst affected are in Africa.

"While the number of children who are hungry, out of school, abused, living in poverty or forced into marriage is going up, the number of children with access to healthcare, vaccines, sufficient food, and essential services is going down. In a year in which we should be looking forward, we are going backward," said outgoing executive director Henrietta Fore in a statement.

The new funding will enhance coordination and partnership with governments, AU Centre for Disease Control, WHO, and partners in planning and monitoring of Covid-19 vaccine roll-out. It will also cover support for the delivery of vaccines to priority groups through increased health force capacity.

Most African countries have problems in cold chain systems and vaccine management, as well as low vaccine acceptance that has seen only eight percent of the African population vaccinated.

The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.

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