Coronavirus : initiatives de l'UE, vaccins, Team Europe, désinformation, rapatriements et histoires de solidarité

L’UE et le Niger co-organisaient les 7 et 8 février à Niamey le premier Forum des Affaires du Niger. Placé sous le thème " Mobiliser des investissements de qualité et renforcer les relations entre l’UE et le Niger », il a réuni en présentiel quelques 1000 participants de 30 pays, dont au moins 400 entreprises européennes (Belgique, Espagne, France, Italie et Pays-Bas), nigériennes et de la sous-région (Algérie, Bénin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Maroc, Nigéria). Fruit de l’engagement commun des autorités nigériennes et de l’Union européenne d’entamer une réflexion inclusive sur la promotion du secteur privé, l’amélioration du climat des affaires et l’accélération du développement économique et social du pays, il s’agit d’une des plus importantes rencontres d’affaires de l’histoire économique du Niger. A cette occasion, une mission de haut niveau en Format « Team Europe » s’est rendue à Niamey : les Secrétaires d’État de la Grèce, du Portugal et de la France étaient accompagnés des envoyés spéciaux pour le Sahel du Luxembourg et du Portugal et de la Cheffe de la représentation régionale de la BEI. Cette mobilisation de plusieurs États Membres de l’Union européenne pour une mission commune est une première au Niger. Elle démontre la volonté et la détermination des partenaires européens à collaborer ensemble pour assurer la paix et le développement durable du Niger et à renforcer le partenariat avec le Niger en matière d'investissements.

As of February 2022, the EU has donated over 5 million doses of vaccine for the Syrian people. This includes donations from Greece (144.000 doses), Czechia (38.400 doses), Sweden (536.640 doses), Finland (7.800 doses), Spain (381.600 doses) and most recently Italy (3.996.000 doses), marking the biggest vaccine donation to Syria to date.

The European Ombudsman Award for Good Administration 2021 honours the EU’s extraordinary efforts last year to help repatriate over a half million EU citizens stranded around the world due to the pandemic. The joint winning projects were undertaken by staff in the Commission’s department for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (DG ECHO) and the European External Action Service (EEAS).

Le haut représentant/vice-président, Josep Borrell, avec le soutien du SEAE, de la Commission et des délégations de l'UE dans le monde entier, dirige les travaux visant à renforcer la coordination entre les États membres pour aider les citoyens de l'UE qui sont actuellement bloqués en dehors de l'UE.

To support the fight against Covid-19, EUPOL COPPS donated EUR 60,000 worth of protective equipment and sanitiser to the Palestinian Civil Police. EUPOL COPPS is the EU's civilian police and rule of law mission for the Palestinian Territory.

The European Union Advisory Mission (EUAM) reached yesterday out to Ukrainian institutions caught up in the fight against Covid-19 by donating protective equipment to those on the frontline who are putting their lives and well-being at risk.

On International Workers Day on 1 May, the EU’s Myan Ku Emergency Cash Fund transfers the first payments to garment workers who have been suspended or terminated due to the impact the COVID-19 crisis has on Myanmar’s garment sector.

They say that viruses don’t discriminate. But the fact that emergency measures do, has heightened our sense of solidarity: while the elderly are staying at home, health professionals, pharmacists, sales people, drivers, the military, and the police remain at the “front line” of the fight. There is, however, another group of people offering assistance at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic: volunteers and organisations that took upon themselves to help the elderly and the socially vulnerable.

“They are the only ones I can rely on. I can count on them to bring me food and medicine, things I need every day. I’m grateful for their kindness and poatience; I trust them and love them. This past year felt like I had two daughters,” says the old lady (85) from Moravci village whose life changed when geronto-housewives started working in Ljig, Mionica and Lajkovac.

#VaccinesWork: Immunization saves millions of lives every year. This year, the World Immunization Week takes on greater significance than ever since the Covid-19 outbreak reveals what is at stake when communities do not have the protective shield of immunization against an infectious disease.

Magic System Foundation and the European Union have decided to support the government's efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus by providing food and equipment to prevent the epidemic to thousands of families in the autonomous district of Abidjan.

Practicing physical distancing is easier said than done for the more than 850,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, living in cramped conditions in what is effectively the world’s largest refugee camp. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t precautions that those living in Cox’s Bazar can take to minimize the risk of contracting diseases like COVID-19. In fact, many children there have already been doing one of the most important things they can do to protect themselves: washing their hands thoroughly and regularly.

In the fight against the spread of COVID-19, the Government of Nepal extended the nationwide lockdown. Since the outbreak, face masks and sanitizers are scarce in the market. This has mobilised several local initiatives and organisations to produce masks; however, quality standards and availability remain an issue. Through the EU SWITCH-Asia Parya Sampada project, UN-Habitat and implementing partners are joining forces to respond at best to the numerous challenges posed by the pandemic.

Empower Pacific has opened counselling helplines where expert counsellors are responding to calls from all over Fiji 24/7. This helpline counselling service aims to respond to people’s stress and anxieties under the current nationwide response to COVID-19 undertaken by the Government, which includes stringent movement restrictions imposed in the Greater Lautoka Area on 20 March 2020, where Empower Pacific is based. Empower Pacific is one of the partner civil society organisations working with the EU funded Fiji 'Access to Justice Project'.

COVID-19 is affecting countries around the world, with terrible consequences in terms of loss of life and livelihoods. But it is in developing countries, where health systems are often weak and lack resources, that the effects will be felt particularly harshly.

