Egypt’s parliament approves two int’l cooperation agreements worth $53 million to fight COVID-19

'COVID-19 proved the urgent need for international cooperation and coordination to overcome the crisis,' Minister Rania Al-Mashat said

Egypt’s House of Representatives has approved on Monday two international cooperation agreements with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) worth of total of $53 million to support the state's efforts to combat COVID-19.

The approval includes a loan agreement signed on 5 March between Egypt and the IBRD (an arm of the World Bank Group) worth $50 million to fund the emergency response to combat COVID-19 in Egypt.

The approval also includes a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Egypt and the AFESD to provide aid worth 1 million Kuwaiti dinars, equivalent to $3.2 million, to support the fight against the pandemic.

The two agreements come within the framework of the Global Partnerships for Effective Development Cooperation multi-stakeholder platform launched in April 2020, which aims to strengthen partnerships to harmonise all development interventions to maximise work towards ending poverty, fighting inequality and addressing the urgency of climate change, according to Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat.

“COVID-19 proved the urgent need for international cooperation and coordination to overcome the crisis and support countries to achieve the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, as no country will be able to overcome the current crisis on its own,” Al-Mashat said.

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