By Aggrey Nyondwa Kikobera
World Vision in Uganda has designated over US$1,010,000 ( Shs 3 billion ) to support the government of Uganda in the fight against Coronavirus.
This response mainly seeks to promote preventative measures to slow the spread of the virus, support health systems & its workers, and provide children and their families’ multi-sector support during the crisis.
The response started over a week ago with the handing over of 4,050 boxes of soap and other items to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in Arua district.
The items are meant to support about 150,000 vulnerable children and people with special needs in the refugee settlements.
On April 9, more items, that included hygiene equipment and supplies worth Shs 2 billion were dispatched to support 500 government health units and hospitals in 38 districts where the agency supports over 2 million children and their families.
The items were received by Dr. Diana Atwine, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of health, who appreciated the charity organisation for the timely response.
“We value the support of World Vision, we value the partnership and most importantly we value the quality of work done. The items that they have given are specifically answering our challenges in the COVID-19 response," said Dr Atwine
A key element of the response is focussed on partnering with the Ministry of Health and local governments in order to set-up more isolation centres with mattresses and food for suspected cases.
The organisation is also supporting the training of Village Health Teams (VHTs) in the districts and Child Protection Committee members in the refugee settlements to carry out door-to-door sensitisation with megaphones, as well as distributing soap to households.
Health centres will also be facilitated with hand washing facilities, liquid soap, and personal protective equipment.
Logistically, the organization has contributed over 3,000 litres of fuel to enable coordination and mobilisation at the district level.
According to Jason Evans, the National Director at World Vision Uganda, the organisation has also started programming for the long-term effects of this pandemic and how communities will be able to recover.
“We also fully recognise that before long we will need to consider livelihoods interventions. The question many are asking is whether effectively managing the COVID-19 epidemic is as big a risk as that of economic collapse," Evans said
