Chinese anti-COVID-19 engagement in Africa exemplary act of global solidarity: UN official

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Chinese engagement and support to African governments and Pan-African institutions, such as the African Union (AU), in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic should be emulated by countries across the globe as part of the global solidarity against the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior United Nations (UN) official said Saturday.

Speaking exclusively to Xinhua on Saturday, Antonio Pedro, Director of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Sub-regional Office for Central Africa, stressed that the global community should strengthen solidarity in order to effectively contend the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe as well as to build back better after the coronavirus pandemic.

The ECA Director, who emphasized the crucial imperative of deepening global solidarity in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, also singled out China as a major player in propelling the much-needed global partnership and collaboration towards combating the virus.

"We see the Chinese engagement and the support that it is providing to African governments and to the African Union in terms of access to medical supplies, masks and other things as part of the global solidarity against the COVID-19 pandemic," Pedro told Xinhua on Saturday.

"This should be continued; and we very much look forward to see more and more countries to emulate the Chinese example because it's only through global partnerships, with collaboration, and with supporting each other that we will be able to combat this virus," he affirmed.

According to the ECA official, the global solidarity against the COVID-19 "is important because if we do not address the pandemic in Africa, it will affect the entire planet earth."

The ECA official also stressed that the UNECA is exerting its efforts to engage with international financial institutions, the Group of 20 (G20) and others "in recognition to the fact that we need global engagement and global support with a view to address the impact of COVID-19."

Pedro also singled out the South-South collaboration modality as an important global partnership platform in addressing the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, with particular emphasis given to addressing the negative impacts of the pandemic on the socioeconomic and healthcare aspects of the African continent.

"The South-South collaboration modality as part of the global partnership is important to address this pandemic, especially in the context of Africa because of the vulnerabilities exacerbated by the COVID-19," Pedro said.

The South-South cooperation a global platform that promotes an exchange of resources, technology, and knowledge between developing countries.

The ECA director also stressed that the global solidarity against the COVID-19 "goes beyond the short term imperative of curing people that have been affected and ensuring that people don't infected, but also building back better."

According to the latest figures from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the number of confirmed COVID-19 positive cases across the African continent surpassed 103,933 as of Saturday, while the death toll also surpassed 3,183.

Some 41,473 people who have been infected with the COVID-19 have recovered across the continent as of Saturday, according to the Africa CDC. 

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