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Mastercard Foundation response to COVID-19 for Partners: Mastercard COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Program.

In the midst of the current global pandemic crisis and its effects on social and economic stability, Mastercard Foundation has stepped up to continue supporting communities and young people. In a statement released on 9th April 2020 by Mastercard Foundation, CEO; Reeta Roy highlighted the social and economic impact of COVID-19 and the Foundation’s continued commitment to work with partners to fortify institutions and communities and address the urgent needs in this crisis through the Mastercard Foundation COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Program. 

The Program will enable the Foundation to scale up support to young people and communities ensuring that young people particularly women will have access to quality education, skills, financial services and dignified work. 

The Mastercard Foundation COVID -19 Recovery and Resilience Program will work with insitutions and communities to withstand and respond to impact while strengthening resilience to reignite economies. 

The CEO of Mastercard Foundation, noted that the program will have two fundamental aims to address immediate needs as priority: 

  1. Support for health workers and first responders.
  2. Providing emergency funds for students.

The Foundation will also double down on initiatives whose impact will span economic recovery to deepen capacity of institutions to weather and respond to the crisis and build resilience. Under this program, the Foundation will: 

  1. Expand access to financial services for micro, small, and medium enterprises,which will enable businesses to withstand the economic effects of COVID-19, explore options for digitizing their businesses, and potentially contribute to public health response through the production and distribution of critically-needed health care products and equipment.
  2. Enable e-learning to assist young people whose education was disrupted by the pandemic by working with educational organizations to help them transition to digital delivery of courses, mentoring, and student outreach. This will not only prepare learning institutions for future crises but also for the future of education.
  3. Support the adoption of digital solutions to address real needs of populations such as financial services; food production and delivery; housing and construction; transportation and logistics; as well as tools for everything from public health to supply chain management.

Click here to read full official statement

 https://mastercardfdn.org/a-message-from-reeta-roy-covid-19-rrp/

The Case for Uganda: What the Foundation will focus on in Uganda through Mastercard Foundation COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Program

In the short-term the Foundation will: 

  • Work closely with key stakeholders and sector leaders to understand the impact and determine the best possible immediate responses or interventions that are needed.
  • Support Young Africa Works implementation partners to adapt to working remotely and using the time to accomplish activities that are easier to perform while at home/in small groups.
  • Support Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) in its effort to mobilize public and private sector response to prevent COVID-19’s negative impact on the economy.
  • Identify and implement feasible interventions (access to finance, business shock support clinics, etc.) that can promote the resilience of SMEs.
  • Identify emerging opportunities that may significantly contribute to economic growth and youth employment.
  • Factor in COVID-19 implications while developing programs in the pipeline.

In the medium-term the Foundation will: 

  • Assess the impact of COVID-19 on the implementation of Young Africa Works in Uganda and develop a mitigation plan, particularly for MSMEs.
  • Support the development of a post-pandemic economic recovery strategy.
  • Support digitization to ensure efficiency and inclusion in education and skills, and access to finance and marketing.
  • Assess the impact of the pandemic on refugee youth and support youth-led organizations through a fund manager.

In the long-term the Foundation will: 

  • Determine how the private sector catalytic fund can integrate support to MSMEs in events of economic shock caused by incidents such as COVID-19.
  • Create a country mechanism that will help the Foundation become relevant and be part of the national mitigation effort for future unforeseen shocks. 

Click here to read about Mastercard Foundation COVID -19 Recovery and Resilience Program for Uganda.

https://mastercardfdn.org/uganda-covid19-information/

 

(Source: https://mastercardfdn.org/