Mozambique Covid19 Response DPO

closed

The development objectives of the Covid-19 Response Development Policy Operation in Mozambique are to: (i) mitigate the impact on lives and livelihoods by supporting the immediate Covid-19 response: and (ii) support reforms that will aid the recovery and enhance fiscal sustainability. The operation seeks to strike a balance between addressing the immediate needs generated by the COVID-19 crisis and the medium-term structural reform agenda of the country. First, it will contribute to strengthening the health response to the pandemic. To save lives it supports the preparation and approval of a nationwide preparedness and response plan which has allowed the Government of Mozambique (GoM) to mobilize external resources quickly and map them to key activities in a coordinated manner. Second, it includes a set of reforms to support families and businesses withstand the economic effects of the crisis. It is expected to save lives by helping contain a widespread contagion, increasing the GoM’s preparedness in terms of health services, and allowing poor households to follow hygiene protocols. Water measures supporting the hygiene response of Government also provide cash flow relief to poor urban and peri-urban households by delaying the payments for water users under the social tariff and providing water through standpipes for free.