Remarks by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti
Good afternoon everyone and thank you for connecting with us.
I’m very pleased to be joined at this press conference by the Honourable Minister of Investment Promotion, welcome minister, and the Chair of the WEF Regional Stewardship Board, to discuss efforts to support small- and medium-enterprises in the wake of COVID-19.
We know that this pandemic is dramatically impacting livelihoods, particularly because 70% of people in Africa are working in the informal sector. With a slow-down in economic growth related to COVID-19, the UN Economic Commission for Africa projects that up to 27 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty by the pandemic.
At WHO, we are working closely with our sister UN agencies and other partners, to mitigate the socio-economic impacts, including by providing technical guidance that countries and businesses can use to enhance public safety in resuming economic activity at this stage of the pandemic response.
We are encouraging a context-specific, risk-based approach, with adjustments to facilitate physical distancing, improve access to handwashing facilities, strengthen hygiene practices, and promote the use of masks over the mouth and nose in public.
For example, in Niger, we are working with the Government and partners to support disinfecting surfaces in health facilities, small businesses and in households, and have set-up around 200 handwashing points in communities.
Recognizing that knowledgeable and empowered communities play vital roles in preventing transmission of COVID-19, we are also scaling-up grassroots activities. For example, last week in Chad, our staff were part of a door-to-door campaign, sharing information on COVID-19 with more than 33,000 people. Activities like this help people to understand how they can better protect themselves and others, as well as combatting misinformation around the pandemic.
On the public health front, several African countries have recently increased their testing capacities for COVID-19, including Sao Tome and Principe, where we deployed a team this past week.
In some of these countries, we are seeing an increase in cases, in others the new cases remain stable from week to week, indicating that we need to remain vigilant to stop the spread of COVID-19.
We are continuing to support countries to decentralize and expand capacities so that every community can find, test, isolate and care for cases and trace and isolate their contacts. These public health measures remain fundamental as we move forward.
Finally, as we learn to live with COVID-19, we should all be looking for ways to improve our societies and focus collective well-being. This includes serving the vulnerable and enhancing equity, leveraging digital technology, strengthening local production and supply chains, growing the knowledge economy, investing in emergency preparedness, and building resilient health systems.
Progress in these areas, relies on an all-of-society approach, with solidarity between governments and the private sector, and communities.
I look forward to an interesting discussion today and thank you once again for joining us.