On 15 November, a German delegation visited the Namanga One Stop Border Post to experience the effects of a training of trainers (ToT) which had been held a year earlier targeting border post staff on COVID-19 preparedness and response. The officials included Claudia Imwolde-Krämer, German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Johannes Sperrfechter, German Embassy Tanzania, Godje Bialluch, GIZ as well as Jennifer Wörl and Dr. Ralf Orlik, KfW Development Bank.

“We did a lot of capacity building. In addition to passing the knowledge to colleagues, we have organized meetings with subcounty and village health teams and trained them,” Frank Okwema, mobile laboratory worker stationed at Namanga noted. Peter Ndichu, Immigration Officer added, “We use the knowledge from the training to guide colleagues and travellers on how they can protect themselves and others.”

The EAC Secretariat with support from the German Government through the GIZ Pandemic Preparedness (PanPrep) project conducted the training. A total of 375 staff were trained at 12 OSBPs and four harbours in the EAC region.

The delegation also visited handwashing facilities which are part of a water, sanitation, and hygiene project implemented by the EAC Secretariat and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The PanPrep-funded programme is also conducting risk and crisis communication and community awareness measures on infection prevention control.