Lomé, July 9, 2021 – The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Organization (ALCO) in collaboration with the West African Health Organization (WAHO) is working to prevent the spread of COVID-19 along the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor.
This is thanks to the cross-border project titled “Reducing the cross-border spread of COVID-19 in the ECOWAS Region”, with funding from the German International Development Agency, GIZ. The main goal of this project is to strengthen the surveillance and management of COVID-19 cases at the border level along the Abidjan-Lagos corridor.
Specifically, the project seeks to (1) Improve knowledge of border agents, transport companies and border communities on COVID-19; and (2) Implement an electronic tracking system to help in tracing contact cases of COVID-19 infected people who have crossed the corridor borders.
Mr. Idrissa Kone, the Executive Secretary of ALCO had this to say: “For the past 4 years, ALCO has in addition to its traditional activities which are the prevention of HIV and AIDS, focused its attention\ to the prevention of epidemics. Our role is to strengthen the capacities of the entry points, especially the land borders, airports and ports. It is within this context that the COVID-19 cross-border project was initiated with the support of WAHO and GIZ to strengthen the capacity of the Abidjan-Lagos corridor borders”.
Activities of the project began in March 2021 and for three months, trainings on COVID-19 have been conducted for uniformed personnel (Police Officers, Customs Officers, Port Health Control Officers), religious, traditional and community leaders and truck drivers and apprentices and Information Unit staff. Other activities such as the review of standardized operational procedures for the borders and data collection of travelers have also been conducted.
To ensure that the activities have been implemented as planned, ALCO and WAHO is organizing a joint supervision mission at all the eight (08) borders of the Abidjan-Lagos corridor. These borders are Seme (Nigeria), Krake and Hillacondji (Benin), Sanvee Condji and Kodjoviakope (Togo), Aflao and Elubo (Ghana) and Noe (Côte d’Ivoire). The mission started on July 5, 2021 at Seme and will end at Noe on July 10, 2021.
“ALCO is known to be a strategic partner… The funding to ALCO is very important… It’s been interesting to see the kind of work that has been by ALCO; a lot has been achieved with the little\ resources provided; there is a lot of passion, there is a lot of ‘push and drive’ for the work that has been done so far and we are hoping for more partnership and collaboration for the future” – Mrs. Nanlop Ogbureke, Snr Special Advisor to the WAHO-DG, leader of the WAHO team, made this statement after the visit to Sanvee Condji, the Togo side of the Border with Benin.
iMPACT Communication