UNIDO and EU support mitigation of COVID-19 risks in Guinea

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the UNIDO project “Relance de la Filière Ananas en Guinée”(REFILA) is helping in preventing the spread of the coronavirus in Guinea by mitigating its negative impacts on project beneficiaries in the pineapple sector and their communities in the different intervention zones of the project. In this regard, a contingency plan has been developed to ensure protection measures for the respective actors and sourcing communities. The major project interventions in view of its COVID-19 mitigation response, which is part of the overall UN Response Framework and in line with the national response plan for Guinea, was the distribution of personal protection equipment and hygienic kits for the pineapple sectors’ actors, project partners, relevant target groups and communities around the project areas.

On 2 September 2020, REFILA organized a ceremony in cooperation with the Guinean National Agency for Sanitary Safety (ANSS), to distribute the hygienic kits to counterparts and beneficiaries, including 50,000 facemasks, 1,000 medical protective blouses, 5,000 medical gloves, 2,000 bottles of hydro-alcoholic solutions, 1,000 simple and 30 complex hand washing kits, 120 boxes of soap, 50 thermo-flashes and 150 liters of bleach. Besides this, internet access facilitation, chairs and tables for the conduction of the project’s remote online meetings and trainings have been ensured. In addition, the project is in the process of purchasing 4,000 COVID-19 rapid screening tests.

REFILA is implemented by UNIDO and funded by the European Union. It is the national component of the West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP) in Guinea and aims at reviving the pineapple industry of the country.

Watch the news coverage about the ceremony for handover of the hygienic kits as aired on Guinean national media (in French) here.

For more information contact Mr. Bernard Bau (B.Bau [at] unido.org)