KOICA Signs MOU with Africa CDC... Launches Emergency Support Project

Expansion of Diagnostic and Treatment Infrastructure, Medical Personnel and Expert Disease Management Training, Consulting, etc.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] KOICA has announced on the 20th that it has signed a business agreement with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), an agency under the African Union (AU) headquartered in Ethiopia, and will officially launch the "African Union COVID-19 Comprehensive Emergency Support Project."

The business agreement was signed by Kim Dong-ho, head of KOICA's Ethiopia office, and John Nkengasong, director of the Africa CDC. The signing was conducted through cross-signatures by both parties to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

This support project is part of the Korean government's "Development Cooperation Initiative for a Safe World Together (ODA KOREA: Building TRUST)." The key partner countries of this initiative are Ethiopia, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, and Colombia, and the African Union, along with ASEAN, is included as a regional cooperation body.

KOICA's "African Union COVID-19 Comprehensive Emergency Support Project" will proceed by supporting the Africa CDC's PACT initiative. The support includes providing equipment (oxygen concentrators, oxygen respirators, arterial blood gas analyzers) to expand treatment infrastructure in AU member states; supplying diagnostic equipment and consumables to strengthen diagnostic infrastructure; infection prevention and management for medical personnel and experts to enhance mid- to long-term disease management capacity of member states; clinical management; and non-face-to-face consulting in public crisis communication.

The support targets the entire African continent, and KOICA plans to collaborate with the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) for implementation. Kim Dong-ho, head of KOICA's Ethiopia office, said, "The Africa CDC plays a central role in the continent-wide response to COVID-19," and added, "Through this business agreement, we hope Korea can appropriately support Africa's insufficient testing and medical supplies and vulnerable health systems."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.