Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE Chinese Embassy in Tanzania has handed over Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) worth 1.3bn/- to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Tanzania that will be used to care for and safeguard front-line personnel in Kigoma refugee camps against Covid-19.
The PPEs are to be distributed to level one and two health facilities. They include Respiratory masks N95, disposable fluid-resistant gowns, medical gloves, eye protection goggles, and reusable gumboots that were handed over on Friday.
Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania, Ms Chen Mingjian, said the equipment were provided under the project sponsored by South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund, a Chinese government initiative, and implemented by UNHCR, which makes it a model of multilateral assistance project.
“Since the project was launched in early 2021, facing the protracted and resurging pandemic, all the relevant parties have made great efforts to overcome a series of difficulties and finally promoted the Project to progress well,” she said.
Ms Chen further said the Chinese government always attaches great importance to the refugees issue. China is committed to preserving peace and promoting common development and actively participates in humanitarian assistance.
She said since 2020, Covid-19 pandemic has brought an unprecedented crisis to refugees across the world and also posed severe challenges in front of refugee protection.
The ambassador noted that China took active actions to cooperate with UNHCR to help African countries in fighting the pandemic under South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund, supported the United Nations Food Programme (UNFP) to launch a global humanitarian emergency hub in Guangzhou, and donated food, clothes, tents, medicines and other necessary supplies to refugee-receiving countries.
According to her, China has also provided 4.6 billion sets of gowns, 18 billion test kits, 430 billion masks and other PPE to 153 countries and 15 international organizations, and more than 2.2 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations.
These measures, she said have benefited many refugee-receiving countries, especially developing countries, by assisting them to better cope with the challenges of Covid-19, ensuring the refugees’ lives, health and safety and supply of basic living materials.
UNHCR Country Representative, Ms Mahoua Bamba Parums said as part of the multi-country Covid-19 response programme, China Aid has provided the same assistance to two other east African countries Kenya and South Sudan through UNHCR.
“As we are all aware, infectious diseases know no borders and do not require visas, hence the importance of approaching it from a regional perspective,” she said
Ms Parums said in Tanzania, the PPE will be used to improve Covid-19 infection prevention and control measures in health facilities in refugee camps and other government health facilities in the Kigoma Region and beyond for the benefit of refugees and their hosts.
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