The ceremony took place on 20 November, before the session of the Council of the State Representation Services of the Province of Maputo and was hosted by Her Excellency the Secretary of State and Coordinator of the Response to OVID-19 in Maputo Province, Vitória Dias Diogo.

In his speech, the AKDN Diplomatic Representative, Nazim Ahmad, stated that“in conjunction thewith State entities, we first wanted to support the most vulnerable segments of society with the first donation [held on July 14]. Now, with this second donation and having the pandemic evolved naturally in Mozambique, we are contributingfor the protection of those who are in the front line of this fight, that is, medical personnel and other health professionals.” Nazim Ahmad also said that “the donation, which we symbolically witness today, reflects our sense of responsibility, mandate, institutional ethics and moral principles - to lend a hand to those who need it most and thus be able to contribute in a humble way, in this case, to thepandemic caused by the Corona virus”.

For the Ambassador of Portugal do Mozambique, Maria Amélia Paiva, “the personal protection equipment donated today is produced by Mozambicans, from companies based in this Province, which again, contributes to maintain and boost the local economic activity and support the private sector, very affected by the pandemic of COVID-19”. Maria Amélia Paiva added that “the fact that this donation ceremony takes place during the working session of the Operative Centrefor Emergency Public Health, demonstrates the high priority that represents a coordinated action by the health sector. The partnership with the Aga Khan Development Network is exemplary in this context and has demonstrated the necessary and successful congregation of effortsto ensure an effective and complete response to the challenges faced by the health systems.”

Lastly, the Secretary of State for the Province of Maputo and Coordinator of the Response to COVID-19 in the Province of Maputo, Vitória Dias Diogo thanked to the Portuguese Government, throughCamões, and the AKDN for this donation for yet another such timely and pertinent support, of immeasurable importance for the Maputo Provinceresponse to the 19-COVID pandemic.Vitória Dias Diogo assured that “these gowns and masks will make a big difference in the provincial strategy in mitigating the effects of COVID-19. In July we received 100,000reusable masks that contributed greatly to the mitigation and prevention of COVID-19 in our Province. Today, when we go to schoolswe can find young people with the masks that were donated at the time, when we go to religious confessions we find believers bringing and using the masks that were donated at the time, when we go to the Technical-Professional Training Institutes we find teachers, we go to the markets we find sellers and even in houses and homes we find Mozambicans residing in Maputo Province wearing the masks that were donated to us in July.The joint effort of the Government of the Portuguese Republic, through Camões, and AKDN-M will enable the provision of free surgical masks and disposable personal protective gowns to medical staff and other health professionals who are at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic. 

This combined donation adds medical protective equipment to the donation made by the two entities on 19 July which included 100,000 reusable masks.

This support is part of the Action Plan for the health response to the COVID-19 pandemic between Portugal and the PALOP (African Portuguese-speaking countries) and East Timor.