World Bank Approves $200 Million to Support South Sudan's COVID-19 Response

 

 

Washington: The World Bank approved $200 million in additional financing to support South Sudan’s continued efforts to improve its capacity to respond to COVID-19.   This International Development Association (IDA) grant will also help strengthen health service delivery for the general population and expand service provision to vulnerable groups in Upper Nile State, Jonglei State, Greater Pibor Administrative Area, and Ruweng Administrative Area.  South Sudan has been struggling with the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the low vaccination rates across the country due to existing deployment constraints, vaccine^[1] hesitancy, and a lack of access to other vaccine sources beyond COVAX.

 

Furthermore, the unprecedented floods in 2021 and 2022 have hampered vaccine deployment efforts, increasing risks of social exclusion particularly of those living in remote, conflict, and flood-affected areas.  "This additional financing will help the Government of South Sudan address challenges in both the procurement and deployment of vaccines by supporting the acquisition of COVID-19 vaccines for 30 percent of the total population. It will also help the country address the urgent health and nutrition needs of refugees and host communities along with populations affected by the flooding in several states," said Firas Raad, World Bank Country Manager for South Sudan, in a media release on Thursday. 

 

"By strengthening South Sudan’s disease surveillance systems and laboratory capacity, the project will also contribute to improving health systems and emergency preparedness at the national and subnational levels," Raad added.  Since its launch in June 2021, the South Sudan COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems reparedness Project, financed by the World Bank and implemented by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the World Health Organization (WHO), has been supporting the country to prevent, detect, and respond to the threat posed by COVID-19.   It has, for example, helped accelerate vaccine deployment efforts and increased access to essential health services in the states of Upper Nile, Jonglei, and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area.  

 

Additionally, the project has been supporting the government’s stewardship of the health sector and its preparedness systems.   This additional financing will provide a big boost to the country’s effort to procure COVID-19 vaccines and scale-up of its vaccination efforts nationwide. 

 

The additional financing for the South Sudan COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project includes $50 million from the IDA Window for Host Communities and Refugees (WHR) and $40 million from the IDA Crisis Response Window (CRW). 

(WAH)

References

1. ^{^} vaccine (www.medcom.id)