The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have signed an agreement to help partner countries achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Development Diaries understands that this agreement will enable the organisations to address setbacks, mainly caused by the Covid-19 crisis, in Africa and Asia.
This agreement will enable the UNDP to carry out the procurement required for the implementation of projects financed by the EIB in such situations.
‘A coordinated response is paramount to help the most vulnerable countries recover from the Covid-19 crisis’, EIB President Werner Hoyer said.
‘The EIB, as part of Team Europe, has quickly reacted to the health crisis with the aim to build the grounds for a green and sustainable recovery.
‘It will allow us to leverage our respective strengths to get projects off the ground in situations of emergency and fragility, where time is of the essence to save lives and livelihoods’.
For his [art, UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner, said, ‘We are facing an unprecedented crisis. As millions of people lose their jobs, it is estimated that the pandemic will cause the first-ever increase in global poverty since 1998.
‘The health, economic and social impact of Covid-19 can only be addressed by the fast, efficient response and targeted funding; all of which require specific technical expertise that EIB and UNDP can offer jointly to our partners’.
Source: Dev Discourse
Photo source: Embassy of Equatorial Guinea
