Multi-Donor Trust Fund: EPI, World Bank sign accord to streamline finances

Disbursement of funds will be done through linked indicators mechanism


Our Correspondent September 07, 2016
Through Disbursement Linked Indicators mechanism (DLI) under which the funds will be disbursed to provinces on achievement of desirable results after verification by the federal EPI through a third party. CM. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: The national Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) signed an agreement on Monday with the World Bank to form Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF).

The aim was to streamline co-financing of donors for immunisation, addressing the long-standing issues of inefficiency and unsustainability caused by fragmented financing structure of the programme in Pakistan.

So far, the funding has been coordinated with multiple international donors by the immunisation programme.

However, after the formulation of this fund the World Bank will lead the activity on behalf of all the donors, Federal EPI National Programme Manager Dr Saqlain Ahmed Gilani said.

According to the PC-1, about Rs36.9 billion will be spent on routine immunisation from 2015 to 2020 of which $180 million will be contributed by the World Bank, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the MDTF.

Contrary to the fragmented approach of financing, National Immunisation Support Project (NISP) consolidates multiple donors and government funding sources in the form of the MDTF for co-financing, Gilani said.

He said that under the programme federal and provincial programmes would make adequate and sustainable financing available through national and provincial recurrent budgets for procurement of vaccines and delivering immunisation services respectively.

“Provinces have given their consent for the pool procurement of vaccines by the federal government on behalf of the provinces,” Gilani said.

A delegation of the World Bank in coordination with development partners visited the country during July 14-29, 2016.

The purpose was to conduct a joint supervision, appraisal and evaluation mission (JSAEM) for implementation of the NISP and discuss the overall implementation status, as well as institutional and financing arrangements for the project.

The disbursement of funds will be done under two modes.

Through Disbursement Linked Indicators mechanism (DLI) under which the funds will be disbursed to provinces on achievement of desirable results after verification by the federal EPI through a third party.

Secondly, funds shall be provided to the federal EPI in the designated account for provinces and federal for procurement of cold chain goods and consultations.

A third-party evaluation will be done for addressing the bottlenecks in both provincial and federal programmes.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7th, 2016.

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