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The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved an additional $ 130 million loan from the International Development Association (IDA) for the Ghana Covid-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Project.
A statement issued by the World Bank and copied to the Ghana News Agency said that the additional financing would help Ghana step up its efforts to mitigate the resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic and reopen its economy safely.
“This additional funding is timely and critical to saving lives and building resilient systems by further increasing surveillance, diagnostic and treatment capacity with the increased availability of intensive care unit beds and the adoption of new Covid-19 drugs,” he said Pierre Laporte, The World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
“These are comprehensive efforts towards the broader goal of achieving Universal Health Coverage, which Ghana has committed to as a priority.”
The statement said the project will strengthen the Ghanaian government’s efforts to prevent and contain the virus and safely reactivate socio-economic activities in the country.
He said the project would also support preparations for the future deployment of the Covid-19 vaccine.
“The project complements investments by the World Bank Group and other development partners in disease control and surveillance and citizen participation.
We will continue to work closely with other partners to support the scaling up of Ghana’s Covid-19 response and ensure the provision of essential health and nutrition services, ”said Anthony Seddoh, Senior Health Specialist at the World Bank Group.
The statement noted that the project would also expand communication and awareness campaigns across the country to reduce infection risks and increase understanding of Covid-19 vaccines.
He said it would also increase support for people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, such as survivors of gender-based violence, disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
The statement indicated that with the additional financing, the World Bank had provided a total of $ 1.005 billion in IDA resources to Ghana during 2020, supplemented by $ 86.6 million in resources from the Bank-administered Trust Fund.
He said it was the highest level of support given by the World Bank to Ghana in a single year since the country joined the institution and covered a variety of sectors, namely health, education, jobs and skills, water and sanitation. , transportation, digital transformation, finance for development and statistics.
The World Bank Group, one of the largest sources of finance and knowledge for developing countries, is taking comprehensive and swift action to help developing countries strengthen their response to a pandemic.
It is supporting public health interventions, working to ensure the flow of critical supplies and equipment, and helping the private sector continue to operate and maintain jobs.
The World Bank Group will make up to $ 160 billion available over 15 months through June 2021 to help more than 100 countries protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses, and bolster economic recovery.
This includes $ 50 billion of new IDA resources through grants and concessional loans and $ 12 billion for developing countries to finance the purchase and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.
