Republic of Congo: World Bank Approves Additional financing of US$5 Million Grant to Build Capacity for the HIV/AIDS and Health Project (PLVSS II)

The World Bank’s Board of Directors today approved additional financing in the amount of US$5 million for the extension of the HIV/AIDS and Health Project (PLVSS II) for the Republic of Congo. The initial grant of US$19 million (SDR 12.8 million) allocated to the HIV/AIDS and Health Project (PLVSS) was approved on April 20, 2004 and is expected to close on June 30, 2009. With this new financing, the project’s closing date will be extended by three years.

The development objectives of the original project were to (i) contain the spread of AIDS and sexually transmitted infections (STIs); (ii) mitigate the health and socioeconomic impact of AIDS and STIs on persons infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS and STIs; and (iii) build strong and sustainable national capacity to respond to the AIDS epidemic.

The development objectives of the revised project remain unchanged, which entail contributing to the recipient’s efforts in order to (i) contain the spread of AIDS and STIs; (ii) mitigate the health and socioeconomic impact of AIDS and STIs on persons infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS and STIs; and (iii) build strong and sustainable national capacity to respond to the AIDS epidemic.

The Project has four components that remain unchanged:

- Public sector response: the response from the Ministry of Health and other ministries;
- Civil society response: community initiatives and support for a small number of private sector initiatives;
- Investments in orphans and other vulnerable children; and
- Management and coordination, capacity building, and monitoring and evaluation, including support with data collection at the national level.

Implementation of the project with the initial grant always received a satisfactory rating, and good progress with respect to several indicators was observed.

This additional financing will assist the State to:

(i) Refocus the project on priority areas for action in order to address discoveries regarding factors associated with the epidemic;
(ii) Upgrade the activities targeting high-risk and vulnerable groups (OVC, sex workers, widows, young people, indigenous peoples, sexual minorities, armed forces, and prisoners);
(iii) Build sustainability capacity and draw lessons from the experience; and
(iv) Scale up the level of additional financing by the Government and the donors, and apply the World Bank’s knowledge and experience.

Specifically, this IDA financing will meet the following needs:

- Refocus the project on priority areas for action;
- Increase the number of activities targeting high-risk and vulnerable groups; and
- Build national sustainability capacity and retain the lessons drawn from the experience.

It bears noting that this additional financing will cover the same previously selected six départements in the country, namely Pointe-Noire, Kouilou, Niari, Lékoumou, Brazzaville, and Sangha, in which 80 percent of the Congolese population lives.