Type of Intervention: Specific Action
Sectors Involved: Health, Private Sector and Businesses
Intervention Categories: International relations
Level of Jurisdiction: Supranational
Lead People/Agency: European Union Delegation
Overview: Responding to the COVID-19 epidemic: the European Union committed alongside the Congo
Full details here: https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/congo-brazzaville/77400/riposte-%C3%A0-l%E2%80%99%C3%A9pid%C3%A9mie-du-covid-19-l%E2%80%99union-europ%C3%A9enne-engag%C3%A9e-aux-c%C3%B4t%C3%A9s-du-congo_fr
Type of Justification: No justification given
Source of Evidence or Justification: International – government, International – other
Evidence/Justification: In the Republic of Congo, in response to the call from the Congolese authorities to activate the national response plan to the Coronavirus epidemic, the European Union is working on implementing support focused on two areas:
1) Regarding the urgent direct needs linked to the strengthening of epidemiological surveillance, infection prevention and control on the one hand, risk communication and community engagement on the other hand, the Delegation of the European Union (DUE) will provide direct funding of around 1 billion FCFA (1.5 million €) to the French Red Cross, a privileged partner of the Congolese authorities in these areas.
2) Beyond the current context of health emergency, it is essential to mitigate the economic impact of the epidemic in order to continue to support the Congo in the fight against poverty and the improvement of the living conditions of the populations. Thus, the DUE will provide financial support to WFP to strengthen these actions in the area of security of supply in rural and urban areas, with a particular focus on vulnerable groups. In this perspective, around 1 billion FCFA will be dedicated to strengthening the value chains of agricultural products, in particular the cassava sector (including its local processing). Other sources of funding along these lines are also being explored.
In addition, the EU has reserved an envelope of up to 328,000,000 FCFA (500,000 euros) for technical support which could be mobilized at the specific request of the Government, in response to the health crisis.