Afghanistan COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project

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The project will address critical country-level needs for preparedness and response for COVID-19. It will fill critical financing gaps that have been identified due to the new emergency preparedness and response needs created by COVID-19.The project financing amount is US$100.4 million, with US$19.4 million from the World Bank COVID19 Fast-Track Facility and US$81 million from the Afghanistan Regular IDA18 allocation. The combined IDA financing for Afghanistan will be on a Grant basis. The scope of this project will be nationwide, covering all 34 provinces of the country. The project comprises the following components: Component 1: Emergency COVID-19 Response: The aim of this component is to slow down and limit as much as possible the spread of COVID-19 in the country. This will be achieved through providing immediate support to enhance disease detection capacities through increasing surveillance capacities, provision of technical expertise, strengthening laboratory and diagnostic systems to ensure prompt case finding and local containment.Component 2: Health Care Strengthening: The aim of this component is to strengthen essential health care service delivery to be able to provide the best care possible for people who become ill despite a surge in demand. It will also ensure ongoing support for people ill in the community to minimize the overall impact of the disease on society, public services and on the economy.Component 3: Mitigation of Social Impact: This component will address significant negative externalities expected in the event of a widespread COVID-19 outbreak and include comprehensive communication strategies. The primary focus will be on addressing social distancing measures such as avoiding large social gatherings and should the need arise, school closings to mitigate against the possible negative impacts on children’s learning and wellbeing.Component 4: Implementation Management and Monitoring and Evaluation: Support for the strengthening of public structures for the coordination and management of the project would be provided, including central and local (decentralized) arrangements for coordination of activities, financial management and procurement. This component would also support monitoring and evaluation of prevention and preparedness, building capacity for clinical and public health research, and joint-learning across and within countries. As may be needed, this component will also support third-party monitoring of progress.Component 5: Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC): In the event of an Eligible Crisis or Emergency, the project will contribute to providing immediate and effective response to said crisis or emergency. Given the uncertainties associated with the scale and trajectory of the COVID19 outbreak, approximately 10 percent of the resources are unallocated but will be available for reallocation to the project components as needed to enable rapid redeployment within the project depending on the specific needs that may arise.