November 3: The Government of Nepal and the World Bank on Thursday exchanged the digitally-signed financing agreements for a concessional loan worth USD 100 million from the International Development Association and a USD 3.84 million grant from the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Trust Fund to strengthen the quality, coverage, and resilience of Nepal’s health system.    
These agreements were digitally signed on October 27, 2023. This is the first World Bank-financed project in Nepal that was digitally signed, according to a statement released by the World Bank Nepal office on Thursday.    
The agreements for the Nepal Quality Health Systems Program Operation were signed by Finance Secretary Dr Krishna Hari Pushkar and the World Bank’s Country Director for the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, Faris Hadad-Zervos. The agreements were exchanged in the presence of Minister for Finance Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat, World Bank’s Managing Director for Operations, Anna Bjerde and World Bank’s Vice President for South Asia Martin Raiser.    
The program will be implemented by the Ministry of Health and Population in coordination with the Health Insurance Board at the federal level, and selected provincial and local levels in Koshi and Gandaki provinces.    
The program emphasizes improving the readiness of the health system for delivery of quality healthcare, enhancing coverage of health insurance, and strengthening health emergency preparedness and response capacity at the selected provincial and local levels, adds the statement. -- RSS