80,000 slum dwellers get Sh40m EU-Amref Covid aid

At least 80,000 residents of Nairobi's slums are to benefit from a Sh40 million Covid-19 Emergency Response Programme targeting the city's four million population.

The European Union through Amref on Wednesday launched a Sh300 million programme to help nine counties, including Nairobi.

The others are Kajiado, Kitui, Laikipia, Machakos, Nakuru, Nyeri and Uasin Gishu counties.

EU Deputy Ambassador Katrin Hagemann said at last 80,000 slum dwellers in Nairobi will receive cash for the next three months.

“Together with Oxfam, we have identified some 20,000 households in slum areas that really need the extra money because right now they can't work, or they have extra costs because of the Covid-19. The monthly cash transfers will help them," she said.

She said Nairobi has more than 50 per cent of the country's Covid-19 cases so it was fitting to launch the programme in the capital.

The virus has spread through Nairobi and all 17 subcounties have reported cases. As of July 14, Nairobi had 5,997 cases of the 10,791 infections in Kenya.

Nairobi Metropolitan Services director general Mohamed Badi said his team has programme with Amref that will strengthen the Covid-19 response.

“With this partnership, we will achieve a lot because as NMS we believe in the multi-agency approach," Badi said.

He said NMS has been involving all agencies in the health sector to ensure the pandemic is contained and there is capacity in health facilities to isolate and treat all cases.

“Thanks to our partners, NMS is equipping top health facilities. Mama Lucy Hospital will soon have an 18-bed ICU, while Mbagathi Hospital will have 10-bed ICU," Badi said. Mbagathi previously had no ICU.

Amref Health Africa Group CEO Dr Githinji Gitahi said the EU partnership will assist county governments build capacity by, among other measures, training health workers from clinicians to community health workers.

It will also improve infection prevention and control measures by helping dispose of masks and waste.

Community engagement must be at the centre for the response programme to succeed, partners said.

Gitahi said Amref will work with Nairobi Metropolitan Services to ensure the Sh40 million is spent where the need is greatest.

“The Sh40 million is a grant for about six months, which is a very short time as the pandemic is moving very rapidly. So it is a very agile process,” he said.

(Edited by V. Graham)