The World Bank Iran COVID-19 Emergency Response Project (P173994) REPORT NO.: RES47511 RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF IRAN COVID-19 EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROJECT APPROVED ON MAY 26, 2020 TO THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN HEALTH, NUTRITION & POPULATION MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Regional Vice President: Ferid Belhaj Country Director: Saroj Kumar Jha Regional Director: Keiko Miwa Practice Manager/Manager: Rekha Menon Task Team Leader(s): Mohini Kak, Son Nam Nguyen The World Bank Iran COVID-19 Emergency Response Project (P173994) ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease 2019 E&S Environment and Social EUR Euro GoIRI Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran TPVA Third-Party Verification Agency UN United Nations WHO World Health Organization The World Bank Iran COVID-19 Emergency Response Project (P173994) BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID Financing Instrument P173994 Investment Project Financing Environmental and Social Risk Classification (ESRC) Substantial Approval Date Current Closing Date 26-May-2020 31-Jul-2021 Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency The Islamic Republic of Iran World Health Organization Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO To improve the availability of selected essential, life-saving medical equipment for COVID-19 response. OPS_TABLE_PDO_CURRENTPDO Summary Status of Financing (US$, Millions) Net Ln/Cr/Tf Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed IBRD-91160 26-May-2020 14-Jun-2020 16-Jun-2020 31-Jul-2021 50.00 51.51 .14 Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No The World Bank Iran COVID-19 Emergency Response Project (P173994) I. PROJECT STATUS AND RATIONALE FOR RESTRUCTURING PROJECT STATUS: 1. Implementation: The project is on track to achieve its objective. Both progress towards the Project Development Objective and overall Implementation Progress are rated ‘Satisfactory’. All the equipment procured through the project has been installed in beneficiary facilities. Training on the use of equipment has been conducted for 98 percent of the equipment and will be completed for the remaining by July 2021. The project has delivered more equipment than its original plan. In total, 451 medical equipment and 8.7 million laboratory kits for COVID-19 response have been procured under the project. The number of beneficiary facilities also increased from 159 in the original plan to 182. 2. The World Health Organization (WHO) as the project implementing agency has submitted comprehensive and timely progress reports for the period mid-June 2020 to mid-March 2021. WHO has also been submitting interim progress reports every 15 days to update on the status of pending actions. The Third-Party Verification Agency (TPVA) has also fulfilled its verification mandates so far, with one last TPVA report pending. 3. Environment and Social (E&S): The E&S assessment was completed for all 182 beneficiary health facilities (137 hospitals and 45 laboratories). All of them are considered as adhering to E&S requirements. 4. Disbursement: All project funds (EUR 45,685,000) have been utilized as of March 8, 2021. The interim unaudited financial reports for the project’s first three quarters (mid-June 2020 to mid-March 2021) have been submitted. The full utilization of funds within nine months of effectiveness demonstrates the project’s commendable efficiency and responsiveness to the crisis. 5. Audit: Under the Financial Management Framework Agreement, the World Bank is relying on the audit carried out by the WHO/United Nations (UN) audit oversight committee that is appointed under UN rules and regulations, based on the “Single Audit Principle”. This arrangement satisfies the World Bank audit requirements. RATIONALE FOR RESTRUCTURING: 6. Iran, like most countries in the region, is experiencing repeated surges in COVID-19 cases. The wave which started end March 2021 resulted in the country experiencing its highest number of daily new cases (20,000 – 25,000) and an increased number of deaths. While the peak for this wave has crossed, the numbers remain high at around 11,000 daily new cases1. This has resulted in a delay in the completion of pending tasks despite the efforts of the WHO, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran (GoIRI) and beneficiary facilities. While the pending training on use of the equipment is expected to be completed by the current closing date of July 31, 2021, more time will be required to complete verification of the equipment as the TPVA is required to confirm the delivery, installation, training, and use of all procured equipment devices in beneficiary facilities. 7. Given the above, the GoIRI, in consultation with WHO and the World Bank team, have requested a further extension of the project closing date from July 31, 2021 to September 30, 2021. 1 WHO COVID-19 Update, June 23, 2021 The World Bank Iran COVID-19 Emergency Response Project (P173994) II. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED CHANGES 8. Extension of the Closing Date: The project closing date is being extended from July 31, 2021 to September 30, 2021. S NOTE TABLE III. SUMMARY OF CHANGES Changed Not Changed Loan Closing Date(s) ✔ Implementing Agency ✔ DDO Status ✔ Project's Development Objectives ✔ Results Framework ✔ Components and Cost ✔ Cancellations Proposed ✔ Reallocation between Disbursement Categories ✔ Disbursements Arrangements ✔ Disbursement Estimates ✔ Overall Risk Rating ✔ Legal Covenants ✔ Institutional Arrangements ✔ Financial Management ✔ Procurement ✔ Implementation Schedule ✔ Other Change(s) ✔ Economic and Financial Analysis ✔ Technical Analysis ✔ Social Analysis ✔ Environmental Analysis ✔ The World Bank Iran COVID-19 Emergency Response Project (P173994) IV. DETAILED CHANGE(S) OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_LOANCLOSING_TABLE LOAN CLOSING DATE(S) Original Revised Proposed Proposed Deadline Ln/Cr/Tf Status Closing Closing(s) Closing for Withdrawal Applications IBRD-91160 Effective 31-May-2021 31-Jul-2021 30-Sep-2021 30-Jan-2022 .