COVID-19 SPECIAL: Kenya, Mozambique

A member of Kenya Red Cross demonstrates hand-washing in Nairobi, Kenya A member of Kenya Red Cross demonstrates hand-washing in Nairobi, Kenya © Georgina Smith/Al Jazeera

In Focus by Silvia Luminati

 1. Kenya

Since the last update, violence against health workers and facilities continued.  Forming  part of a campaign against non-local Christians in East Kenya, Al-Shabaab militants attacked a truck transporting medicine near the Kenyan-Somalian border, killing the driver and his assistant. In Ijara city/Garissa county, an ambulance was destroyed by an Improvised Explosive Device planted by members of an unidentified armed group suspected to be Al-Shabaab. Meanwhile, the United Nations Peace Support Operation (PSO) is adapting its response to the pandemic in Kenya, where less than 20% of the population is covered by health insurance.  The protracted violence has destroyed the health infrastructure and many hospitals lack ventilators, intensive care beds and trained personnel. To tackle this, the government announced a special fund for each county to improve hospitalization capacities. So far, more than 3 200 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed.

To learn more, read:

https://reliefweb.int/report/world/covid-19-should-help-rethinking-peace-support-africa

http://insecurityinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/2020-Jan-May-Fact-Sheet-COVID-19-and-Conflict.pdf

 

2. Mozambique

Continuing attacks in Cabo Delgado are hampering the access of humanitarian workers  and their aid operations in the area. On 28 May, jihadists of the  Islamic State  burned down a health centre in province of Cabo Delgado during an attack on the town. An attack on 29 May destroyed the offices of the World Food Programme (WFP). Insurgents also attacked the Macomia Health Centre, killing 17 civilians, and had the Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF)  evacuate its  staff and suspend its activities in the Macomia region. The Humanitarian Coordinator for Mozambique, Myrta Kaulard, called the international community to scale up its sassist for the Mozambican people - in particular those displaced by the violence of armed groups in the Cabo Delgado Province and affected by the impact of the pandemic. The Rapid Response Plan for Cabo Delgado foresees  35.5 million USD to address the urgent needs of tens of thousands of persons without adequate access to food, water and sanitation.

 

To learn more, read:

http://insecurityinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/2020-Jan-May-Fact-Sheet-COVID-19-and-Conflict.pdf

https://www.acaps.org/country/mozambique/crisis/complex-crisis-in-mozambique

https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ROSEA_20200604_MOZ_COVIDCaboDelgado_Appeal_PR_EN_def.pdf

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