ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA, 30 JULY 2020. The African Union Commission has received a consignment of medical supplies from the Government of the Republic Canada in support of the continent’s fight against the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease.

The donation which contains 400,000 pieces of N95 masks was delievered to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to boost its distribution of essential Infection Prevention and Control materials to AU member states for the COVID19 response.

“We express our profund gratitude on behalf of the Commission and the people of Africa, to the government of Canada for these medical supplies worth over 2 million dollars. It comes at a very crucial time when the entire world must collaborate in the spirit of solidarity to defeat this common enemy“, said H. E. Ameira Elfadil Mohammed, Commission for Social Affairs, Africa Union Commission.

The Canadian’s donation is a significant contribution to support the implementation of the Africa Joint Continental Strategy for COVID-19 , which aims to prevent severe illness and death from COVID-19 infection in African Union Member States and to minimize social disruption and the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Combating COVID19 needs to be a collective effort and the people of Canada are delighted to contribute to this cause for the people of Africa through the AU, in addition to our support to the Partnership to Accelerate COVID19 Testing (PACT) initiative being implemented by the Africa CDC to increase testing on the continent”, said H. E. Antoine Chevrier, Ambassador of Canada to Ethiopia and the African Union when he handed over the items.

The African Union and Canada have maintained long-term partnerships in addressing global health, peace and security, as well as economic challenges affecting the continent of Africa. This donation echoes Canada’s commitment to supporting efforts by the AU’s Africa CDC to achieve the goals of PACT and fully implement the Joint Continental Strategy to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak across member states.

For further inquiries, please contact:

Mrs. Wynne Musabayana | Head of Communication| Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission | E-mail: MUSABAYANAW@africa-union.org

James Ayodele | Principal Communication Officer | Africa CDC ayodelej@africa-union.org

Stephan Wendt | Press Officer German Embassy | Addis Ababa wi-1@addi.diplo.de

Media Contact:

Ms. Faith Adhiambo | Communications Officer-Agenda 2063 | African Union Commission | E-mail: OchiengJ@africa-union.org|