July 4, 2022 (Djibouti, Djibouti): The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) commenced the 5th EU-IGAD COVID-19 Response Project Steering Committee Meeting, today, in Djibouti.
The two days, Meeting is aimed at updating the project progress and to present the detailed plan for activities for the project during the upcoming No-Cost Extension Period and beyond; including, discussing and agreeing on Recommendations on issues for sustainability and Continuity of the project, with full ownership and gradual takeover by the IGAD member States.
On the opening ceremony of the Meeting, speaking on behalf of the Executive Secretary of IGAD, H.E. Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, Mme Fathia Alwan IGAD Director for Health and Social Development Division welcomed the participants and disclosed that the project has advanced the agenda of addressing the challenges and meeting the demands responding to the pandemic.
“ I would like to stress that we are not yet out of the woods but as a region, we have grown and improved in response to this pandemic, with the support of our development partners – among others, the European Union, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the African Development Bank.” She said.
Furthermore the Director emphasized that some gaps are yet to be plugged, for example, vaccination: uptake is poor, capacity to manufacture these is non-existent in the region. New threats continue to emerge, for example, Monkey pox and Avian Flu are worth mentioning.
“Our response to these challenges in the words of our Executive Secretary, Dr. Workneh, is that: “there is no alternative to enhancing the region’s capability to test, trace and vaccinate.” In other words, we need to strengthen the health systems in the IGAD region!” Madam Fathia added.
On his opening remarks, Mr Aidan O’Hara, Ambassador of the European Union to Djibouti and IGAD, said that the European Union is focused on supporting vulnerable communities in the IGAD region and ensuring their health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With this program, we have reached over 1.6 million people. We have delivered more than 8 million PPE articles as well as COVID-19 test kits, PCR machines, ambulances, mobile laboratories and field vehicles in order to respond in remote and hard-to-reach areas.” The Ambassador said.
Furthermore the European Union Support to the project advanced the response providing water and sanitation services to communities and reaching 1.6 million people in the seven IGAD Member States.
“Through trade interventions, we are ensuring that critical supply chains remain safe for trade. We are promoting community engagement and gender-based violence prevention through risk communications and awareness rising. We are committed to ensuring that no one is left behind and to building strong, resilient communities in the IGAD Member States.” He added.
Representatives from Djibouti as host country and Sudan as IGAD Chair, as well as including partners UNOPS and GIZ also gave their opening remarks.
The program has helped mitigate the impact of the pandemic in the IGAD region with over 450 activities spread across 55 cross-border sites in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda.
During the opening of the Meeting Dr. Girum Hailu, the regional coordinator for EU-IGAD COVID_19 Response said that the project Steering Committee is the governing board for policy and strategic guidance for the EU – IGAD COVID 19 program to assure complementarity and coherence of the program with National and Regional efforts and priorities. “The Meeting will have both physical attendance by Member States and Stakeholders, donors and virtual participation of beneficiaries from member states” the coordinator added.
So far, four project steering committee meetings have been held to date with partner and member states’ representation. The 4th PSC among others recommended the procurement of two PCR machines per MS, vaccination of truck drivers in Ethiopia-Djibouti transport corridor, project No Cost Extension (NCE) and response to humanitarian response in Sudan.
The focus has been on enhancing IGAD’s coordination capacity in cross-border areas. The programme has improved access to healthcare and to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. It has also tackled gender-based violence (GBV); improved community engagement and has promoted digital solutions to healthcare challenges. The programme is supporting some of the most vulnerable groups exposed to the virus and these include frontline workers, migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons, border and customs officials and cross-border communities.
The focus has been on enhancing IGAD’s coordination capacity in cross-border areas. The programme has improved access to healthcare and to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. It has also tackled gender-based violence (GBV); improved community engagement and has promoted digital solutions to healthcare challenges. The programme is supporting some of the most vulnerable groups exposed to the virus and these include frontline workers, migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons, border and customs officials and cross-border communities.
The programme is running in cross-border sites, refugee camps and migrant response centres. It has reached 1.6 million people through health interventions; 1.5 million people through WASH activities; more than 63,000 people through GBV prevention; and nearly 5,000 people through safe trade actions.
Delivering in some of the most remote cross-border areas, the programme is renovating and building Health and WASH infrastructure in Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda. To date, the programme has delivered 8.65 million PPE articles, 209,000 COVID-19 test kits, 22 ambulances and six field utility vehicles, as well as one water tank truck. The programme is also seven mobile laboratories and 14 PCR testing Machines. The German agency, GIZ, is working with IGAD on the implementation of a regional health data sharing policy which will help make regional digital health tools available in the Horn of Africa.
The meeting brought together representatives of the project funders (EU and BMZ), IGAD Secretariat and project officers, IGAD Member states, the Project Management Unit (UNOPS PMU), the implementing partners (GIZ, IOM, TMEA, UNICEF and UNOPS) and select international bodies.
The initiative is supported by the European Union; the €60 million program is coordinated by IGAD. It is managed by UNOPS via a dedicated Programme Management Unit (PMU) based in Djibouti and implemented by IOM, Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA), UNICEF and UNOPS. The digital health solutions component of the programme is managed and implemented by GIZ. Today’s meeting brought together the key stakeholders of the programme to review the progress to date and engage with representatives from IGAD Member States. The participants looked at ensuring the sustainability of the results achieved and at how the well-being of the most vulnerable people can be improved.
The Expected Outcomes of the Meeting are update on the project progress, achievements, Challenges and the way forward; Presentation of the planned activities to be carried out during the No-Cost Extension (NCE) period; Reassurance for Sustaining the Existing Results of the Project by enhancing ownership and gradual take over by the member states; And agreement to involve more partners and stakeholders for continuity and sustainability in the coming period.
The Project Steering Committee (PSC) is the board for the governance of the EU-IGAD COVID-19 Response project.
