World Bank, Côte d’Ivoire sign $35m deal to scale up efforts to combat COVID-19

The Covid-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Project aim to strengthen prevention and the public health system by providing personal protective equipment to health care workers as well as adequate equipment to intensive care units and health facilities.

The World Bank and the Government of Côte d'Ivoire signed today a $35 million credit agreement from the International Development Association (IDA)* to scale up efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic (Coronavirus) in the country.

This credit supplements $40 million in financing already provided under the Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC) of the Strategic Purchasing and Alignment of Resources and Knowledge in Health Project, bringing the total financing allocated by the World Bank to Côte d'Ivoire's COVID-19 emergency measures to $75 million.

The Covid-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Project aim to strengthen prevention and the public health system by providing personal protective equipment to health care workers as well as adequate equipment to intensive care units and health facilities. This support will also help improve the water supply, hygiene, and sanitation at health facilities, and will finance training for health care workers, early detection of new cases, and effective patient care.

"In addition to providing emergency health support funding, this project will enable the authorities to use the various safety net mechanisms to provide financial assistance to poor households that have been affected or made vulnerable by Covid-19," noted Coralie Gevers, World Bank Country Director for Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Togo, and Guinea.