The European Union (EU) has transported 52 metric tonnes of medical equipment and vital health supplies to support the COVID-19 response in Nigeria.
A statement by the EU said it cooperated with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) on three EU Humanitarian Air Bridge (EU HAB) to ease the exacerbating humanitarian needs posed by COVID-19, and decade long insecurity in the northeast of Nigeria.
The statement further said the humanitarian response has been scaled up in reaction to the new challenges and “in line with the national COVID-19 Response Plan, through medical case management, setting up hand washing stations, quarantine shelters, and providing food assistance to people in need”.
The head of EU Humanitarian Aid Operations office in Nigeria, Thomas Conan, said it was necessary to come together and provide “coordinated response to this pandemic and it is in this spirit that the EU and WFP are cooperating to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Nigeria, and other parts of the world, in these challenging times.
“This urgently needed humanitarian cargo is paramount to help prevent, contain, and treat COVID-19 which threatens every country’s population, worldwide.
“The EU has provided assistance to Nigeria to cover the vital needs of the most vulnerable internally displaced people in the country.”
The European Union Humanitarian Bridge flights, was set up in May to help aid reach vulnerable people in the current context where movement restrictions are creating critical gaps in the transport of humanitarian aid material and workers.
The flights contribute to filling in the gaps, in a manner that complements the UN system.
The three EU HAB flights to Nigeria were organised in cooperation with WFP to help it keep up with the demand for the transport of humanitarian material to Nigeria that was held up due to the unavailability of commercial flights at the moment.
