Belarus: Belarus Emergency Response and Public Healthcare Support Project

OBJECTIVE

The Project’s objective is to prevent, detect, and respond to the threat posed by COVID-19 and strengthen the preparedness of the national public health system in Belarus.

DESCRIPTION

The Project is proposed under the COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility (CRF) of AIIB. AIIB’s support will help the Government of Belarus scale up its ongoing efforts to respond to the health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and be better prepared for future disease outbreaks. The Project will consist of the following two components:

• Component 1: Strengthening national health system, in particular, to fight the Emergency COVID-19 pandemic. This component will finance procurement and installation of essential diagnostic and life-supporting medical equipment for the selected health facilities across Belarus. These include lung ventilators, mobile blood collection systems, CT scanners, MRI and X-ray machines, ultrasound machines, higher-class ambulances, and other critical equipment. It will enhance the capacity of controlling/containing the ongoing pandemic and strengthen the national health system and its preparedness to future public health crises.
• Component 2: Project management support. This component will support the mobilization of the administrative and human resources needed to implement the Project, monitor and evaluate its progress. It will finance additional cost of consultants associated with project management, procurement, financial management (FM), environmental and social safeguards, monitoring, reporting, and operating and administrative costs.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL INFORMATION

AIIB’s Environmental and Social Policy (ESP) including the Environmental and Social Standards (ESSs) and Environmental and Social Exclusion List (ESEL) apply to this Project.

The Project has been assigned Category B, since the risks and impacts are minimal, temporary, reversible and localized. Key project risks are manifested in management of medical waste and occupational health and safety associated with minor construction works to enable installation medical equipment. Environmental and Social Standard (ESS) 1 has been triggered and as required by the Bank’s Policy an Environmental and Social Management Planning Framework (ESMPF) and a Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) will be prepared.

The E&S due diligence, impact, and risk management for the Project has been carried out in accordance with the ESP. The main environmental risks associated with the Project are: (i) the occupational health and safety issues due to shortage of PPEs for health care workers involved in the COVID-19–related logistical supply chains; and (ii) environmental pollution and community health and safety issues related to the handling, transportation and disposal of medical waste.

Both the (draft) ESMPF and the (draft) SEP will be available in English and Russian and their summaries have been disclosed on the AIIB and MoH websites. These instruments will also be made available in hard copies in the Project areas. The SEP will guide the implementation of a communication outreach campaign in line with Government’s measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Project will rely on the existing functional Grievance Redress Mechanism GRM of the Ministry of Health, including the online inquiry form and the dedicated hotline. A project-level GRM will be included as a component of the ESMPF.