The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) held today an extraordinary Administrative Council meeting to approve a new loan to assist the Republic of Türkiye’s health sector recover from the recent earthquakes. The Administrative Council also approved the establishment of a new Disaster Prevention and Recovery Fund.
With hospitals and healthcare facilities having suffered severe damage from the devastating earthquakes that hit the country on 6 February 2023, the CEB’s newly-approved €250 million loan to the Republic of Türkiye will support the Government in its efforts to recover critical health services in the short term as well as rebuild resilient health infrastructure over the medium term. Helping resume healthcare services is also expected to prevent potential migration flows from the region affected by the earthquakes, which is home to 14 million people and a major agricultural hub. The CEB’s loan is part of a €500 million pledge that Governor Monticelli unveiled at the EU Donors Conference Together for the people in Türkiye and Syria on March 20, 2023.
At today’s extraordinary meeting, the Administrative Council also approved the establishment of a Disaster Prevention and Recovery Fund (DPRF) whose resources will be used to assist Türkiye, as well as other CEB member states, in preparing for or responding to natural and ecological disasters. The initial endowment to the Fund was provided by a € 3 million transfer from the CEB’s Social Dividend Account.
“I am extremely proud that the CEB is able to make new financing quickly available to Türkiye and its people targeting healthcare, one of the sectors where support is most needed at the moment, said Governor Monticelli.”
The CEB can count on significant experience in financing healthcare projects in the Republic of Türkiye, including a €200 million loan approved in 2020, which proved essential in supporting the authorities’ fight against COVID-19. Over the years, the CEB has also managed two grants in the country under the EU Facility for Refugees in Türkiye (FRiT). In the first FRiT-funded project, worth €50 million, the CEB oversaw the construction and equipping of a 400-bed state hospital in Kilis, at the border with Syria. The hospital, which was inaugurated in December 2022, became a major medical hub in the aftermath of the February’s earthquakes, remaining fully operational and treating 6 000 outpatients per day without interruption.
In the second FRiT-funded project, called “Strengthening Healthcare Infrastructure for All” (SHIFA) and worth €90 million, the CEB is overseeing the construction or rehabilitation of primary health care facilities in 120 different locations across the country. With a significant share of these facilities having sustained severe damage from the earthquakes, SHIFA’s scope is currently being refocused on areas where needs are the highest.