Washington, April 22, 2016 – The Vice President of the World Bank for the Latin America and the Caribbean Region, Jorge Familiar, alongside the Ambassador of Ecuador in Washington, Francisco Borja Cevallos, signed an agreement today to help the people affected by the recent earthquake that devastated the Ecuadorian coast a few days ago.
“The signing of this US$150 million loan will be of great help in coping with the consequences of the devastating earthquake that affected the Ecuadorian coast. The funding provided by the World Bank will serve to support emergency recovery and forms part of the multi-lateral loan package that Ecuador has activated to assist those populations that most need it,” said Francisco Borja Cevallos, Ambassador of Ecuador in Washington.
For World Bank Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, Jorge Familiar, "Through this project, we will support the purchase and distribution of non-food items such as surgical equipment, medical instruments and mobile hospitals, and other supplies to cope with this emergency.” He added that "Much of the public infrastructure, businesses and homes on the northern coast of the country have been affected. The project signed today also aims to support the recovery of basic and productive services in order to get back to normal as soon as possible."
TYhe Ecuador Risk Mitigation and Emergency Recovery project has US$150 million at its disposal. The World Bank has also offered the government of Ecuador the possibility to restructure other loans to increase the amount of resources available to deal with this emergency.
A damage assessment team of the World Bank went to Ecuador just hours after the earthquake, and part of the agreed support respond to the humanitarian needs identified so far. This assessment and the immediate response of the World Bank has been done in coordination with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the central and subnational government, and other donors.
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