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A unique project from the Association of Manufacturers and Suppliers of Medical Devices – a virtual 3D hospital – was presented at the end of March with the participation of representatives of member companies, involved ministries and other state institutions, including a representative of the Czech Development Agency. The Capacity Building project from the Association of Manufacturers and Suppliers of Medical Devices, aimed at involving member companies in development cooperation, was supported by a grant from the Czech Development Agency. The objective of the CzDA project is to strengthen the capacities of non-state platforms for development cooperation.

The Czech Republic has already ranked among the global leaders in the application of nanotechnologies in industry and in consumer goods for many years. In addition, nanotechnologies are also well suited to the Czech foreign development cooperation (FDC) concept. Not only they can address specific environmental, medical, and technical issues at local level, but all the FDC priority states also need to support the adoption of new technologies to strengthen their local business sectors. A professional presentation of available Czech nanotechnologies that can help address problems in FDC priority states was created last year as part of a project supported by the Czech Development Agency. 

Back in 2015, the Czech Development Agency launched a project in Moldova – its objective is to improve care for people with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems. The third part of this project is currently under way and is being implemented by the Centre for Mental Health Care Development. Complications related to the coronavirus pandemic and government measures on both the Czech and Moldovan sides have forced some activities to go online. Moldovan experts have also begun working online, with the result that it has been possible to implement the majority of the planned activities.

Even though over ¾ of Bosnia and Herzegovina is mountainous (with minor exceptions for private ski resorts), its mountain rescue service has no professional workers. It is completely volunteer-based and relies for the funding it needs on sponsors, local government, and civil protection units. There is no central telephone number for the mountain rescue service, nor is there any guaranteed nonstop emergency service. Therefore, this year and with assistance from the CzDA, a three-year project has been launched to improve the cooperation between the rescuers in the different mountain areas, to increase their capacities, to assist with equipment, and to transfer experience from the operation of the Mountain Rescue Service in the Czech Republic.

The majority of Zambian farmers are small or medium-sized. The main problems they face are a lack of knowledge about modern methods and insufficient business skills. Productivity is thus lower, particularly in rural areas, while incomes do not allow the necessary investments to be made and often do not even cover proper nutrition for the family. A CzDA project implemented by a team from Mendel University in Brno is therefore focusing on strengthening business skills and increasing incomes, and thereby the living standards of small and medium-sized farmers in Western Province. Around 8 000 tree seedlings have been planted in four areas of Zambia as part of the second phase of the project.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2020, the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Moldova and the World Health Organization launched an extensive awareness-raising campaign aimed at consolidating the actions of development partners to support the health sector in its efforts to diminish the spread of new coronavirus in the Republic of Moldova.

One of the most serious problems for agriculture in Bosnia and Herzegovina is seen as the lack of competitiveness of its agricultural products. This is primarily due to persistent obstacles to exports and the low level of compliance with food safety standards. The Czech Development Agency is, therefore, supporting a bilateral project in the country with the objective of strengthening the food safety control role of the competent authorities. The project is in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal No. 16, as it focuses on supporting effective and transparent institutions at multiple levels.

In the first week of July, two new development projects have started in Georgia thanks to the support from the Czech Development Agency. Two projects, which were officially introduced on July 10th by Czech Caritas team to the main partners and representatives of the donor during the meeting attended by Minister of IDPs, Labour, Health and Social Affairs Mrs. Ekaterine Tikaradze and H.E. Petr Mikyska, the Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Georgia, aim at inclusive social development through the improvement of health and social sectors in Georgia.

While as late as 1990 the WHO reported 116 deaths for every 1,000 births in Cambodia, the situation has now improved fourfold. This is credited to a Czech Development Agency project through which health care equipment and neonatal tools, including incubators, were provided to the Pediatric Hospital in Phnom Penh. This leading clinic specializing in procedures typically beyond the capacity of regional hospitals examines some 20,000 pediatric patients every year.

Following a long-term partnership between the UNDP and the Czech Republic, via projects like the Czech Trust Fund, a new Czech-UNDP Partnership has been launched in 2018. The partnership focuses on the search for innovative solutions to development problems and has so far supported 17 projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova. The success of the program has attracted interest from Poland and Slovakia, which are preparing to replicate them within their own development cooperation

Uganda ranks among the poorest African nations, with high infant mortality rate and the lowest average age in the world, a mere 16 years. At the same time Uganda is the 8th largest producer of coffee in the world. And yet the agricultural community of local farmers unfortunately lacks the necessary knowledge and equipment in terms of planting, harvesting, and subsequent processing. For this reason mamacoffee, with the support of the B2B Program of the Czech Development Agency, has decided to build a business plan whose purpose is to map the options for building a processing facility for premium coffee in the foothills of the Rwenzori mountains in Western Uganda and to thereby support local farmers.