Background
The Ebola epidemic continues to spread rapidly in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, with the World Health Organization (WHO) projecting that it could infect more than 20,000 people. More people have now died in the 2014 Ebola epidemic than in all previous outbreaks combined. The World Bank Group’s emergency response to the unfolding Ebola crisis is to help contain the spread of infections, assist communities in coping with the economic impact, and improve public health systems throughout West Africa.
Where we stand now
- The World Bank Group is mobilizing a $230 million financing package for the three countries hardest hit by the crisis—Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea—including a $117 million emergency response.
- The $117 million emergency response includes $58 million for Liberia, $34 million for Sierra Leone and $25 million for Guinea.
- We also plan to strengthen health systems and service delivery, including support for clinical care, to curb mortality so that infected people have hope of surviving the disease, which is an incentive to come to health centers.
- The bulk of the emergency financing—$105 million out of the $117 million package— is new money provided in grants from our IDA Crisis Response Window.
- The other $12 million in the emergency financing was reallocated at the end of August 2014 from existing health projects in Liberia and Sierra Leone ($6 million per country) to make some funds immediately available and take advantage of the existing implementation capacity set up for these projects.
- We also have just approved a $6 million Project Preparation Advance for Guinea. Funds will be transferred in the days to come.
- These funds will be used to pay for essential supplies and drugs, personal protective equipment and infection prevention control materials, health workers training, hazard pay and death benefits to Ebola health workers and volunteers, contract tracing, vehicles, data management equipment and door-to-door campaigning.
Going forward
- The $105 million emergency project will be presented to the World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors on September 16, 2014.
- To address immediate needs, we have agreed with governments that up to 40 percent (or $42 million) of the funds can be disbursed retroactively to finance eligible expenditures already incurred, such as the hazard pay of health workers or some activities implemented by UN agencies.
- We are tracking these expenditures and expect to reimburse countries on the expected day of project effectiveness (September 25).
- That same day, we will not only disburse $42 million of retroactive expenditures; we will also transfer the totality of the remaining funds to governments as well as all UN agencies that have been contracted by these governments.
- UN agencies – particularly UNICEF, WHO, UNOPS, UNFPA and WFP – are expected to implement some of the activities financed by our emergency project.
- World Bank Group funds have already financed a first shipment of 100 tons of essential health and hygiene supplies (worth $1.6 million), which were procured and delivered by UNICEF to Liberia on August 26. Among the items in the shipment were hundreds of sets of personal protective equipment, latex gloves, thermometers, syringes, and other medical supplies to restock depleted stores at many of the country’s health facilities.
- On September 5, UNICEF procured and delivered 48 metric tons of materials and essential drugs for Ebola treatment centers (antibiotics and other essential medicines, cannula, coveralls to protect health workers, 7,440 pairs of latex gloves, and body bags) to Sierra Leone (worth $850,000), also financed by the World Bank Group.
- On September 9, UNICEF procured and delivered 28 new, all-terrain vehicles to the Guinea Ministry of Health. These vehicles will provide much-needed ground logistics support to treatment, supervision, contact monitoring and burial teams working in Guinea. A second lot of vehicles will include ambulances for patient transfers and motorbikes for contact monitoring in remote, hard-to-reach villages. This was made possible by the retroactive financing agreement provided under the $25 million World Bank Group emergency response for Guinea.
We are at a dangerous moment in these three West African countries, all fragile states that have had strong economic growth in recent years after decades of wars and poor governance. It would be scandalous to let this crisis escalate further when we have the knowledge, tools and resources to stop it. Tens of thousands of lives, the future of the region and hard-won economic and health gains for millions hang in the balance. - op-ed in The Washington Post, August 31, 2014 
Jim Yong Kim & Paul Farmer
World Bank Group President & Harvard University Professor
Contact: Melanie Mayhew