The World Bank has approved $200 million to support Pakistan’s response to coronavirus outbreak as part of $1.9 billion initial funding for 25 countries.
According to the Bank, the $200 million funding will support Pakistan’s “preparedness and emergency response in the health sector and include social protection and education measures to help the poor and vulnerable cope with the immediate impacts of 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 Bank explained.
“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.”
Rapid Response Team from NIH in collaboration with Assistant Commissioner and DHO Islamabad are engaged in various types of response activities regarding COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/Jb5HY1vGRX
— NIH Pakistan (@NIH_Pakistan) April 2, 2020
In all, the World Bank Group is prepared to deploy up to $160 billion over the next 15 months to support COVID-19 measures that will help countries respond to immediate health consequences of the pandemic and bolster economic recovery.
The broader economic program will aim to shorten the time to recovery, create conditions for growth, support small and medium enterprises, and help protect the poor and vulnerable.
There will be a strong poverty focus in these operations, with an emphasis on policy-based financing, and protecting the poorest households and the environment, the Bank said.
“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,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass.
“We are working to strengthen developing nations’ ability to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and shorten the time to economic and social recovery,” Malpass added.”
The poorest and most vulnerable countries will likely be hit the hardest, and our teams around the world remain focused on country-level and regional solutions to address the ongoing crisis.”
Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced a $5 billion relief package to protect the more than 200 million population against the virus outbreak and support economic stimulus during the crisis.
