-The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been a fundamental partner to the State of Guinea-Bissau, working in partnership with successive governments for the development of the country and of its people’s well-being.

With the financial support of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, UNDP has been providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Public Health and more specifically to CECOME (Central de Compras de Medicamentos Essenciais do Ministério da Saúde Pública), the Ministry’s central purchase department for essential medication, since 2017.

In 2018, this partnership also made possible the purchase and installation of a warehouse information management software (MACS) in order to improve the follow-up and management of items funded by the Global Fund. The partnership also included training of CECOME and Ministry of Public Health staff concerning the use of the software and the improvement of the warehouse management system.

Also in 2019, the UNDP helped CECOME with the control and follow-up of other essential medical goods bought and managed by CECOME.

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNDP still plays its role of a privileged partner of the government providing technical support to the Ministry of Public Health and to the Health Emergency Operations Centre [Centro de Operações de Emergências em Saúde] (COES) in the fight against the pandemic.

More specifically, it helped them keeping a record of the donations made in the context of the fight against COVID-19 by Jack Ma and the Portuguese government. Still in the context of the fight against COVID-19, UNDP has provided technical assistance to the World Food Programme (WFP) (a partner to the COES for the logistics of the fight against COVID) concerning the use of the warehouse management software by WFP technical staff in order to improve follow-up and to render account of each good, test and mask donated.