The Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF), the largest multilateral development initiative based in the Middle East, has signed its first project – a $32 million financing agreement to support Senegal’s malaria eradication campaign.

The funding will give Senegal a substantial boost to its capacity to diagnose and treat malaria, supporting the country’s mission to eradicate malaria by the end of 2018.

Launched by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in September 2016, the Lives and Livelihoods Fund combines $2 billion of IsDB financing with $500 million in grants from donors.

Grants of $400 million have been committed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (20 per cent of the total up to $100 million); the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development ($100 million); the Qatar Fund for Development ($50 million); the King Salman Relief and Humanitarian Aid Center ($100 million); and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development ($50 million).

The project will help in:

•Providing 2.5 million people with free, long lasting insecticide-treated nets.
•Contributing to the free distribution of 1.6 million rapid diagnosis tests and more than 70,000 doses of anti-malarial drugs
•Improving malaria surveillance and diagnosis by trained professionals
•Providing 4 million people with advice on how to avoid malaria
•Training 400 community workers and health care providers in malaria control and case management

The project was designed in collaboration with the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria under the framework of the National Malaria Control Program.

Malaria prevalence in Senegal decreased from 5.9 per cent in 2008 to 2.8 per cent in 2013, but remains a major cause of death throughout the country.

The Lives and Livelihoods Fund will help finance the necessary infrastructure to move Senegal from the first stage of malaria response, the ‘control phase’, to the ‘pre-elimination phase’.

Maher Al Hadrawi, the executive director of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, and chair of the Lives & Livelihoods Fund for its first year of operations, said: "It is a privilege to launch the first project of the Fund and to make a substantial investment in support of Senegal’s malaria eradication efforts."

"Eradicating malaria will enable millions of people to lead healthy and productive lives. This agreement represents a major milestone for the Fund in its mission to lift the poorest people in the Muslim world out of poverty," he added.

Khalifa Bin Jassim Al Kuwari, the director general of Qatar Fund For Development expressed pleasure to contribute with $50 million for the Lives and Livelihoods Fund over the next five years.

"This contribution will support the millions of people to get out of poverty in the Islamic countries in dire need of help in areas of primary healthcare, disease control, agriculture, and basic rural infrastructure," stated Al Kuwari.

"We are proud to join efforts with the Islamic Development Bank and with regional and international development institutions to launch the first project of the Lives and Livelihoods Fund in Senegal, and to help this country build capacity in the diagnosis and treatment of malaria which has been a major cause of morbidity and mortality," noted the official.

Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, the director general of Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), said: "This initiative is a significant step forward for the LLF and for Senegal. The project will save lives, improve living standards, and bring Senegal closer to eradicating malaria."

"Projects like this reflect ADFD’s mission to forge partnerships and provide financial resources to support governments in achieving their goals. We strongly believe in the power of working with partners to ensure aid is used as effectively as possible to drive socio-economic wellbeing for developing nations," he added.

Macky Sall, President of Senegal said the IDB has already supported Senegal by providing concessional financing for several development projects that have had a direct impact on the lives of the poorest.

Sall pointed out that the LLF’s funding for Senegal’s malaria eradication effort shows that African countries are able to stand on their own feet and can develop successful programmes capable of attracting outside funding.

The funds finance projects in health, agriculture and infrastructure in the Muslim world. The Lives and Livelihoods Fund has already signed off $363 million for projects in its first year.-TradeArabia News Service