Following the rapid surge of Covid-19 cases in the country, the government international relations ministry submitted an official request for support to the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. In a prompt response, Finland has reached out to Namibia by donating urgently-needed personal protection equipment and the European Commission chipped in by providing logistical support. The donation arrived at the Hosea Kutako International Airport on a special cargo flight on Thursday, 1 July 2021 where it was received by Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, international relations minister and Sinikka Antila, ambassador of the EU delegation.
Based on the emergency assistance requested by the Namibian authorities from the European Union member states, Finland donated a total of 2.36 million masks, 200 000 protective visors, 30 000 medical gowns, 100 000 syringes and 189 000 swabs to Namibia to fight the pandemic.
“It has been disheartening to see how Namibia’s health system is under severe strain, and that the hospitals are overwhelmed with coping with the high number of Covid-19 patients. Finland wants to stand in solidarity with the people of Namibia, in this hour of need,” said Matti Karvanen, deputy head of the Finnish Mission to Namibia and Chargé d´Affaires.
The material assistance was delivered through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism as part of the European Union’s joint efforts in fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic. The European Commission is coordinating the pooling of assistance and supports member states in the arrangement of logistics and transport costs.
“The EU is responding to an urgent appeal from the people of Namibia,” stated Antila. “Through the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism, we can coordinate and expedite the delivery of life-saving assistance to countries such as Namibia, demonstrating the solidarity of the people of the EU with those countries facing massive challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic.”