Côte d’Ivoire: Strengthening of Vaccination and Health Systems under the COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Project

OBJECTIVE

To prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by COVID-19 and strengthen national systems for public health preparedness in Cote d’Ivoire.

DESCRIPTION

The proposed Project will be part of AIIB’s COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility (the Facility) and will be co-financed with the World Bank (WB), through the International Development Association (IDA), under the second additional financing of the Cote d’Ivoire Strategic Preparedness and Response Project (CIV-SPRP). The Project will: (i) increase the availability and roll-out of eligible vaccines for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), to support the Government of Cote d’Ivoire in its target to expand COVID-19 vaccination coverage to 70 percent of the population and provide booster doses to 9.9 million persons (35 percent of the population); (ii) reinforce preparedness and response interventions at scale; and (iii) strengthen relevant health systems to ensure effective vaccine deployment in Cote d’Ivoire, sustained containment of COVID-19, and positioning of the country to detect and respond to future disease outbreaks in a swift, effective and efficient manner.

The Project will comprise 3 components:

• Component 1: Emergency COVID-19 Response to finance the purchase and deployment of vaccines and to strengthen related health systems
• Component 2: Health communication and community engagement
• Component 3: Project implementation, management, and monitoring and evaluation

AIIB will finance all three components.

The WB’s support to the CIV-SPRP consists of an initial IDA credit of USD 35 million (referred to as the Initial WB Financing), focused on initial measures to contain the pandemic, and an Additional WB Financing (AF) IDA credit of USD 100 million (referred to as the First WB AF), focused on vaccine deployment. The WB's total combined financing for this Project and the activities supported under the Initial WB Financing and the First WB AF is USD 215 million.

Activities, under all three components, have been underway since Apr. 2021, within the framework of the CIV-SPRP. The proposed project will scale up activities under all three components and extend the closing date of the project from Jun. 30, 2022 to June 30, 2024.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL INFORMATION

The loan will be co-financed with the WB as lead co-financier, and the project’s environmental and social (ES) risks and impacts will be assessed in accordance with the WB’s Environmental and Social Framework (ESF). To ensure a harmonized approach to addressing the ES risks and impacts of the project, and as permitted under AIIB’s Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), the WB’s ESF will apply to the project in lieu of AIIB’s Environmental and Social Policy (ESP). AIIB has reviewed the WB ESF and is satisfied that: (a) it is consistent with AIIB’s Articles of Agreement and materially consistent with the provisions of AIIB’s ESP, including the Environmental and Social Exclusion List and the relevant Environmental and Social Standards; and (b) the monitoring procedures that are in place are appropriate for the project.

The WB has categorized the environmental and social (ES) risks of the project as “Substantial” (which is equivalent to Category B if AIIB’s ESP were applicable). However, the Project is expected to have mostly positive ES impacts, insofar as it should strengthen COVID-19 surveillance, monitoring, treatment, containment and response in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and prepare the country for future pandemics. The main environmental risks result from inherent occupational and community health and safety risks and the challenges associated with medical waste management. The main social risks relate to difficulties of access, or lack of access to, health supplies, services and facilities by vulnerable social groups, lack of public acceptance and mistrust of vaccines, social conflicts and risks to human safety related to diagnostic testing, and social tensions related to the challenges of a pandemic situation. Social risks will be mitigated through effective risk communication and community engagement to raise awareness among the general population.

Regarding Grievance Redress Mechanisms (GRM), this comprises of a telephone hotline established at the Ministry of Health, email address channels, social media channels, and complaints-handling desks at the health care facilities, clinics and hospitals. The GRM will handle all Project-related concerns on the process of managing the pandemic and the medical waste management activities, including: (i) the search and management of COVID-19 cases; (ii) the treatment of the sick; (iii) psychological assistance; (iv) issues regarding vaccine deployment and implementation; and (v) other issues such as death cases.

The relevant ES documentation has been disclosed on WB’s website and on the client’s website.