Johannesburg, Wednesday, March 25, 2020: 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 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:
1. 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;
2. The rest of ARC staff are working from home since Monday, March 16 while we monitor and assess the situation within South Africa and globally;
3. ARC has put in place virtual systems, including video conferencing in lieu of physical meetings, until further notice to ensure that its work with 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;
4. 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
5. 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 heathy in line with the Personal Protective Precautions (PPP) as we continue to monitor the evolution of the situation.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Mr. Chinedu Moghalu
Senior Communication Specialist
African Risk Capacity (ARC)
Mob: +27 (0) 83-308-7068
chinedu.moghalu@africanriskcapacity.org
chinedu.moghalu@wfp.org
About ARC
African Risk Capacity (ARC) ARC consists of ARC Agency and ARC Insurance Company Limited (ARC Ltd). ARC Agency was established in 2012 as a Specialized Agency of the African Union to help Member States improve their capacities to better plan, prepare and respond to weather-related disasters. ARC Ltd is a mutual insurance facility providing risk transfer services to Member States through risk pooling and access to reinsurance markets. ARC was established on the principle that investing in preparedness and early warning through an innovative financing approach is highly cost-effective and can save upward of four dollars for every dollar invested ex ante.
With the support of the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, France, The Rockefeller Foundation and the United States, ARC assists AU Member States in reducing the risk of loss and damage caused by extreme weather events affecting Africa’s populations by providing, through sovereign disaster risk insurance, targeted responses to natural disasters in a more timely, cost-effective, objective and transparent manner. ARC is now using its expertise to help tackle some of the other greatest threats faced by the continent, including outbreaks and epidemics.
Since 2014, 37 policies have been signed by Member States with US$74million paid in premiums for a cumulative insurance coverage of US$544million for the protection of 54million vulnerable population in participating countries.
For more information, please visit: www.africanriskcapacity.org