Emergency Facility Programme in response to COVID 19 in the Western Balkan Region



Contract partner: UNDP - Istanbul - Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS - UN Istanbul Regional Hub Country: Europa, regional/länderübergreifend Funding amount: € 250.000,00 Project start: 01.07.2020 End: 31.12.2020

Short Description:

Overall goal


In response to the immediate impacts of COVID-19, the health sector is supported with critical supplies and equipment, and most vulnerable individuals and families assisted with food and hygienic packages.

The programme is set up as an engagement facility, with the objective to respond to immediate needs of institutions and people with interventions that address the impact of COVID-19 through provision of medical equipment, diagnostics, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and humanitarian aid to vulnerable individuals and families with essential food and hygienic items.

 


Expected results


- Bosnia and Herzegovina: is to be supported with critically need Real Time Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic lab equipment for the main Hospital in the city of Bihac. The Engagement facility provides laboratory medical equipment for diagnostics of the Coronavirus and other communicable diseases and PPE.

- Montenegro: Enhanced digital solutions for addressing gender-based violence (GBV), enabling swift response to protect victims of the GBV in context of the COVID-19. Roll-out of the medical equipment inventory software, allowing for the timely tracking and allocation of the PPE and equipment stocks, thus strengthening the health system’s preparedness to raising infection rates.

- North Macedonia: Enhanced Intensive Care Unit capacities to ensure high quality services/treatment to COVID-19 patients. At least 3 mobile ventilators to be delivered to the Ministry of Health.

- Serbia: Test and production of 30 mechanical ventilators to strengthen the domestic market and respond to the local demand for ventilators caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 


Target group / Beneficiaries


39,000 people will benefit from this engagement facility in the Western Balkan countries where supporting medical equipment has been requested through national ministries. The beneficiary countries are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.


Activities


Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Procurement of PCR machine

Montenegro

• Upgrade of “Be Safe” application

• Interactive maps with real time registering cases of GBV

• Support to specialized service providers - SOS GBV Helpline

• Implementation of improved, centralized Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) version with reporting and data analytics components

North Macedonia

• Procurement of ventilators

Serbia

• Signing a Performance-based Payment Agreement (PBPA)

• Development of mechanical ventilators

• Testing mechanical ventilators


Context


The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated the fragility of the Western Balkan countries’ health care system and the need for support with procuring or producing medical equipment.

UNDP with its regional response in the Western Balkan Region, lead by the Istanbul Regional Hub, is providing support to developing countries’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a part of this response, UNDP and its partners provide support to institutions with medical equipment such as ventilators and tests, support frontline workers with protection equipment and communication equipment and support the most vulnerable families and individuals with humanitarian assistance.

 

project number 2754-02/2020
source of funding OEZA
sector Humanitäre Hilfe: Sofortmaßnahmen
tied
modality Contributions to specific-purpose programmes and funds managed by international organisations (multilateral, INGO)
marker Gender: 1
  • Policy marker: are used to identify, assess and facilitate the monitoring of activities in support of policy objectives concerning gender equality, aid to environment, participatory development/good governance, trade development and reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health. Activities targeting the objectives of the Rio Conventions include the identification of biodiversity, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, and desertification.
    • 1= policy is a significant objective of the activity
    • 2= policy is the principal objective of the activity
  • Donor/ source of funding: The ADA is not only implementing projects and programmes of the Austrian Development Cooperation , but also projects funded from other sources and donors such as
    • AKF - Foreign Disaster Fund of the Austrian federal government
    • BMLFUW - Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water
    • EU - Funds of the European Commission
    • Others - various other donors are listed in ADA’s annual business report.
  • Type of Aid – Aid modalities: classifies transfers from the donor to the first recipient of funds such as budget support, core contributions and pooled programmes and funds to CSOs and multilateral organisations, project-type interventions, experts and other technical assistance, scholarships and student costs in donor countries, debt relief, administrative costs and other in-donor expenditures.
  • Purpose/ sector code: classifies the specific area of the recipient’s economic or social structure, funded by a bilateral contribution.
  • Tied/Untied: Untied aid is defined as loans and grants whose proceeds are fully and freely available to finance procurement from all OECD countries and substantially all developing countries. Transactions are considered tied unless the donor has, at the time of the aid offer, clearly specified a range of countries eligible for procurement which meets the tests for “untied” aid.
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