Additional Financing for the Tajikistan Emergency COVID-19 Project

active

The parent Project, with a total funding envelope of SDR 8.3 million (US$11.3 million equivalent) was prepared as part of the emergency response under the COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Program using the Multiphase Programmatic Approach. It was approved on April 2, 2020, signed on April 3, 2020 and declared effective on April 24, 2020. Its closing date is December 1, 2021. The Project seeks to support the response of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the implementation of their Emergency Response Plan, adopted in March 2020. The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to prepare and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Tajikistan. It includes four components: (i) Strengthening Intensive Care Capacity; (ii) Multi-sectoral Response Planning and Community Preparedness; (iii) Temporary Social Assistance for Vulnerable Households, and (iv) Project Implementation and Monitoring. Based on the most recent ISR, the progress towards achieving the PDO and the overall implementation progress are rated Satisfactory. Cumulative disbursements currently stand at 69% (US$8.04 million), and there are no overdue audit reports. Activities under all Project components are progressing satisfactorily and on schedule.The government request for the parent Project was for US$27.5 million, of which US$7.5 million was the Republic of Tajikistan’s allocation under the Fast Track COVID-19 Facility (FTCF) and US$20 million would need to come from the country’s IDA-19 envelope. Since advanced commitments from IDA-19 in FY20 were capped at 50% of the FTCF allocation (US$3.8 million), the parent project was approved for the amount of US$11.3 million and the US$16.2 million gap would need to be covered by an AF. The AF, proposed here for an amount of US$8.35 million, presents an opportunity to increase the development effectiveness of IDA resources by providing financing for the initial rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.