As fragile states in the Pacific respond to the social-economic challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union delegation in the region has heightened its support to help Pacific states to respond effectively, by advancing some payments and redirecting funds from current programmes to health-related activities.
Similarly, to the other parts of the World, the COVID-19 crisis has had a severely disruptive effect on the socio-economic situation in the Pacific, particularly in countries with an already high budgetary deficit such as Papua New Guinea (PNG).
A spokesman for the EU Delegation in PNG confirmed that the financial support given to partner countries and territories in the Pacific region amounted to €119 million as of December 2020.
“To cope with the socio-economic impacts caused by the pandemic, the EU has advanced budget support payments of €95 million and redirected €24 million from existing programmes and reserves to health-related activities,” the spokesperson said adding that 65% had already been delivered by mid-September 2020.
In addition, the EU will provide €22 million to support the implementation of the Joint Incident Management Team (JIMT) phase II which is also supported by Australia and New Zealand.
In PNG, the EU expressed concern that women were paying a disproportionate price for the COVID-19 pandemic. As individuals, communities, and families are isolated and the delivery of essential services is limited, women are particularly affected.
“We are also seeing worrying trends whereby women are more exposed to violence, including domestic violence. In this context, the EU appreciates that Papua New Guinea has joined the EU initiated group in support of the UN Secretary-General’s appeal on Gender-Based Violence and COVID-19, and underline the importance of ensuring its implementation,” the EU Delegation to PNG official added.
In PNG, the main response so far has been through the re-orientation of activities within the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) projects and the Spotlight initiative – a global, multi-year partnership between the European Union and the United Nations to eliminate all forms of violence against women.
Other support has been proposed to PNG, for example, access to a €3 million contingency fund under the STREIT programme. A contingency fund is money that only can be used in unforeseen emergency situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It has to be duly justified and cannot be used for a simple top-up of existing activities. Until now, however, the PNG government has not reacted to this proposal and the EU looks forward to a decision from the PNG national authorities,” the spokesman commented.
The EU has also encouraged PNG to cooperate closely with the World Health Organization.
“The EU intends to drive an inclusive and constructive process to strengthen the WHO capacity, reconciling the different reform proposals from the WHO and several WHO members (the US-backed by Brazil, France, Germany, Chile, and South Korea). The EU expects that PNG will support the EU reform initiative which is still being formulated ahead of the World Health Assembly in May 2021,” the official explained.
