Project Summary

Project General Description

The proposed project is a grant of UA 6.5 million to Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat to finance implementation of Support to the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis Response, in six (6) ADF Beneficiary Countries in the SADC Region. The cases of COVID-19 in the beneficiary countries are mostly concentrated in large urban areas and major points of entry. The implementation of lockdowns and limited movement of people between towns and rural areas within countries has ensured limited spread of the virus to rural populations. There is already emerging evidence that the implementation of lockdowns is having a devastating impact on the livelihoods of informal sector workers and traders in urban areas with no savings and limited state social security and safety nets. Based on the current epidemiological profile of the COVID-19 outbreak and the technical knowledge base available, this ADF assistance will include the following components: (i) Strengthen SADC Beneficiary Countries capacity to respond to COVID-19 Pandemic; (ii) Reinforce Regional Coordination of SADC Member States’ mitigation measures against the regional spread of COVID-19. This is a regional project that will be implemented in the form of a Regional Public Good (RPG) over eighteen (18) months starting in June 2020 and closing in December 2021. The operation was appraised in April 2020 following a request from the SADC Secretariat on 8 April 2020 for the Fund to assist with the SADC COVID-19 pandemic crisis response. The project design followed the Bank Group's COVID-19 Pandemic Response Facility (CRF) and considered good practice principles on conditionality and the support that the Bank is already providing to Regional Member Countries (RMCs).

Project Objectives

The main goal of this grant proposal is to support Six (6) SADC ADF Beneficiary Countries to contain the spread of the COVID-19 and mitigate its impacts through support to institutional strengthening and provision of medical supplies and equipment (laboratory equipment and supplies including testing kits, personal protective equipment and case management equipment (including non-invasive ventilators) while maintaining effective provision of other health and medical services to the population at national level. The specific objectives of the program are: (i) increase the availability of Personal Protective Equipment in Beneficiary Countries for front-line health care workers, community health workers and other essential workers to minimize the adverse health impact of COVID-19 on these critical categories of providers; (ii) increase the availability of testing kits in Beneficiary Countries to quickly detect cases of COVID-19, isolate and treat them to break the chain of transmission for the disease; and (iii) reinforce SADC Secretariat’s capacity to coordinate pandemic response measures in Beneficiary Countries.

Beneficiaries

The Bank’s assistance will support the ADF eligible SADC Beneficiary Countries, namely: (Lesotho, Malawi, Madagascar, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe) to mitigate and effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The assistance will strengthen epidemic preparedness and response of the beneficiary countries to facilitate early detection of COVID-19, and response to potential future threats arising from communicable disease epidemics and pandemics. The direct beneficiaries will be front line health workers and border officials in the beneficiary countries who will be protected from infection with PPE, the populations of the beneficiary countries and the SADC Secretariat. The indirect beneficiaries will be the populations of the SADC Beneficiary Countries who share borders with the beneficiary countries through measures to reduce cross border transmission and coordination of implementation of these measures by the SADC Secretariat.

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