WB, DFID pledge $14 million to combat Covid-19 in KP

International development partners including the World Bank (WB) and Department for International Development (DFID) have come forward to extend emergency support to the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the aftermath of COVID-19 outbreak.
The representatives of the World Bank have formally pledged an initial sum of $14 million as emergency assistance to the provincial government in a virtual conference meeting with the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Shakeel Qadir Khan. Representatives of the Department for International Development were also present at the meeting.
The Additional Chief Secretary appreciated the World Bank's financial assistance and recognized the technical support by the UNDP Merged Areas Governance Project to the Task Force on Economy and Employment constituted under the direction of the Additional Chief Secretary.
World Bank's Country Director, Patchamuthu Illangovan, and Operations Manager, Melinda Good, apprised the Additional Chief Secretary regarding their approach on closely working with the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in dealing with COVID-19 outbreak and its socioeconomic implications.
The World Bank team also informed that they were working on the development of a multifaceted programme including support to redress the emergency needs on immediate basis and assistance to deal with the economic challenges in the longer term.
Discussing the imperatives of the health emergency and the lockdown actions, the Additional Chief Secretary informed the development partners that the provincial government was focusing on undertaking immediate relief measures as well as devising mitigation strategy to address the long-term impact on the economy and employment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Head of DFID Pakistan, Annabel Gerry, reiterated UK's continued support to the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in these difficult times as its longstanding development partner, particularly in emergency healthcare and virtual education areas.