ISLAMABAD, APR 03 (DNA) – World Bank has signed a financing agreement worth $ 200 million dollars with government of Pakistan for Covid19 pandemic response.

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar witnessed the signing ceremony in Islamabad on Friday.

Dr. Syed Pervaiz Abbas, Federal Secretary of Economic Affairs Division signed the financing agreement on behalf of Government of Pakistan while provincial project agreements were signed by the designated officers of provincial governments. Country Director Patchamuthu Illangovan signed the agreements on behalf of World Bank.

The development objective of the project is to support the government to prepare and respond to the Covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan and strengthen national systems for public health preparedness.

The project will primarily focus health sector operations to help address the critical country-level needs to prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by COVID-19. It will also support strengthening the country’s national health systems for public health preparedness and response needs related to the Covid-19 outbreak, and includes mitigation measures in social protection and education to help the poor and vulnerable cope with the immediate impact of the pandemic.

The scope of this project will be nationwide, covering all provinces/territories of the country. The primary project beneficiaries will be infected people, at-risk populations, medical and emergency personnel as well as service providers at medical and testing facilities (both public and private), and national and provincial departments of health. Staff of key technical departments and provincial health departments will also benefit from the project as their capabilities increase through the strengthened institutional capacity.

In his tweet, the minister said that this sum shall be utilized for emergency preparedness/response, emergency cash transfers to poor, emergency food supplies for quarantined populations, mitigation of impacts in education.

The Govt of Pakistan and World Bank have signed a $200 million project for covid-19 response.  The sum shall be utilised for emergency prepardeness/response, emergency cash transfers to poor, emergency food supplies for quarantined populations, mitigation of impacts in education. =DNA

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