The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc and has taken a devastating toll on people across Mena. It has greatly tested the region’s resilience and has heightened the urgency for reforms to address challenges to development that have been long-standing.
The support provided to the Mena region by World Bank exceeded $4.75 billion in the fiscal year 2021. New commitments in Mena totaled $3.98 billion In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to support middle-income countries. The International Development Association of the World Bank’s fund contributed $658 million to the world’s poorest countries. World Bank also contributed $114 million to the Palestinian Authority.
The World Bank approved 35 new operations this year in the Mena region. These operations include $200 million to Egypt for tackling air pollution in Greater Cairo; $500 million in Jordan to drive climate-smart private and public investment; and an operation in Morocco amounting to $250 million to improve the environmental sustainability and the marketing efficiency of agri-food value chains and also to ensure the economic inclusion of youth in rural areas.
In Tunisia, $300 million was provided by the World Bank for cash transfers for roughly over 100,000 children and one million vulnerable households. In Yemen, the World Bank provided a further $203.9 million in grants to strengthen emergency social protection through a cash transfer program to food-insecure households.
To help strengthen health systems, the World Bank provided support for Covid-19 vaccines by allocating $34 million for the people in Lebanon. $100 million was allocated by the bank to support the vaccination programs to fight the pandemic in Tunisia and, it also provided $63.5 million in funds to Jordan and $20 million for Yemen.
The World Bank worked with the United Nations and the European Union to help the people of Lebanon after the Port of Beirut explosion that happened in August 2020 and also the violence in Gaza in May 2021.
The World Bank is helping people cope with the disastrous ongoing social, health, and economic impacts of the Covid-19 crisis. It is committed to offering support immediate priorities like water resources management and climate mitigation to facilitate a green, resilient, and inclusive development path.