May 12, 2020 (Ali-Sabieh, Djibouti): As part of IGAD Regional Response Strategy against COVID19, the Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), H.E. Dr Workneh Gebeyehu, today handed over Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) supplies to the refugee population living in Hol-Hol Refugee Camp in Djibouti. He also donated PPE kits to cross border populations between Djibouti-Ethiopia and Djibouti-Somalia through the Prefect of the Ali Sabieh District in Djibouti, H.E. Mr Moussa Aden Miganeh.
These events were held at Hol-Hol Refugee Camp and Ali Sabieh town in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior represented by the Director General of the National Office for Assistance to Refugees. (ONARS) M. Houssein Hassan Darar, the Ministry of Health of Djibouti and the local authorities. Simultaneously today, hand-over ceremonies were also organised in some other IGAD member states. An IGAD delegation representing the Executive Secretary presented PPE kits destined to the cross border populations of Moyale between Kenya and Ethiopia to the Ministry of Health Kenya in Nairobi.
The PPE supplies aimed at these vulnerable populations for the 7 IGAD member states are worth an overall amount of USD 175,000.
These PPE packages made up of hydro-alcoholic solutions, hand washes, surgical masks and examination gloves are meant to contribute to averting contaminations to the Corona Virus among the vulnerable populations living in refugee settings and at various cross border areas across the IGAD region.
Following the recommendations made by the IGAD Summit on COVID-19 end of March this year and the Virtual meeting of Ministers of Health, IGAD Secretariat has joined to support the efforts by member states in combatting the pandemic.
The cross border and refugee populations, the Internally Displaced Persons are among the most vulnerable. ‘No one should be left behind for all of us to win over the pandemic’, the Executive Secretary said during an interview with media at the Prefect office. He added that ‘by supporting vulnerable populations, we ensure safety for all’. Dr Workneh also recalled that an ‘inclusive and comprehensive approach’ was paramount in the IGAD Response Strategy to defeat COVID19.
Mr Moussa Aden Miganeh thanked the Executive Secretary for taking the time to travel to his District town of Ali Sabieh and welcomed the gesture. ‘Ali Sabieh region is bordering Somalia and Ethiopia and we have large populations living across these borders who are in need of this equipment now’, the Prefect said. Mr Moussa accompanied the Executive Secretary to the Hol-Hol Refugee Camp under his jurisdiction area to attend the donation ceremony.
