Additional Financing for the Mauritania COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Project (SPRP)

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The MoH has developed a National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy along with drafts costed operational and implementation plans through 2022 aimed at covering all its adult population. The AF in the amount of 15,000,000 US$ equivalent IDA would support the costs of expanding activities of the Covid-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Project (SPRP) (P173837), in an amount of US$5.2 million equivalent using the Multiphase Programmatic Approach (MPA), approved by the Board on April 2, 2020, and the AF to the SPRP approved on October 13, 2020 . The primary objectives of the proposed AF are to enable affordable and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, ensure effective vaccines deployment in Mauritania through health system strengthening, and to further strengthen preparedness and response activities under the parent project. This Project was not included in the Borrower’s Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for the Period FY18-FY23 , but the pandemic has increased the priority of health protection and treatment in Mauritania. The need to invest in health systems to ensure the productive capabilities of the population is recognized, as is the challenge of overcoming a legacy of limited investment in human capital and social resilience systems. The parent project was prepared to allow the country to respond to urgent preparedness and response needs related to the COVID-19 outbreak. It complements the REDISSE (P161163), which aims to strengthen human health, animal health, and disaster response system in West Africa to ensure resilience to outbreaks and health emergencies. This project which is in the early stages of implementation, supports Mauritania in establishing a coordinated approach to detecting and swiftly responding to regional public health threats and to strengthening health information systems, including disease surveillance capacity for early detection and response to disease outbreaks. The AF, like the parent project, is also aligned with both global health priorities and IBRD/IDA priorities on improving pandemic preparedness.The proposed Project includes two components supporting the country’s detection and response efforts in the fight against COVID-19. With the proposed AF this support will be maintained to ensure that the health system have the response capacity to continue to prevent, detect, and treat COVID-19 cases. The AF will support investments to bring immunization systems and service delivery capacity to the level required to successfully deliver COVID-19 vaccines at scale, through Component 1 of the parent project. The new subcomponent 1.4 will finance (i) procurement, importation, storage and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines and procurement of vaccination supplies and PPE such as surgical masks and face shields for vaccinators. To support the Government of Mauritania’s vaccination planning, the AF may finance upfront technical assistance to support Mauritania to establish institutional frameworks for the safe and effective deployment of vaccines. This will be done through the addition of a new subcomponent 2.3.