The Coca-Cola Foundation has donated Shs 360 million to Uganda Red Cross Society to support their COVID-19 drive and promotion of vaccine uptake in the Country.
The donation will be utilized towards supporting activities at vaccination sites, vaccine distribution, Personal Protective Equipment procurement (PPEs) and awareness efforts promoting vaccination and sanitary practices to reduce the spread of the virus.
Uganda Red Cross Societyhas been at the forefront of championing risk communication, community engagement and mobilization for vaccine acceptance.
Speaking at the handover ceremony Naphtal Baguma, Director Supply Chain Management at the Uganda Red Cross Society said:
“Since 2020, when Uganda experienced the first Covid19 case, Coca Cola committed to working with the Red Cross to avert the spread of Covid19 in communities. Now that the economy has opened, we are supporting the Government of Uganda to roll out the Community Engagement Strategy on Covid19 and as such, our efforts are now towards increasing vaccine uptake, and acceptance. The donated funds will go a long way in giving us a push to fulfil our mandate as part of securing the health of the people of Uganda. Thank you, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa.”
Since the onset of the pandemic, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa has been engaged in various activities aimed at mitigating the spread of the virus to enable the reopening of the economy for business. The company diverted all its advertising expenditure towards COVID-19 initiatives in different communities across the country partnering with government, communities, NGOs, and different sector players to support economic recovery.
Melkamu Abebe, General Manager, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) in Uganda reiterated the company’s commitment to supporting the Ugandan economy to fully reopen and bounce back to pre-pandemic times.
“Healthy communities signify a healthy business environment. COVID-19 is not a problem to be left for a few people, it requires collective action. By now, we all know how we can protect ourselves, we have heard it over and over and yet, sometimes we let our guard down. It is important to continue driving awareness and vaccine uptake not only to save lives but also to help the economy to bounce back to pre-covid times. That can only happen if we achieve 100% compliance to vaccine uptake,” he said.
“We are driven by our people-focused agenda that drives our impactful community initiatives. We believe in impacting change in the communities we operate in, so our duty is first to our people, employees, their family, business partners, and the community. We are not safe, until everyone is safe,” he concluded.
In 2020, The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF) made a substantial donation (186 million shillings) to Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) towards Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) activities and another Shs360m towards relief food packages during the peak of the lockdown.
