Since the onset of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in January 2020, the Finance Center for South-South Cooperation (FCSSC) has invested a lot of efforts to leverage its network and platform to support the global response to this public health emergency.
On 6 February, jointly with the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), FCSSC launched a call for donations of urgently needed medical equipment, especially personal protection equipment (PPE) to Hubei, China, on South-South Galaxy – a global knowledge-sharing and partnership brokering platform.
Soon after the call was launched, organizations including Shenzhen Ordinary Hero Foundation, Shenzhen Lexin Charity Foundation, Green Hand Company, the Overseas Chinese Students Union in America (the Students Union in short) and Real Intl SCM Corp. reached out to FCSSC. FCSSC immediately set up a task force comprised of more than ten members from partner institutions to coordinate the sourcing, procurement, and logistics of medical supplies, especially personal protective equipment (PPE).
In mid-February, Shenzhen Ordinary Hero Foundation and the Overseas Chinese Students Union in America were able to source and procure 5,000 sets of medical protective clothing worth of 600,000 RMB. Shenzhen Lexin Charity Foundation, Green Hand Co., and Real Intl SCM Corp. offered to cover the cost of logistics to Hubei, China.
As of 8 March, all the PPE pledged and procured by FCSSC and partners had been dispatched to 16 hospitals, two public security bureaus, and one front line journalists’ working station located in nine cities of Hubei Province, China.
Through the coordination of FCSSC, Lexin Charity Foundation and Shenzhen Ordinary Hero Foundation donated an additional 1.5 million RMB to provide insurance coverage for 30,000 personnel on front lines of coronavirus fight.
The first round of donations is now completed in close collaboration with various partners, but FCSSC and its partners are continuing to help more people to fight against COVID-19.
South-South Galaxy will continue to be utilized to facilitate and promote efforts in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.