London, Nov. 14, 2020 (AltAfrica)-Between March and September 2020, the UN in Rwanda has mobilised more than 200 million dollars to support the government in the fight against COVID-19. 

This was revealed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Africa during the UN One Family meeting with Donors, Development Partners and the Government represented by Ambassador Guillaume Kavaruganda, Director General in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

The Director-General thanked Development Partners for their continuous support to the country in different sectors, especially in fighting COVID-19.

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While addressing the partners,  Fodé Ndiaye, UN Resident Coordinator, commended their prompt response when called to action.

“I wish to thank the government of Rwanda for the tremendous work done which has yielded results. Kudos also to the partners and UN agencies for their synergy to achieve those results.”  said Fodé Ndiaye, also adding that, “Once you have friends, funds will follow.”

The support provided was both financial and technical and was only possible thanks to the different partners who have been selflessly contributing before Rwanda detected its first case.

The pandemic is far from over and there have been additional needs that have come up beyond what was anticipated, further increasing the price tag and highlighting the gaps in the type of support needed.

In his prerecorded message, Dr. Daniel Ngamije, Minister of Health, appealed to partners to take into account the complexity with which the pandemic was evolving.

“We appreciate how the UN family was responsive. Their support was timely provided, comprehensive, and in line with our preparedness and response plan. We recently extended our COVID-19 response for the control of this pandemic and some additional resources are required in terms of advocacy. We count on the UN family to make it to the list of countries receiving the vaccine,” says Ngamije.

Rwanda’s preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic were robust and rapid from strengthening health systems to mitigating socio-economic impact. In collaboration with the government of Rwanda and development partners, the UN efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic is continuous.

Currently, the government of Rwanda, with support from WHO, is undertaking intra-action reviews of the work done so far. Through this exercise, areas of improvement will be identified and addressed through the next COVID-19 response plan.