Project Overview
In many emerging countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has particularly affected the health, education and economic sectors, which are fundamental pillars of development. This crisis has highlighted the critical role of digital services to allow people to stay connected with their public health partners, educational institutions and essential businesses.
In consultation with the Organisation of African, Pacific and Caribbean States (OACPS), the European Union (EU) is funding the DIgital REsponse Connecting CiTizens (DIRECCT) programme in more than 55 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries in the health, education and small business sectors to enable them to cope with current and future shocks. The €15.4 million programme is mainly implemented by the AFD in coordination with the Belgian development agency, Enabel.
CARPHA has received nine hundred thousand Euros (EUR 900.000) under the DIRECCT programme to implement this project. This investment in the health security of the Caribbean region supports integration of real-time digital surveillance systems to enhance risk assessment, monitoring, prevention and control of established infectious diseases and new and emerging public health threats by CARPHA and CARPHA Member States. CARPHA will also coordinate capacity-building of Member States’ Ministries and Authorities of Health to implement these systems for local, sub-regional and regional surveillance, with a focus on gender equity and human-centred technology.