NUR-SULTAN, KAZAKHSTAN (28 August 2020) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $3 million grant from its Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund (APDRF) to support Kazakhstan’s response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The grant, which is financed by the Government of Japan, will be used to procure essential medicine and medical equipment to help expand the capacity of the country’s health care system.
“ADB is strongly committed to supporting Kazakhstan in this challenging time,” said ADB Country Director for Kazakhstan Giovanni Capannelli. “This grant complements ADB’s ongoing assistance to the government in meeting its most urgent needs in fighting the pandemic.”
On 25 June, ADB approved a $1 billion package of assistance under its COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support (CARES) Program to help Kazakhstan mitigate the health, social, and economic impacts of the pandemic. Additionally, a $1 million grant from ADB’s ongoing regional technical assistance is being disbursed to procure personal protective equipment for health care workers.
ADB has also partnered with the United Nations Development Programme to improve the country’s medical waste management system and is supporting the Ministry of Healthcare to improve its COVID-19 Management Center’s system for receiving online applications used to register and monitor data on infected people, as well as to assist those who recovered from infection.
On 13 April, ADB tripled to $20 billion its initial package to address the immediate needs of its developing members as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. ADB also approved measures to streamline its operations for quicker and more flexible delivery of assistance. Visit ADB’s website to learn more about its ongoing response.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.
