Team Europe allocates €334 million for Bangladesh to fight Covid-19

Team Europe has allocated €334 million (Tk31 billion) for Bangladesh to help fight the Covid-19 pandemic and may mobilise more funds in the future.

Earlier, the European Union (EU), its Member States and the European financial institutions, decided to join forces as Team Europe to tackle the pandemic. 

"The EU is pleased to announce that €334 million have been allocated to help fight the pandemic and that more funds may be mobilised in the near future," reads a press release.

In its ongoing development cooperation programmes in Bangladesh, the EU is already addressing many areas crucial in the Covid-response and the recovery of the economy, including food security, private sector development and WASH, it adds. 

In particular, €263 million to mitigate the economic and social impact of Covid-19 while  a €93 million EU grant plus a €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.

 "Covid-19 knows no borders and hits the most vulnerable hardest. Team Europe's support of some €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 Rensje Teerink, the Ambassador of the EU. 

Additionally, the French Development Agency - Agence Française de Développement – (AFD) will support Bangladesh with €150 million to improve the country's social protection measures. €64.8 million (€16.5 million from the EU plus €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. 

€5.5 million aims at strengthening Bangladesh's research and health systems as follows: an EU grant of nearly €3 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) for the Government Preparedness and Response Plan.

Apart from those, an EU grant of €246,000 will assist the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) with operational and technical support.

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

Another grant of €714,383 out of which €618,383 from the EU and €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.

The EU launched a €20 billion "Team Europe" package to help mitigate the spread of the virus and to reduce spillover effects on economic and social stability in partner countries.

Bangladesh will also benefit from the funds that the EU and its Member States have made available to its multilateral partners to tackle the pandemic. 

At the global level, #TeamEurope has joined forces with other multilateral partners and IFIs (Word Bank, IMF, ADB) by contributing 22 percent of the $ 88 billion global response against Covid-19.