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COVID-19 Response: Weekly UN in Zimbabwe Update Issue XIII | 24 July 2020

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Zimbabwe
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UNCT Zimbabwe
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COVID19: Restoring markets and food supply chains

UNDP and CARE have partnered to support safe and fully functional food supply chains in the City of Mutare to ensure uninterrupted supply during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The support will also help the markets to endure the impact of current and future shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Mutare being one of the pilot towns, the programme will run from July to December 2020.
The UNDP and CARE programme will support the construction of safe markets and vendor stalls equipped with infrastructure to reduce the spread of COVID19 and other re-occurring water-borne diseases, such as cholera and typhoid; and capacitate local authorities with the skills to effectively manage and ensure safety of food supply chain systems.
In Zimbabwe, it is estimated that informal markets and vending sites are a significant part of the local food supply chain accounting for 90% of smallholder farmers’ produce.

Capacitating health centers with new testing machines for COVID-19

Beitbridge Hospital is overwhelmed with testing for COVID-19 due to the proximity to the border. The hospital is a testing center for COVID-19 as busses with returnees continue to bring people from South Africa. This week, the World Health Organization trained 12 laboratory personnel to scale up testing capacity. “As Beitbridge hospital, this was our first time using the new Abbott platform for testing. The five-day training, I received has provided me with the knowledge and skills l need to use this new platform. We were taken through all the steps we need to follow to operate the machine,” says Lucy Mwavhera, District Laboratory Scientist from Beitbridge District Hospital.
WHO also supported the training of health workers in Gwanda, Lupane and Chitungwiza.
Following the procurement of the platform specific COVID-19 reagents, expansion of testing has been rolled out.

Bringing sexual and reproductive health services closer to communities

UNFPA and WFP are partnering to provide communities with information on Sexual Reproductive and Health Rights (SRHR) at food distribution points in Manicaland Province. The information dissemination includes sharing of various family planning information and education materials and awareness raising sessions on issues such as family planning, Gender Based Violence and COVID-19 prevention.
Food distribution points are deep in the communities and in close proximity and reach to the general population, making them easier and more convenient for communities to access essential and life-saving information. WFP has over 1,500 food distribution points, covering 311,157 households in 60 districts. Utilising these food distribution points for essential and life-saving sexual and reproductive health rights services.
Meanwhile, joint WFP and UNFPA partnership on maternity waiting homes programme continue to provide food baskets (cereal, pulse, oil and super cereal) to waiting mothers’ shelters in four provinces (Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Manicaland and Mashonaland Central).

Voices from the Field: “We can’t afford to stop our work”

Lynn Chinyanga, World Food Programme (WFP) field monitor says even though cases are in the rise, we cannot afford to catch a breath because communities needs us more than never.
Chinyanga said: “It is a daily reminder from my family every day that COVID is real and it is here. It scares me but I wake up every day knowing that I can touch lives in various ways. I have become part of a team that has reduced suffering in people, I have brought relief and this food really is like an answer to prayers whispered in private places, I am no longer afraid,”. “I feel if not me, then who? I have given hope in a way, it is the songs they sing every time they are trailing home with bags of cereals on their heads that wake me up and make me ready to go again. It is the young girls I see singing happily and sharing their stories at the Food Distribution Point that leaves a memory in my mind.”