Misrata, 22/October/2020 –    The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is helping Libya to effectively respond to COVID-19 as part of its mission to reduce inequalities and build resilience in the conflict affected country. Today, through its Stabilization Facility for Libya (SFL), UNDP delivered five testing machines to the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) in Misrata.

This lot is included in a series of equipment that UNDP, as part of the UN response, is providing to the Ministry of Health and NCDC to help local authorities contain the pandemic in Libya.

Each of those machines have the capacity of undertaking 170 tests in eight hours. The equipment will be further distributed to five municipalities determined according to the national strategic plan for increasing the testing capacity. Those municipalities will be having inhouse capacity to carry out COVID-19 tests and get results on a timely manner.

Dr. Khaled Al-Shtaiwi, Head of the National Center for Disease Control in Misrata said:

''The number of people who acquire the infection is still increasing. We need to enhance our national testing capacity and ensure all other measures are taken in order to contain the spread of the pandemic. This equipment will help five more municipalities to test patients locally and provide quick results. ''

UNDP Resident Representative in Libya, Mr. Gerardo Noto, stated: '' In these times of coronavirus pandemic, UNDP is keeping its commitment to work closely with national and local institutions to enhance the health system and enable an efficient response. With this additional medical equipment support, we are contributing to improve the national testing capacity and help people affected by COVID-19 to be taken care of as soon as possible. ''  

The SFL, led by National and local institutions and implemented by UNDP with the support of the Government of Libya and 13 international partners, support municipalities to rehabilitate essential service facilities and boost capacities to improve basic service delivery around the country.

For more information, or media interviews please contact: media.ly@undp.org