ISLAMABAD – The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors Friday approvedthe restructuring of the Pandemic Response Effectiveness in Pakistan (PREP)project, originally approved in April 2020, to redeploy $153 million tosupport the ongoing national vaccine drive in Pakistan.

These funds, redeployed at the request of the federal government, will helpfinance the purchase and deployment of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccinesthat meet the eligibility criteria of the World Bank. The project willstrengthen the health system’s capacity to implement the vaccinationcampaign for its prioritized and eligible populations.

“The third wave of COVID-19 emerged in Pakistan in March 2021 and isthreatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of people,” said NajyBenhassine, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan in a statement.

“The World Bank remains a committed partner to support Pakistan inaddressing this public health crisis, including through vaccination, andproviding support to tackle the social and economic impacts of thepandemic.”

In addition to this financing for vaccines in Pakistan, the World Bank hasprovided a total of $768.5 million to support the vaccination purchase androllout efforts in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Inaddition to financing, the Bank is providing technical assistance andknowledge-sharing workshops for countries in South Asia on differentaspects of designing and deploying fair and equitable vaccine strategies.

Pakistan has been a member of the World Bank since 1950. Since then, theWorld Bank has provided $40 billion in assistance. The World Bank’s programin Pakistan is governed by the Country Partnership Strategy for FY2015-2020with four priority areas of engagement: energy, private sector development,inclusion, and service delivery.