World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim, will be in Freetown on Wednesday 3 December, 2014 to reaffirm the Bank’s continued support to the government’s response to the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone.
According to a press release from the Bank, Dr. Kim would join President Ernest Bai Koroma and senior officials of the government for a press conference at State House on the same day.
While in Freetown, the World Bank’s president is expected to reiterate their “commitment to support Sierra Leone’s post-Ebola reconstruction and development needs, including increased focus on strengthening the health care systems, social protection, value-added agriculture and energy projects,” according to the statement.
Dr. Kim will visit the “Situation Room” at the National Ebola Response Center (NERC) and the United Nations Mission for the Ebola Emergency Response to get first-hand update on the progress, gaps and challenges in the response effort.
It said the WBG was mobilizing nearly $1 billion in financing for the three countries hardest hit by the Ebola crisis and that a total of $518 million had been disbursed for the emergency response.
“The funding is helping Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone provide treatment and care, contain and prevent the spread of infections, help communities cope with the economic impact of the crisis, and improve public health systems. Additional financing of $285 million grant was approved by the WBG’s Board on November 18, 2014, with a $98 million allocation for Sierra Leone. This money will help scale-up community-based care and support for faster identification, triage and care of Ebola patients, enable a surge of international health workers, laboratory services, and essential supplies, and restart basic health services.”
The release added that the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, was also providing commercial financing to enable trade, investment and employment in the three most affected countries.
“The financing includes a rapid response program which is helping to ensure continued operations of business and supplies of essential goods and services.”
© Politico 02/12/14
