The African Risk Capacity (https://www.africanriskcapacity.org/) in response to the COVID19 pandemic has announced health and safety measures to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus among its personnel and stakeholders countries where it has a physical presence as well as provide a business continuity plan.
In his message to ARC staff on Wednesday, March 18, UN-ASG and Director-General Mohamed Beavogui indicated that the purpose of the measures is to ensure the safety of ARC staff, their family members and the communities in which they live. “We are doing our best to ensure that you are protected, safe, and healthy under the disruptive circumstances we find ourselves and to be able to remain effective and efficient in fulfilling our obligations to our Member States, donors, and other stakeholders even at minimal acceptable levels”, he affirmed.
ARC has adopted a detailed Business Continuity Plan to help prevent, manage and mitigate the effects of the pandemic on staff and their families; and also sustain its operations in the event that the crisis escalates in Africa.
Therefore, the following measures have been put in place:
- Reduction of staff members that work from the office to a ‘business-critical’ level, as determined by the Director-General and in line with our Business Continuity Plan;
- The rest of the ARC staff are working from home since Monday, March 16 while we monitor and assess the situation within South Africa and globally;
- ARC has put in place virtual systems, including video conferencing in lieu of physical meetings, until further notice to ensure that its work with the Member States and partners is not unduly hampered by the current situation. Therefore, all stakeholder engagements requiring local or foreign travels, including conferences, workshops, and seminars have been postponed until further notice;
- Any ARC personnel who has recently returned from official duty to any of the hotspots of the COVID19 pandemic has been requested to self-quarantine for the mandatory period of 14-day observation; and
- In line with WHO rules on responding to COVID19, all staff, their family members, and stakeholders are encouraged not to panic about the Coronavirus; but rather take all the necessary precautions to stay healthy in line with the Personal Protective Precautions (PPP) as we continue to monitor the evolution of the situation.