PM Abiy, Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation Initiative to Reverse COVID-19 from Africa, 27 March 2020 - Update #4
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
• The Jack Ma Foundation and Ali Baba Foundation and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Dr. Abiy Ahmed, have committed to providing medical supplies and medical equipment to each of the 54 countries in Africa. The press release may be found here.
• Each country will receive: 20,000 test kits, 100,000 face masks, 1,000 sets of protective clothing, and 1,100 sets of protective shields. The medical supplies and equipment are donated directly to the governments in each of the 54 countries. Governments are responsible for arranging collection and distribution of the equipment.
• The first flight of 100MT of medical supplies arrived in Addis Ababa on Sunday, 22 March 2020 on Ethiopian Airlines. First flights departed on 23 March 2020 from Addis Ababa with expected completion of operation within 8-10 days, subject to route changes in a fast-moving operational context.
Coordination:
• The Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health and the African Union’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC) are providing technical guidelines and diplomatic linkages with the African countries.
• Ethiopian Airlines is providing handling of the cargo and scheduling and performing the flights.
• The World Food Programme (WFP) is providing backstopping logistics and supply chain management support in Ethiopia, including sorting and packing country-specific cargo. WFP is also mobilizing resources for these activities, including from the World Health Organization.