The European Union’s Response to COVID-19 and taking action in Tanzania
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is impacting on the health and socioeconomic status of the entire humanity. There have been more than 2 million confirmed cases globally, claiming more than 140,000 victims already. Managing COVID-19 calls for global solidarity: it is essential to end the spread of the virus and save lives, but it is equally important to avoid long-lasting negative effects on social stability and security in our partner countries, including Tanzania.
The European Union is responding quickly with several different actions. The first ones have been at global and regional level, while the EU is now focusing on country-level interventions and identifying the most appropriate actions to help in each specific context.
In the first phase, the EU has provided € 114 million (Tsh 274 billion) to the World Health Organization (WHO) to contribute to the implementation of its Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. Among the other countries, WHO is providing support also to the Government of Tanzania.
The EU is also joining research and innovation efforts with Africa in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak. The EU is identifying partners to support and strengthen research capacity on the coronavirus in sub-Saharan Africa. Three sets of projects in total will be funded with over € 25 million (Tsh 60 billion) from “Horizon 2020”, the EU research and innovation programme.
Moreover, € 90 million (Tsh 216 billion) have been allocated through the “Innovative Medicines Initiative”, a partnership between the EU and the pharmaceutical industry to boost the research on therapies. Still in the area of research, € 5 million (Tsh 12 billion) have been allocated to the “Institut Pasteur” in Dakar, Senegal, to support measures such as rapid diagnosis and epidemiological surveillance, especially using mobile labs.
After these initial decisions, the EU response has now entered into a more targeted phase, with a clearly defined strategy outlined in the document: "Global EU response to COVID-19"[1]. The European Union will support partner countries’ efforts in handling the coronavirus pandemic and will focus its action on three areas:
- Responding to the immediate health crisis and the resulting humanitarian needs.
- Strengthening health, water and sanitation systems, as well as partner countries’ capacities and preparedness to deal with the pandemic.
- Mitigating the immediate social and economic consequences, including support to the private sector.
To fund these actions, the EU has secured massive financial support amounting to more than € 15.6 billion (Tsh 37.4 trillion). Besides immediate health challenges, it is evident that the most durable negative effects will be on the society and on the economy. This is why the bulk of EU resources will be devoted to stimulating the economy, preserving value chains that are at risk of collapsing, but also to strengthening and extending social protection mechanisms, fighting against jobs loss, and protecting workers with a special attention to the most vulnerable.
In this second phase, the EU is identifying the most appropriate measures to take country by country and the Delegations of the European Union are formulating proposals that shall be discussed with the respective governments of the partner countries. The cooperation measures that will be adopted will depend on the needs and on the joint assessment of the policy actions necessary to tackle them.
More than ever, this is a collective effort of the European Union together with its Member States working as "Team Europe". We are all called to mobilise available resources and contribute to help our most affected partner countries.
For instance, The Netherlands have contributed € 100 million to institutions like UNICEF and WHO and to humanitarian aid. France provides support to 6,000 smallholder farmers in Tanzania to prevent the epidemic in their communities and has allocated € 500,000 to food security and economic assistance to vulnerable rural population during the pandemic. Ireland made an initial allocation of € 1.5 million to organisations supporting the Tanzanian government’s response within 7 days of the first case being announced. These grants support increased laboratory testing; staff salaries for doctors, nurses, lab technicians, molecular biologists; and supplies and equipment to protect frontline workers. Sweden, is working with the Tanzanian Ministry of Education and the international community to ensure access to additional funding through the Global Partnership for Education, of up to 20 million USD to respond to the disruptions to education caused by COVID-19.
The COVID19 crisis will mark the XXI century on a truly global scale. It is a challenge that will test the capacity of countries collaborating for the common good. Yet there is no alternative to genuine co-operation and reciprocal help in a world that remains as never before interconnected, and where crisis in one place rebound and make their effects felt unpredictably. Tanzania and the East African Community have a role to play, because of their increasingly strategic place in Africa and in the world. The European Union is ready to reaffirm its partner role and engage in a common effort to overcome this new challenge.
Manfredo Fanti, is the Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to the United Republic of Tanzania and the EAC
[1] https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/77326/coronavirus-european-union-launches-%E2%80%9Cteam-europe%E2%80%9D-package-support-partner-countries-more-%E2%82%AC20_en