As part of its global response to the coronavirus pandemic, the European Union has mobilised €20 million to assist the Libyan government in tackling the ongoing crisis. In partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the EU will support the prevention of the spread of the coronavirus, in particular among Libya’s most vulnerable communities affected by conflict, forced displacement and migration.
The EU assistance aims at establishing better national coordination mechanisms for the detection and surveillance of infection clusters and improving public awareness of the virus and effective preventive measures. The EU funding will also continue to support Libya’s public health system and allow for urgent investments in medical equipment and personal protective equipment for health workers who are at the frontlines in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The €20 million EU assistance will be released immediately and is expected to directly benefit almost 1,000,000 people in Libya. These new funds come in addition to the EU’s ongoing support to Libyan authorities and health institutions in their response to the COVID-pandemic.
This new EU COVID-19 support to Libya is part of a set of assistance programmes under the so-called “EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa” (EUTF Africa). EUTF Africa was set up in late 2015 to address the root causes of forced displacement and migration and had run several programmes in support of the public health system in Libya already before the COVID-19 pandemic.
