East African Community, Arusha, Tanzania, 11th December, 2020: The training of trainers’ course on COVID-19 preparedness and response at 12 One Stop Border Posts between the EAC Partner States started in October 2020 and will end on Sunday, 13 December 2020 at the Gasenyi border post in Burundi. By then about 230 staff will have been trained and will scale up the measures by teaching further colleagues.
The training was convened by the EAC Secretariat and implemented by AMREF Flying Doctors to ensure that the busy border posts can effectively prevent the spread of COVID 19 and detect and respond to infected passengers.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 2 October, 2020: As the Partner States in the East African Community (EAC) region ease measures that were established to prevent and respond to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the EAC Secretariat has commenced a training of trainers’ course for staff at 12 One Stop Border Posts between the Partner States.
The training that aims at strengthening the prevention of and response to COVID-19 and other communicable diseases, involves staff from various sectors in line with the One Health approach. The training programme kicked off this week at the Isebania/Sirari border post between Kenya and Tanzania. The training is conducted by AMREF Flying Doctors in close cooperation with the EAC Secretariat.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 16 September 2020: Border Posts are high-risk areas regarding the spread of COVID 19 and other infectious diseases from one country to another. These “Points of Entry” are at the center of movement of people, animals and goods from one country to another.
The capacity of border post staff to prevent the spread of the virus and to quickly and expertly respond to infections in people who cross the border determines the efficiency. “The region has started opening its borders and space to allow movement of travelers in the region. This involves a risk as the pandemic has not yet ended”, says Hon Christophe Bazivamo, the Deputy Secretary General Productive and Social Sectors at the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat. To minimize this risk, the EAC will convene a training of trainers at 12 “One Stop Border Posts” (OSBPs) in the region to enhance the capacity of staff for infection prevention and for communicating the COVID-related risks to travelers.
The RECDTS App is designed to stop Corona in its tracks along EAC key transport corridors
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 8th September, 2020: The East Africa Community (EAC) Secretariat and its Partner States today held a virtual roll out event to mark the technical completion and development of the Regional Electronic Cargo and Driver Tracking System (RECDTS). RECDTS is designed as a mobile phone application and will enable the issuance of the EAC COVID-19 digital certificates that are mutually recognised by Partner States, thus eliminating need for multiple testing as well as contributing to alleviating ongoing congestion at East Africa border crossing points.
The roll out was witnessed by the Chair of the EAC Council of Minister, Hon Prof Nshuti Manasseh, Ministers of Health from Kenya and Uganda as well as the EU Ambassador to Kenya, H.E Simon Mordue.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 7th August, 2020: The EAC Deputy Secretary General, in charge of Productive and Social Sector, Hon Christophe Bazivamo has disclosed that all is set for the launch of the EAC Regional Electronic Cargo and Driver Tracking System (RECDTS) in collaboration with the EAC Partner States National Focal Points on Covid-19 and TradeMark East Africa (TMEA).
Addressing a weekly online EAC Ad hoc Regional Coordination Committee meeting (EARCC) on Covid-19, the Deputy Secretary General confirmed that RECDTS will be launched at five border points of Rusumo (Tanzania/Rwanda) on 12th August, 2020; Mutukula (Uganda/Tanzania) on 14th August, 2020, and; Malaba border (Kenya/Uganda) on 21st August, 2020.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 22nd July, 2020: The COVID-19 global pandemic has left economies crumbling worldwide and the East African Community (EAC) region has not been spared. On a positive note though, “the EAC Secretariat is doing all it takes to ensure that the EAC Partner States’ economies can quickly recover to normalcy” said Hon Christophe Bazivamo, the Deputy Secretary General Productive and Social Sectors at the EAC Secretariat.
East African Community Secretariat, Arusha, 1st July, 2020; The Eastern Africa National Networks of AIDS and Health Service Organizations (EANNASO) launched its East Africa Wananchi Digital Health Platform (AFYA) in an online event as travel and large gathering are still not possible in most EAC Partner States.
Afya is an online digital platform mapping health service centers along EAC borders. Residents and travelers can easily view on their mobile phones or laptops which health facilities offering the required essential services are within reach. The service starts by mapping the services along the border of Tanzania and Kenya, but will be extended to other EAC Partner States later.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 19th June, 2020: The German Ambassador to Tanzania, her Excellency Regine Hess, joined and obviously also enjoyed a training on the prevention and detection of COVID-19 infections for airport staff at the Abeid Karume Amani International Airport in Zanzibar this week.
The trainings for trainers are set to take place at international airports in the EAC region to prepare them prior to resume to normal travel after COVID-19 restrictions. The training are convened by the EAC Secretariat, organised and coordinated by the EAC Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency (CASSOA) and implemented by AMREF Flying Doctors (AFD).
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 30th May, 2020: EAC Partner States have adopted the EAC Regional Electronic Cargo and Drivers Tracking System that will be hosted at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The system is expected to share truck driver’s information leveraging on that which is managed and operated by Revenue Authorities in the region, and the existing health information systems in Partner States.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 28 May 2020: According to the Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum Statement, parts of South Sudan, Western Kenya, Uganda, Northern Tanzania and Rwanda are expected to receive above normal rainfall between June and September 2020, while the rest of the EAC Region is expected to experience the normal dry season. “It is against the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the heavy floods that have caused havoc in parts of the region and the second wave of desert locust invasion, the EAC Secretariat urges the Partner States to take appropriate measures to ward off further threats to our people” says the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sectors, Hon. Christophe Bazivamo.
