As the Ebola virus continued to ravage West Africa on an unprecedented scale in September, the world’s largest multilateral and bilateral donors heightened their response.
The World Bank announced Sept. 16 a $105 million grant — with additional financing expected to come — to contain the disease in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, as well as bolster struggling public health systems in those countries to prevent future outbreaks.
The grant, to be managed by a unit of the International Development Association tasked with helping poor countries recover from severe natural disasters or economic crises, is part of the $200 million Ebola emergency mobilization approved in August and will give $52 million for Liberia, the country with the highest number of Ebola infections, $28 million to Sierra Leone and $25 million for Guinea, based on the World Health Organization’s assessment of the relative severity of the epidemic in each country. Up to 40 percent of the money from the new grant can be directed to retroactive financing of eligible Ebola containment efforts in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
About the authors
Jeff Tyson@jtyson21
Jeff is a former global development reporter for Devex. Based in Washington, D.C., he covers multilateral affairs, U.S. aid, and international development trends. He has worked with human rights organizations in both Senegal and the U.S., and prior to joining Devex worked as a production assistant at National Public Radio. He holds a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in international relations and French from the University of Rochester.
Carlos Santamaria
Carlos is a former associate editor for breaking news in Devex's Manila-based news team. He joined Devex after a decade working for international wire services Reuters, AP, Xinhua, EFE ,and Philippine social news network Rappler in Madrid, Beijing, Manila, New York, and Bangkok. During that time, he also covered natural disasters on the ground in Myanmar and Japan.
