Health security and equity: a public priority

The World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries – the International Development Association’s (IDA) – should help close the global Covid-19 vaccination gap as soon as possible, while also supporting systemic changes to further universal access in the long run, and prioritise investment in public (not private) healthcare delivery. These are some of our recommendations in our new position paper for IDA20, the upcoming 20th replenishment of the funds of IDA.

The goal of the IDA20 replenishment is to support countries in their recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and transition to green, resilient, and inclusive development. The replenishment will start in December 2021 with a policy and financial package to support 74 (lower income) countries between July 2022 and June 2025.

IDA20 policy framework: more inclusivity also means listening to civil society

With our position paper ‘Health security & equity: a public priority’, we want to contribute to the policy framework of IDA20 from a health equity perspective. Our recommendations are directed towards IDA donors, IDA recipient countries and the World Bank’s IDA senior leadership. We disseminate our paper now, during the Civil Society Policy Forum (27 September 27– October 8, 2021) ahead of the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings, because several sessions touch on IDA20 or are focused on IDA20.

The negotiations on the IDA20 policy framework – scheduled for the upcoming World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings (Oct 11-27, 2021) – largely take place behind closed doors. Civil society organisations do not have a seat at the table, not even as observers. However, they have an interest in the policy framework that accompanies IDA20. This policy framework is inspired by the general intention to ‘Build Back Better’, i.e. to recover from disasters faster and in ways that are more resilient, more (economically) productive, and more inclusive (ensuring nobody is left behind). How can countries build back better towards more inclusivity if civil society is not consulted in meaningful ways?

Civil Society Policy Forum session
On October 6 (15:00-16:30 CEST), we will co-organise a session on ‘Building Back Better Health Systems: lessons from the WBG’s Covid-19 response and recovery plans’ with several partner organisations.

Read our new paper ‘Health security & equity: a public priority – position paper on the IDA20 policy framework from a health perspective‘.

Watch the slideshow below by clicking on the image:

Photo credit: WIC News