On Wednesday, the United States, in partnership with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing EGP 51 million (or $3.2 million) to the Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC) to mitigate the spread of coronavirus in Egypt.
This funding will support ERC’s network of volunteers, totaling 30,000 persons, to help curbing the outbreak of the coronavirus and face any future crises.
Mr. Jonathan Cohen, the U.S. ambassador to Cairo stated, “As the whole world is facing the coronavirus pandemic, the US found it necessary to provide support to Egypt and help hundreds of thousands of Egyptian doctors, medical service staffs and volunteers to face to the deadly virus."
On her part, the Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Dr. Rania Al-Mashat noted, “All stakeholders, including civil society, are working together to address the health and economic challenges caused by COVID-19.
Dr. Nivine El-Kabbag, Egypt's Minister of Social Solidarity and Deputy Chairperson of ERC, said, “We are proud of our cooperation with USAID to support the constant efforts exerted by the Egyptian Red Crescent. I want to stress that cooperation with USAID will have a major impact in the development of ERC’s services and its access to a larger number of beneficiaries.”
USAID assistance will specifically support the distribution of hygiene kits and supplement ERC’s mobile resource centers to expand awareness of safe hygiene practices and provide initial fever screenings.
To ensure that volunteers are quickly sent where they are most needed and that ERC maintains coordination and communication with its volunteers, USAID will help strengthen its command and control capabilities through technical equipment upgrades. USAID will also assist ERC to provide psycho-social support services to health workers so that they can continue to serve the Egyptian public.
Egypt and the US
Over the past 40 years, the United States through USAID has invested over one billion dollars in strengthening Egypt’s health systems by working in partnership with the Egyptian people to improve maternal and child health and nutrition, eliminate infectious diseases, and educate and mobilize community health workers to deliver home-based health information and services.
For decades, the U.S. has been the world’s largest provider of bilateral assistance in public health. Since 2009, American taxpayers have generously funded more than $100 billion in health assistance and nearly $70 billion in humanitarian assistance. Because an infectious-disease threat anywhere can become a threat everywhere, the United States calls on other donors to contribute to the global effort to combat COVID-19.
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