UK donates 100 laptops to Seychelles government |12 June 2021

HC Lynch and Minister Radegonde at the handover ceremony yesterday (Photo: Jude Morel)

The UK government has donated 100 laptops to the government of Seychelles to assist with its ongoing post-Covid-19 recovery efforts, with a number of other UK-funded initiatives launching in the coming months.

The laptops were presented to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Sylvestre Radegonde, in a short ceremony yesterday afternoon at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the presence of the principal secretary of Foreign Affairs Vivianne Fock-Tave, invited guests and the high commissioner of Britain to Seychelles, Patrick Lynch.

The laptops form part of an initial R2m package to support the government of Seychelles’ efforts to bolster its health response and better facilitate the work of professionals working across key sectors in the country, including tourism, that will drive Seychelles’ economic recovery.

The laptops provide robust, reliable and modern technology that will allow them to undertake their work with improved mobility and efficiency.

As part of the UK government’s commitment to serve as a global force for good, the British high commission hopes that this donation will further strengthen Seychelles’ world-leading vaccination campaign and support the country with future challenges.

HC Lynch, stated: “This is just the start of an exciting range of Seychelles-led initiatives that will be supported by the UK government in the coming months. The government of Seychelles has been clear in its ambitions to maximise delivery in the public sector, and the equipment we are providing will immediately assist officials in sectors that are key to the health and economic recovery across these islands. The package also includes a range of small, robust laptops, well-suited to some of the demands facing mobile health teams.”

“We are launching a number of UK-funded projects with local partners that will build on the commitments and ambitions of the new government here. This will include: support to policing, anti-corruption, Covid laboratory testing, as well as a range of community projects.

As hosts of this year’s COP26 climate conference, we are also proud to support local experts in delivering a green recovery of tourism that will realise the economic dividend of responding imaginatively to the growing concern of the environmental impact of long-haul travel. This is an issue that Seychelles is far better equipped to deal with than almost any other tourist destination.”

“All of these initiatives are driven by the UK government’s commitment to be a Force for Good in the world, as well as our commitment here to deliver policy and projects that are of mutual benefit to our two great countries. Central to this are our shared values of democracy and transparency and the shared understanding that governments should be elected by the will of the people, to serve the needs of the people. These past sixteen months have been an immensely difficult time for the UK and Seychelles, but we are determined to work together to build back better for all of our people.”

On his part, Minister Radegonde thanked the British high commissioner and the British government for the donation.

“The donation comes at a very opportune time as we are dealing with Covid-19 and various agencies and ministries are working from home so this donation will help us continue the work that we have been doing,” Minister Radegonde said.

He added that he is grateful for the new dynamism between the UK and the Seychelles as there are many areas that the two counties are keen on working in close collaboration.

Christophe Zialor/ British high commision