ACCRA, May 15 (Xinhua) -- A regional humanitarian response hub established by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to facilitate COVID-19 response efforts is now fully operational in Ghana's capital, Accra.
The hub mainly serves UN agencies and non-governmental organizations. It is operated under stringent measures to prevent transmission of COVID-19, the WFP said in a release on Friday.
The Accra regional hub is part of a global hub-and-spoke system of air links for dispatching essential medical and humanitarian cargo and transporting health workers to the front lines of the pandemic, it added.
According to the release, Accra, already vital for the dispatching of critical supplies to countries in west and central Africa, is launching humanitarian response flights to Nigeria, Chad, Mali, the Central African Republic, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia.
It will enable health and humanitarian personnel to rapidly reach areas where they are most needed in the context of limited commercial transport and travel restrictions.
"WFP is extremely grateful to the government and people of Ghana for hosting the regional cargo and passenger aviation hub which is needed to sustain humanitarian operations that millions of vulnerable people across Africa are depending on during this pandemic," said Rukia Yacoub, WFP Representative and Country Director in Ghana.
This is the second time in recent years that Ghana is supporting global efforts to address health crises in Africa. In 2014, Accra was the headquarters of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response. Enditem
