The German Last Mile Initiative supports improved diagnostic capacities and COVID-19 vaccination rates in indigenous territories and border areas of the Amazon region. GIZ implements the financed measures through the Support of the ACTO Biodiversity Program for the Amazon Region within the CBD framework in Latin America project.
Indigenous people are among the groups most vulnerable to COVID-19, with several ethnic tribes feared to be at risk of cultural extinction as a result of the pandemic. At the same time, there is low vaccination willingness, poor health infrastructure, and a lack of effective outreach programmes. Many national health institutes in the region lack the capacities to identify new virus variants. To address these limitations, the project supports training in genome sequencing techniques and procures equipment for local health centers in border regions of Brazil, Ecuador and Peru. It also supports the development and implementation of COVID-19 vaccination awareness campaigns in indigenous territories and border areas of the Amazon region. Altogether, 56,000 people have been reached by these measures thus far.
- Executing project: Support of the ACTO Biodiversity Program for the Amazon Region within the CBD framework in Latin America
- Implementing organisation: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
- Commissioned by: Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
- Local partner: Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO)
- Funding: EUR 0.4 m from Last Mile Initiative (in addition to EUR 0.9 m core funding)
- Contact: cristian.guerrero@giz.de