Launch of the One by One: Target COVID-19 Campaign to support Africa
On April 29, 2020, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete Foundation, and the Access Challenge are launching a campaign called One by One: Target COVID-19. The campaign will support efforts by the African Union and its COVID-19 Fund by advocating for increased financing for Africa CDC to raise its capacity for securing essential diagnostics and medical supplies needed for COVID-19 response in Africa.
One by One: Target COVID-19 will collaborate with media houses, celebrity influencers and other stakeholders to disseminate key messages about COVID-19 to different population groups in Africa, aiming to reach every household across the continent. This Campaign will galvanize action against COVID-19 by drawing attention to the need for widespread testing and social prevention measures across the continent, in support of the Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing (PACT): Trace, Test and Track and the Africa Joint Continental Strategy for COVID-19 of the African Union.
IOM assists hundreds of returning migrants in COVID-19 quarantine sites
Ethiopia continues to receive thousands of migrants returned from countries across the region and the Middle East, in response to the COVID-19 global health pandemic. IOM, the International Organization for Migration, is assisting more than 9,400 migrants in the country’s quarantine facilities. Migrants have been sent back to Ethiopia from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, and other countries over the last few weeks.
IOM is supporting the Government of Ethiopia to ensure returning migrants receive medical care, food, shelter and other assistance during quarantine and after, including helping them return to their villages. There are 124 COVID-19 positive cases in Ethiopia and three have died from the disease. There are fears that, were the disease to spread, the public health system could not cope with a major outbreak.
On Thursday (23 April), Ethiopia’s Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Ergogie Tesfaye, joined IOM’s Chief of Mission to Ethiopia Maureen Achieng, on a visit to one of the quarantine centres, Addis Ababa University’s Sidist Kilo campus, operated by the Government of Ethiopia.
Report highlights importance of rural electrification as Ethiopia experiences threats to its economy and food security
Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) launched a new report that shows how electricity can unlock billions of dollars in new value across six agricultural processing or small business opportunities in some of Ethiopia’s most important crops, while saving money for farmers who switch to electricity from expensive alternatives such as diesel.
In collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); the Ethiopian Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy (MoWIE); and Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), RMI’s Capturing the Productive Use Dividend: Valuing the Synergies between Rural Electrification and Smallholder Agriculture in Ethiopia report outlines the synergies between rural electrification and agricultural productivity, processing and businesses, and the value that can flow from closely linking the two. By mapping key value chains and opportunities, this report demonstrates the economic case for a national program to promote the productive uses of electricity.
