Statement of the UN Resident Coordinator at the Third Humanitarian Partners Meeting on the COVID-19 Response

(As Delivered)

It is with great pleasure and much relief that I welcome you all, on behalf of the United Nations and in partnership with NDMA, to this third Humanitarian Partners Meeting. As we seek to develop a collective, integrated and coherent Humanitarian Response to COVID-19, it is in solidarity with one another and with our beautiful Kingdom that our collective perseverance has brought us here today and will bring us all to the other side.

As the world continues to battle against COVID-19, with over five (5) million confirmed cases and 328,000 deaths, we are grateful that over 1.9 million people have recovered from the infection. Eswatini is facing a rise in the number of confirmed cases with 217 people diagnosed with the virus and two deaths, yet we have seen an encouraging 97 recoveries.

Our work is more important than ever before. We cannot afford to lose our momentum and must stand in greater solidarity with one another. Let us continue to strengthen the coordination of our National Response, improve prioritization and reduce duplications, whilst protecting those who need our support the most. Thank you for being here today and for persevering to protect the people of Eswatini.

Through our humanitarian meetings, we strive to ensure greater predictability, accountability, and effectiveness in our COVID-19 response by enhancing individual and joint preparedness to mitigate the pandemic’s humanitarian impacts.

In our last meeting, the UN was honored to share with partners the 4W matrix: a tool to enhance reporting, coordination, transparency and accountability while mapping out the efforts of development and humanitarian partners in different sectors. We will share more information on this matrix today. NDMA has since shared crucial updates on the National Response, as did the Ministry of Health and the UN family. We are definitely making significant steps towards ensuring a coordinated and strengthened humanitarian response.

Today, we will continue our efforts in sharing information and solidifying our humanitarian response. We will receive updates from NDMA and individual clusters, as well as projections for Eswatini. The UN will present an update on the ongoing COVID-19 Social Mobilization and Public Awareness Campaign, a campaign led by regional administrations and NDMA with support from the UN to reach out to the Kingdom’s most vulnerable persons.

Colleagues, our individual and collective efforts are critical to the protection of emaSwati in our battle against COVID-19. We are in the fight together.

I look forward to our progress in today’s meeting. I thank you.