THE European Union (EU), through its “Team Europe” approach, said it stands ready to assist the Philippine government in its fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) as it reallocates funds in originally agreed programs from less-urgent elements to address short- to medium-term consequences of the pandemic.
The “Team Europe” method aims to combine resources from the EU, its member-states, and financial institutions outside the bloc. Meanwhile, the reorientation of funds is geared toward mitigation of the impact of pandemic to health, social and economic recovery, subject to discussion and agreement with concerned government agencies.
Subject to further discussions with the Philippine government, the EU estimates that up to €15 million could be reoriented to address the impact of the contagion in the Philippines.
Under “Team Europe,” the EU’s humanitarian aid has been widely responding to the ongoing crisis by reaching out to the most vulnerable communities with high vulnerability of Covid-19 infections.
Days after the national lockdown, the EU has provided roughly P50.21 million in aid to poor families through cash assistance, food distribution, hygiene kits and face masks, handwashing facilities and transportation for locally stranded individuals. To date, 489,885 individuals had directly received assistance.
The regional bloc, with the support of partner-civil society organizations, is also working on a Covid-19 information campaign. Advocacy materials tackling prevention and coping with the infection are being developed. Multilingual videos and infographics are also being produced to ensure wider dissemination and understanding from the public, specifically targeting the youth and women.
At the regional level, the EU has confirmed funding of €20 million to support a World Health Organization (WHO) systemic response to Covid-19 in eight Asean countries to strengthen the preparedness of these countries in dealing with pandemics. Other EU member-states in the country are also giving direct support.
The EU has likewise mobilized a “Team Europe” package of more than €800 million for Southeast Asia, combining its resources with those of EU countries and financial institutions, according to the Ambassador of the EU to Asean Igor Driesmans. The funds will support actions at country and regional levels to address the health crisis by strengthening health, water and sanitation systems, as well as mitigating its socioeconomic impact.
The package includes regional support to the World Health Organization, as well as enhanced collaboration between scientific organizations. In Asean member-countries, programs target civil-society support, budgets for economic recovery, health-care facilities and testing capacities, as well as humanitarian assistance.
The EU is working with Asean on a regional level to exchange response experiences to the crisis. The first virtual EU-Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting on March 20 reached an agreement that both blocs would work together to deal with the Covid-19 crisis and its consequences. EU EMBASSY
