Togo Second Additional Financing to the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Systems Preparedness Strengthening Project

active

The proposed Additional Financing (AF) will further support the implementation of Togo National Deployment and COVID-19 Vaccination Plan (NDVP) to reach at least 70 percent of COVID-19 vaccine coverage. It will support the costs of expanding activities of the Parent Project Togo COVID-19 Emergency Response and System Preparedness Strengthening Project (P173880), focused on achieving the Project Development Objectives (PDO) and enhance its impact. As these changes are aligned with the original PDO, the PDO will remain unchanged. The content of the parent project Components and the Results Framework are adjusted to reflect the expanded scale of activities proposed under the AF. Financing from IDA of US$25 million will support COVID-19 vaccines acquisition and deployment activities. The closing date would be extended from March 31, 2022 to December 31, 2023, to enable further time for the implementation of additional activities. The AF will support the scaling up COVID-19 vaccine through the three components of the Parent Project. To this end, the AF is geared to assist the Government of Togo working with WHO, UNICEF, GAVI and other development partners to overcome bottlenecks as identified in the COVID-19 vaccine purchasing and deployment in the country. Out of the US$25 million of IDA proposed project financing for vaccination, an estimated amount of US$ 18.5 million will be allocated to vaccine purchase and US$ 6.5 million to selected vaccine deployment activities. The primary objectives of the AF are to enable affordable and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and help ensure effective vaccine deployment in Togo through enhanced vaccination system strengthening, and to further strengthen preparedness and response activities under the parent project. The proposed AF will form part of an expanded health response to the pandemic, which is being supported by development partners under the coordination of the Government of Togo. This AF will finance the scale-up of (i) vaccine and related consumable purchase; (ii) strengthening service delivery to ensure effective vaccine deployment; (iii) monitoring, tracking of vaccines use and recording of any adverse reactions to vaccination; and (iv) social mobilization and community engagement to enhance demand for the COVID-19 vaccine. The parent project structure will be maintained as well as the relevant activities of each Component to continue to support the vaccination campaign in the country: Component 1: Emergency COVID-19 Response. This component will support the ministry of health with necessary conditions to implement its NDVP. More specifically, support under this AF would further develop the following sub-components:• Sub-component 1.2: COVID-19 vaccine planning, procurement and distribution. Key activities to be supported include, inter alia : (i) the procurement of additional COVID-19 vaccines via AVATT platform; (ii) provision of more consumables for vaccination and PPE for vaccinators; (iii) provision of drugs, medical equipment and supplies to public health facilities and intensive care facilities within hospitals; (iv) operational costs for the roll out of the vaccination campaign; (v) procurement of climate-sensitive cold room power generator and other equipment required to support low-carbon cold chains (storage, transportation and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines); (vi) provision of drugs to health facilities for AEFI management; (vii) provision of additional laboratory equipment; (viii) low-carbon medical waste management inputs and operationalization; (ix) additional operational costs for the vaccine transportation from central to the regional, district and vaccine sites level; (x) operating costs and other administrative-related costs for supportive supervision and monitoring; and (xi) contingency measures included in the NVDP, such as rehabilitation of central level vaccine storage facilities, to deal with any unexpected disruptions to vaccine supply from climate change and natural disasters (i.e., flooding and extreme heat).Component 2: Supporting National and Sub-national Prevention and Preparedness. More specifically, support under this AF would further develop the following sub-component.• Sub-component 2.2: Communication, social mobilization and community engagement to enhance demand for the COVID-19 vaccine. This sub-component will provide additional resources for, inter alia: (i) social mobilization; and (ii) operational costs during the vaccination campaign (per diem, travel, fuel etc.). Both public and private sectors will be mobilized to organize campai gns aimed at promoting a generalized behavior change in favor of COVID-19 vaccination. Moreover, vaccine communication campaigns will build awareness among key population groups about climate-related health risks linked to the COVID-19 crisis.Component 3: Project Implementation Management and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E). This component will continue to support the coordination and management of activities under the parent project and its AF, such as additional: (i) support for procurement, financial management (FM), environmental and social safeguards, M&E, and reporting; (ii) training of project management unit and technical consultants; (iii) operating costs for project management; and (iv) distribution of goods purchased. The AF will continue to use the existing project coordinating unit (PCU) for overall administration, procurement, environmental and social aspects, and the FM of the project. It will include additional capacity and expertise as required. The AF will partner and engage with other organizations, particularly WHO and UNICEF, in various roles such as procurement agents and suppliers, and providers of specialized technical assistance.