Few imagined that a virus, something invisible to the ­naked eye, could set off such shockwaves around the world. When the epidemic first broke out in 2020, experts from Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center were quick to pay attention. In addition to them the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Cooperation and Development Foundation (TaiwanICDF), an association responsible for international aid, were also closely monitoring the development of the pandemic around the world.

Alex Shyy, deputy secretary-general of TaiwanICDF, is pleased that colleagues stationed abroad have remained at their posts to help the nation’s allies in the fight against Covid-19. (photo by Lin Min-hsuan)

Protecting the people

At the beginning of the pandemic, transportation went into lockdown, and international flights were in chaos. In March, as the pandemic took off, the young people doing their substitute military service with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the South Pacific nation of Tuvalu were set to complete their terms of service. However, as the country closed its borders and halted all outbound travel, the service­men were left stranded and their parents in Taiwan were worried stiff.

Alex Shyy, deputy secretary-general of TaiwanICDF, still feels nervous thinking back on the situation. “The US was already in a state of alarm and flights were in chaos, so the men who were stationed in Central and South America had to take US evacuation planes and change planes several times before they could get home safely.” Meanwhile, in Tuvalu, one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, three young men found themselves stuck. In the end, they were able to coordinate with the Coast Guard Administration, taking advantage of a special patrol mission in international waters protecting fishing vessels to collect them. It was an arduous process.

TaiwanICDF, in collaboration with Swiss NGO Terre des hommes, held a webinar on the application of contact-tracing technology to Covid-19 outbreaks, with representatives from various countries taking part to learn from Taiwan’s experience in epidemic prevention and control.

No rest for overseas aid work

The pandemic has brought much of the world to a virtual standstill, and all of TaiwanICDF’s overseas public health, agri­culture, education, and information and communication assistance programs have faced tremendous challenges. Despite the dire times, though, they didn’t back down. Instead, overseas TaiwanICDF workers stayed at their posts, joining forces with the locals to fight the pandemic together.

“Many countries stopped their aid work during the pandemic to protect themselves, but we can proudly say that Taiwan stood firm,” says Shyy, visibly moved.

Taiwan shares its experience

Even as the pandemic has struck with wave after wave of infections, TaiwanICDF’s aid work has continued unabated, such as helping healthcare providers in Nicaragua learn to identify Covid-19.

In May of 2020, as the pandemic took off, Taiwan’s preventive measures attracted the attention of the Western world. TaiwanICDF worked with Swiss NGO Terre des hommes (Tdh) to stage a webinar on how to implement contact-tracing technology against Covid-19, with experts from the US, ­Europe and Africa logging on to learn from Taiwan’s success.

As lockdowns began to ease, farmers in Taiwan’s diplomatic partner countries found themselves lacking seeds, fertilizer, and other necessary resources. The Taiwanese technical team in Eswatini reached out to the country’s Ministry of Agriculture to provide assistance, prioritizing crops like cabbage, tomatoes, and green peppers to help stabilize local agricultural production.

In the Caribbean, farmers were given guidance on planting foods that can stand long periods of storage, like sweet potatoes, to help ensure basic food supplies in case imports were disrupted.

TaiwanICDF assisted Nicaraguan healthcare workers with health education to bolster the country’s response to Covid-19.

A change in fortunes

Urgent though it was to fight the pandemic, economic recovery in the post-pandemic era demands equal attention. In July of 2020, TaiwanICDF launched a fundraising effort asking the Taiwanese people to help small businesses in Eswatini produce cloth masks, with Sun Jen Textile Company in Changhua joining in to help ease the mask shortage in that country. Meanwhile, in Guate­mala and Antigua, fundraising helped small growers plant “Café Volcanes” coffee to be sold in Taiwan, where it was well received.

TaiwanICDF has also worked with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration to help CABEI member states improve their public health systems’ ability to fight the pandemic and protect the vulnerable. In addition, it has helped local microenterprises and SMEs to secure loans to tide them over during these difficult times.

Dr. Chiu Ya-wen, chair of the master’s degree program in global health and development at Taipei Medical University’s College of Public Health, suggests that Taiwan’s longstanding success in public healthcare is world renowned, and perhaps this experience can be transferred as a model so that the country can contribute to developments in healthcare internationally.

Kristy Hsu, director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, believes that Taiwan’s R&D strength in the fields of medicine and biotechnology should be leveraged by taking stock of developed technologies that have not been taken up by industry, and where appropriate transferring them to Taiwanese firms in developing countries, so that such R&D can become a resource for foreign aid.

Through the “Public Kitchen” project held in cooperation with local governments, TaiwanICDF’s Karawang Regency Horticulture Development Project in Indonesia has provided funding for materials and training for farmers, helping them produce high-quality vegetables that are cooked in local kitchens and delivered to disadvantaged households.

Six decades of overseas aid

Taiwan has been quietly accumulating experience in overseas aid for many decades now. Last September, ­TaiwanICDF’s Development Focus Quarterly was launched, with the inaugural issue setting out a record of Taiwan’s foreign aid work in the face of the challenges of the ­pandemic.

The global pandemic continues, but many countries are moving from prevention and control to vaccination. “Diseases know no borders, and just because someone is in a senior government position in a developed country doesn’t mean they won’t catch it,” says Shyy, indicating the drive behind efforts to carry on with foreign aid work during the pandemic. Regardless of how this pandemic will end, this era-defining plague has certainly taught us all a valuable lesson: only by coming together to help one another can we truly help ourselves. Taiwan stands ready to continue offering love and support to the world.       

To help protect the livelihoods of small coffee growers in Guatemala and Antigua, Taiwan launched the “Where There is Coffee, There is Me” crowdfunding campaign for Café Volcanes coffee.

To help alleviate a shortage of local fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat, the technical mission in the Marshall Islands distributed piglets, and provided seeds, seedlings, and homemade compost to help promote home vegetable gardens.