In the streets of Mbanza Kongo and Uíge, in the north of the country, the population is being invited to use the hydro-alcoholic gels at their disposal and check more information on sanitary measures during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Saleema, 28, is a refugee from Afghanistan and is completing her medical studies to become the first female Turkmen doctor in the country.

The stranded travelers returned home aboard the national carriers of 14 EU Member States and partner countries in a coordinated operation led by the EU Delegation in New Delhi

On 22 April, EULEX chartered a plane from Warsaw, Poland to Pristina, Kosovo to bring back 31 Polish police officers from EULEX’s Formed Police Unit. At the same time, EULEX facilitated the cost-free repatriation of twelve Kosovo citizens stranded in Poland and Czechia, following a request by the Kosovo Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora.

Two chartered flights organized under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism repatriate EU citizens from Barbados and other countries

Dans le cadre de la réponse à la crise du COVID-19 en République Centrafricaine, la Maison des Services de la Société civile a déjà organisé 29 sessions de formation et de sensibilisation sur les messages clés liés au COVID-19, dont 21 au sein de la Maison (145 leaders associatifs formés). Huit autres sessions (84 participants) ont déjà eu lieu à l’extérieur de la maison, auprès des Organisations de la Société Civile (OSC) ayant sollicité l’organisation de sessions supplémentaires pour leurs membres.

La Délégation de l’Union européenne en République centrafricaine conduit actuellement une campagne de sensibilisation sur le COVID-19. Parmi les différentes actions, figurent la composition d’un titre musical et la réalisation d’un clip, financé par l’Union européenne.

Une maison de repos pour personnes âgées au Royaume-Uni a lancé l’initiative en ligne «Adoptez un grand-parent» après que ses résidents ont cessé de recevoir la visite de leurs proches en raison de la pandémie de COVID-19.

Gabriella Cucinelli, éducatrice dans un centre de la petite enfance à Québec, souhaitait partager un message d’espoir dans sa province.

Covid-19 has taken humanity by surprise and had a profound effect upon international organisations and governments. The Council of Europe and the EU could not be exceptions to such a rule.

A portable thermal imaging fever system helps border & customs officials to identify from a distance whether travellers have an above normal body temperature.

Lithuania repatriated more than 400 EU citizens and several European countries helped Lithuanian citizens to return back home

During this unprecedented COVID-19 global emergency, the European Union and United Nations remain committed to protecting and supporting women and girls in Timor-Leste and have dedicated USD1 million funding from the flagship Spotlight Initiative budget to address the increased risks of violence against women and girls in context of the pandemic.

Weekends inside… Easter ‘holidays’ round the corner... Unfortunately, due to the current circumstances many of us had to cancel our planned holidays and activities, to avoid the risks of getting and spreading the virus, and flatten the curve. Call it a ‘staycation’, call it a ‘holistay’, what’s important is to try and make the utmost of your time at home. Amongst others, the EU platform ‘Creative Europe At Home’ offers some suggestions to occupy your days and stay entertained online.

Today marks the International Roma Day and, despite the world having its eyes set on the COVID-19 outbreak, it is important to take stock of the persisting problems that the Roma population faces across Europe. These challenges are particularly severe in the current state of global pandemic and need to be addressed urgently.

More than 500 European citizens from more than 20 countries were able to return home, thanks to a joint effort led by Germany and France that included the collaboration of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) in Nicaragua and the coordination with the diplomatic and consular representations of Member States of the EU in the region.

07/04/20- Suva, Fiji - Nearly 300 Europeans, from the European Union, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom are on their way home from Fiji, including 183 on a repatriation flight operated by Fiji Airways and chartered by Germany. Others were able to transit back to Europe on flights to Sydney and Los Angeles.

On the 3rd of April, the Dutch Embassy in Accra, Ghana and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs took the lead to evacuate EU stranded tourists and non-residents from Ghana.

Dans le contexte de crise sanitaire liée au Covid-19, la Délégation de l’Union européenne et la Fondation Magic System – du nom du célèbre groupe de musique – continuent de défendre les valeurs promues cette année en Côte d’Ivoire dans le cadre de l’UE Magic Tour.

Follow updates on the latest coordinated measures to contain the virus and its economic impact inside and outside EU borders.

Austria asked for financial support under the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism to transport citizens from Buenos Aires to Vienna

Serbia will be able to test more samples on COVID-19 than before thanks to a system of referencet laboratories equipped by the European Union, so epidemiologists in Serbia will be able to control the spread of this dangerous disease more quickly.

More than 5,000 tourists were present in the country at the moment of the Coronavirus outbreak.

Following the establishment of travel restrictions, international airlines serving the route Europe - Seychelles suspended numerous flights. This has left many European citizens stranded.

Mésinformation et désinformation sont très présentes dans le domaine de la santé, y compris en ce qui concerne le COVID-19. Il est important de ne se fier qu'à des sources faisant autorité pour obtenir des informations actualisées sur la pandémie de COVID-19.

Regardez mon message vidéo consacré à l'épidémie et à la réaction de l'UE, notamment les efforts que nous déployons pour coordonner le rapatriement de milliers d'Européens bloqués à l'étranger.

Thousands of European tourists have managed to safely go back home from the Maldives and Sri Lanka, thanks to joint work of the European Union and its member states.

The Palestinian authorities have declared a state of emergency related to the spread of the corona virus. A mobile clinic that was donated by the EU Border Assistance Mission is being used as a screening station for travellers arriving into the West Bank.

Stay updated with the latest information on Covid-19.

The European Union has sent tonnes of aid supplies to China, repatriated over 600 EU citizens and announced a new €232 million aid package to tackle the outbreak