In response to the request made by the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries of Mali to the ECOWAS Commission, through the Regional Animal Health Centre, for support in terms of equipment and sanitary items, the Centre approached the EU Delegation in Mali and obtained approval for 17,060,000 FCFA from the contingency fund of the COMATAO/PREDIP Project to support Mali.

Equipment and items to reinforce measures to counter the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, including Infra-red thermometers, hand washing kits, hydro-alcoholic gels (hand sanitizers), bleach and handwashing soap, facemasks and gloves, were handed over to the Honorable Minister of Livestock and Fisheries, Mrs Kane Rokia Maguiraga, via a videoconference on 7th of May, 2020 on behalf of the ECOWAS President H.E. Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, by the Hon. Commissioner of ECOWAS Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources, Mr Sékou Sangaré.

Mr Sangaré was not physically present in Mali for the event. The items were handed over by Dr Vivian Iwar, Executive Director of the ECOWAS Regional Animal Health Centre based in Bamako.

Mrs Maguiraga expressed the gratitude of the Malian government to the EU delegation and the ECOWAS Commission for the support. "This support comes at the right time as it is in line with the President's commitment to the fight against coronavirus: every Malian, one mask," she said. "I can assure you that these items will be of great use to my Department in the fight against the pandemic", she added.

Present at the handover ceremony via visioconference were, the Permanent Representative of the ECOWAS Commission in Mali, Prof. Hamidou Boly and the Coordinator of the PREDIP Project, Dr Ahmat Hassan, CILSS-Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

For the video report, kindly go to : https://youtu.be/p_T0eXeQh3Y
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TzsKiiffHgyLcpYNcH2MWBTsAU2rnq4p...