Somalia - Crisis Response Support Programme for National and Regional Mitigation of Covid-19 Impact

The proposed intervention focuses on the Somali component of the Crisis Response Support Programme for National and Regional Mitigation of COVID-19 Impact for the Republics of Djibouti and Somalia. The operation is designed as Crisis Response Budget Support under the Bank Group COVID-19 Rapid Response Facility (CRF). It is in the form of a Regional Operations Envelope (RO) grant of UA 10.98 Million and a Transition Support Facility (TSF)-Pillar I grant of UA 7.32 Million. The programme will be implemented over one-year period from July 2020 to July 2021 in order to support countries ‘mitigation plans, including measures to tackle the COVID-19 regional spill-over impacts. Djibouti and Somalia represent 19.46% of total COVID-19 cases in the IGAD Region as of 16/07/20203. While Djibouti has the third highest contamination rate in Africa with 5 cases per 1000 and the highest rate in the Horn of Africa (due to population size), Somalia has the third highest death rate of the Region and a case fatality rate of 3% of total confirmed cases. The absolute numbers are misleading, due to low testing: Djibouti has tested 5.3% of the population (9.5% of those tested had the virus), while Somalia has tested only 0.3% (53% had the virus). Both countries are facing similar challenges due to the spread of COVID-19, which is negatively impacting health, livelihoods, economic stability, bilateral cross-border trade as well as trade with their common neighbours in the Horn of Africa (HoA). The programme is a response to the requests from both Governments dated 28 May 2020 (Somalia) and 30 May 2020 (Djibouti), which emphasized the need for support in their joint efforts to address the crisis, through regional cooperation. It is part of the broader commitment among countries participating under the Horn of Africa Initiative and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) frameworks to coordinate their COVID-19 responses and mitigation efforts. The program consists of three mutually reinforcing components which will be implemented through a coordinated approach and mainstreamed measures targeting cross-borders impacts of the pandemic: (1) strengthening the health system for an effective response; (2) strengthening livelihoods and social protection; and (3) protecting the labour force productivity and economic activities against COVID-19 shocks.