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Rwanda: USAID invested $2.5 billion in assistance over the past 20 years, one and a half billion of which have been focused on health

On 4th June 2020, TOPAFRICANEWS reporter Ange de la Victoire DUSABEMUNGU, joined the  Press Briefing on the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Ongoing Development Priorities and COVID 19 Assistance Response in Africa.

The USAID panned was represented by Dr. Kenneth Staley, M.D., USAID Global Malaria Coordinator and leader of the USAID COVID-19 Task Force; and Mr. Christopher Runyan, U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID) Senior Coordinator for the Bureau for Africa.

Mr. Dusabemungu asked questions about COVID 19 response in Sub-Saharan Africa and especially questions related to his home country Rwanda.  

He also wanted to know why Media have been left aside during COVID 19 as far as media support is concerned during the pandemic like COVID 19 and what are future plans or what is being done with regards to Media and COVID 19.

The briefing was Moderated by Marissa Scott, the French Language Spokesperson for the Department of State and the Director of the Africa Regional Media Hub.  Below is the transcript of our reporter’s question and answers:

Moderator:  We have a question from Victoire Kado Dusabemungu of Rwanda, and his question is specifically related to Rwanda and what support USAID is giving Rwanda during this time of hardship.  He also mentioned if you can talk about support for the media and making sure that they’re able to properly spread the word and counter misinformation about the disease.

Dr. Kenneth Staley:  Thanks, that’s a – that’s a great question.  I think the investments in Rwanda build on almost $2.5 billion in assistance over the past 20 years, one and a half billion of which have been focused on health.  We’ve to date used $2.2 million to assist Rwanda’s response to COVID-19.  Most of that is focused on disease surveillance and case management.  So I think that with regard to the way in which we are – we’re focused, again, in Rwanda, we’re building on systems that Rwanda itself has created as a very effective community health system.  And I think that the way in which we are investing is meant to build on existing success.

Let me pivot to Chris as well to talk a little bit about the media effort.

Mr. Christopher Runyan:  Thanks, Ken.  I would just note that we are living in an era of increasing information pollution, and the spread of disinformation has intensified in the face of the pandemic, and we are aware of and tracking that closely together with other components of the U.S. Government.  When social media spreads disinformation and responsible, independent media face economic hardship or repressive government control, citizens ultimately lose out.  And that’s why USAID, as part of our response, is supporting efforts like fact-checking initiatives to debunk false and harmful disinformation, advanced media literacy – and there are several programs doing that in sub-Saharan Africa – and to expand investigative journalism worldwide.  

So sub-Saharan Africa is absolutely a context where we are particularly concerned with disinformation and fake information and references to stories that have been completely concocted, with no facts, and we are trying to respond as part of our democracy, rights, and governance activities, which is one of the principal areas of support for USAID in sub-Saharan Africa, to adjust to face that challenge during the pandemic.  And as you can imagine, it’s particularly reckless and harmful when untruths are circulated during a public health crisis.  Thanks, Marissa.

Read the Full Press Briefing on the State website here

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