Clicky
National, Back Page

Fight against coronavirus

Team Europe giving €334mn to BD


Published : 21 May 2020 09:26 PM | Updated : 05 Sep 2020 03:15 AM

Team Europe is mobilising over € 334 million for the fight against Covid-19 and its consequences in Bangladesh, the head of the EU delegation in Dhaka says.

TeamEurope’s response is about combining the collective development resources of the EU, its Member States and their respective financial institutions and implementing agencies, in particular the European Investment Bank, as well as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

As a result, a global EU response of EUR 20 billion was launched to help mitigate the spread of the virus and to reduce spillover effects on economic and social stability in partner countries.

The EU is already supporting Bangladesh in many areas crucial in the Covid-19 response and the recovery of the economy such as in food security, private sector development, and water, sanitation and hygiene.

The new announcement came in additional to that. More funds may be mobilised in the near future, it said.
Of the fund, EUR 263 million will be used to mitigate the economic and social impact of Covid-19.

Of this, a EUR 93 million EU grant plus a EUR 20 million German grant will help the government to provide cash assistance to workers in the export-oriented industries adversely affected by the economic fallout of the pandemic, and contribute to boost the resilience of the national social protection system.

In addition, the French Development Agency - Agence Française de Développement – (AFD) will support the Bangladesh government with EUR 150 million to improve the country’s social protection measures.

- EUR 64.8 million (EUR 16.5 million from the EU plus EUR 48.3 million from Germany) will be used to scale up interventions through the United Nations (UN) and NGO partners for vulnerable Bangladeshi host communities and Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar.

- EUR 5.5 million aims at strengthening Bangladesh’s research and health systems as follows an EU grant of nearly EUR 3 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) for the Government Preparedness and Response Plan.
Furthermore, an EU grant of EUR 246,000 will assist the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) with operational and technical support.

In addition, Sweden is supporting the health sector through UN and NGOs with the following programmes ‘Urban Health on Risk Communication and PPE in Urban Settings’ (EUR 1,385,000); ‘WASH, Handwashing Facilities and Information in Urban Slums’ (EUR 462,000) and the ‘Midwifery Programme with PPE, Training and Triage’ (EUR 462,000).

- Another grant of EUR 714,383 out of which 618,383 from the EU and EUR 96,000 from Germany will address the urgent needs of ultra-poor and vulnerable people in the urban areas of Dhaka and rural areas in the country. This contribution will support direct cash transfers to vulnerable households and awareness campaigns to reduce the spread of the virus.

“Covid-19 knows no borders and hits the most vulnerable hardest. Team Europe’s support of some EUR 334 million will assist the Government of Bangladesh in providing support to those who are most affected by Covid-19, in terms of health and livelihoods,” said the Ambassador of the EU, Rensje Teerink.

“#TeamEurope trusts that all Bangladeshis, and in particular millions of the most affected people, will benefit from these interventions. #TeamEurope is the tangible expression of the exceptional European efforts to lead the fight against Covid-19 and to express our global solidarity.”