Ruadhán Jones
Three of Ireland’s largest aid agencies, Concern, Trócaire and GOAL, have teamed up with the Government to implement a €1.5 million Covid response plan that aims to support 400,000 people.
At the project’s launch last week, Ambassador of Ireland Lesley Ni Bhriain praised the “essential response work” the three charities will carry out in Sierra Leone.
“All three Irish agencies have extensive experience responding to global emergencies and their experience in tackling Ebola has been particularly beneficial in responding to Covid-19,” she said.
In a statement, Trócaire said that the aim of the initiative is to “mitigate the impact of the virus on the country’s most vulnerable communities”.
Covid-19 has already spread in all 16 of Sierra Leone’s districts, with over 1,700 cases so far, putting pressure on an already fragile health system.
Initiative
The initiative will take a “bottom-up approach”, placing local organisations at the centre of the response.
The agencies aim to empower communities to protect themselves through the provision of “training on prevention and control of the virus, as well as hand-washing materials”.
Masks
The organisations will also provide essential supplies such as soap, sanitisers, and face masks to the poorest regions of Sierra Leone.