Yemisi Izuora
The World Bank has initiated an emergency support project to help world’s low- and middle-income countries combat the rampaging COVID-19.
The Bank observed that the countries are still in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the impact is already being felt.
The World Bank Group is acting quickly to step up support as countries respond to the pandemic and face a wide range of consequences, including the risk of global recession.
With approval from its Board, the Bank Group is immediately launching emergency support through operations around the world.
World Bank considers the move as very urgent to help governments and companies commence broader efforts.
Given the unprecedented challenges that COVID-19 poses, the Bank Group expects to deploy up to $160 billion over the next 15 months to help countries protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses, and bolster economic recovery.
Health systems are largely observed to be strained in Ethiopia and Yemen as more medical staff are needed in countries such as Haiti and Mongolia. Millions of children can’t go to school in Pakistan and need solutions for remote learning and risks posed by the coronavirus are especially high for millions of people who live in poverty or have only recently emerged from it, the Bank learnt.
In stressing the vital role that the World Bank Group institutions can play, President David Malpass noted that “The poorest and most vulnerable countries will likely be hit the hardest.” He emphasized that “The World Bank Group is taking broad, fast action to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and we already have health response operations moving forward in over 65 countries.”
“The World Bank Group is taking broad, fast action to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and we already have health response operations moving forward in over 65 countries.
Special provisions for fast-track financing are allowing an initial group of World Bank projects totaling $1.9 billion to get underway quickly in 25 countries. Bank teams are also working with clients to rapidly redeploy a further $1.7 billion from existing projects to urgent pandemic response and recovery. This includes restructuring and use of projects’ emergency components as well as contingent financing instruments designed for catastrophes.
The focus of these first efforts is to help health systems tackle the immediate challenges of COVID-19.
For example, in countries ranging from Afghanistan and Haiti to India, Mongolia, and Tajikistan, the financing will help bring more medical staff onboard and ensure that they are well trained and equipped to deliver emergency care.
In countries like Ecuador and the Kyrgyz Republic, it will help ensure that public outreach that gets strong prevention and protection messages to citizens in the short and medium term.
And in Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Yemen, among other countries, the increase in resources to fight the pandemic will also support long-term efforts that strengthen and build the capacity of the national health system.
The Democratic Republic of Congo illustrates the range of help that the Bank’s projects will provide, from early detection of the virus to contact tracing, a cordon sanitaire to limit the spread from the capital, and large-scale public information campaigns.
The financing will also equip and rehabilitate key primary care facilities so that they can operate at the standards needed to combat the pandemic.
In Pakistan, the Bank’s support will be crucial to making remote learning available for 50 million children whose schools have had to close.
The emergency financing here will also enable basic food to reach 40,000 people whose movement will be restricted for up to 6 months, and it will train health workers to watch for and help prevent gender-based violence in households under quarantine.
As coronavirus has rapidly spread around the globe infecting more than 100,000 and killing more than 4,000 healthcare systems and economies are coming under pressure.
Supplementing the direct assistance to governments and private firms, the Bank Group is working to address disruptions in global supply chains, so that countries have access to critically needed medical supplies.
The World Bank is reaching out to suppliers on behalf of governments to help ensure that suppliers can deliver throughout the global emergency.
Through financing and a wide range of technical support, the Bank Group will work to help countries shorten their time to recovery and lay the foundations for future growth. And across all the efforts to combat COVID-19, the focus will be on solutions that can help countries ensure protection and restore opportunities for their poorest and most vulnerable people.