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A Guide to Tracking COVID-19 Relief Financing

What is in the COVID-19 DFI Tracker?

The purpose of this COVID-19 DFI Tracker is to consolidate resources to support communities and civil society organizations in researching and tracking COVID-19 relief investments proposed by development finance institutions globally.  To respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, development finance institutions globally scaled up their investments. Unfortunately, these investments have suffered from a gross lack of transparency and accountability. Many projects were “fast tracked,” or approved and disbursed quickly with little chance for meaningful consultation, while for others, funds were reallocated from existing projects. This has made it difficult for civil society and community organizations to track and meaningfully engage in these projects. 

What is the role of development banks in COVID-19 relief, and why should we care about these investments?

Development banks, such as the World Bank Group, are supporting governments and companies to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the projects involved funding to governments and government agencies. Additionally, funding was directed to the private sector to promote fiscal recovery and keep industries afloat. With the billions earmarked for COVID-19 relief, development banks have a responsibility to support the communities they have impacted. However, civil society and communities have largely been unaware and unable to obtain timely information about these investments and how their governments are utilizing the money.

What investments are the COVID-19 relief funds supporting?

Based on our tracking of known investments, the COVID-19 relief projects funded by development banks have been in various sectors: for example, healthcare, education, energy, manufacturing, and banking and finance.

In our review of over 1,500 known investments proposed by development banks between January 1, 2020 and November 19, 2021, about 70 percent of known investments went to governments, although some of these investments went to financial intermediaries. The largest sector was the health sector (25 percent or over 58 billion USD), which included projects that strengthen national systems for healthcare capacity and facilitate vaccine procurement and delivery. Other sectors received funding: our dataset showed at least 317 projects (15.3 percent, 48.19 billion USD) involving MSMEs and midcaps and 73 known projects (3.6 percent, 5.3 billion USD) involving the energy or extractives sector.

Here are examples of what development banks have funded as part of their pandemic response:

What concerns are there around the COVID-19 relief financed by development banks?

Civil society has raised serious concerns over how development banks have responded to the pandemic and have called on the development banks to finance a just and equitable recovery to the pandemic that is community-centered. There have also been concerns about the COVID-19 relief projects funded by development banks.

  • The pandemic has resulted in restricted civic space and restrictions made by government measures. The State response to the pandemic has included draconian restrictions, increased militarization and surveillance, and the adoption of emergency measures that tightened already existing authoritarian grips.  Civil society groups have reported that the repression faced by communities and human and environmental rights defenders has intensified. As governments turn to increased digital and telecommunications surveillance to conduct contact tracing, to enforce quarantines, and to monitor the spread of the virus, groups have called on development banks to ensure that funds earmarked for COVID-19 response are not being used to suppress or target dissenting voices.
  • The pandemic has diminished opportunities for participation in key decision-making processes for development projects.  In order for communities to be able to meaningfully participate in development processes and decision-making, they must be able to access information, organize, and share their experiences and ideas without fear.  Additionally, partners have reported that moving all meetings and communications online has further limited access to decision-makers and project implementers, particularly for communities with less connectivity.
  • The pandemic has resulted in governments have assumed increasing debt while still confronting the health and economic challenges from the pandemic. Groups have questioned how their governments will pay back their debt obligations and how debt distress could constrain governments’ ability to provide public services or enforce environmental and social protections.

How can I find out what COVID-19 relief projects are in my country?

In response to the pandemic, many projects proposed by development banks were “fast tracked,” or approved and disbursed quickly with little chance for meaningful consultation. This practice decreased the transparency around these projects and made it challenging for civil society and community groups to track investments and engage meaningfully to shape these projects. Civil society groups reported that by the time they learned about a project, the investment had already been approved. Similarly, civil society groups reported difficulty in obtaining information from their national governments about how the funds were implemented.

Although many development institutions publish information about COVID-19 investments, disclosure practices vary by bank. Development banks also extended existing projects, reallocated funds for existing projects, or reframed proposed projects to address the pandemic. 

How do I use the COVID-19 DFI Tracker to monitor projects in my country?

Aggregating data from the Early Warning System, the COVID-19 DFI Tracker centralizes project information about the COVID-19 response from the largest and most influential development banks. The COVID-19 DFI Tracker is an interactive map that provides links to project documents, when disclosed by the banks, and facilitates top-level analysis of the investments globally, by region, country, sector, development bank.

The COVID-19 DFI Tracker includes projects proposed by 15 development banks from 1 January 2020 to present. It is updated twice a month.

There are several ways to explore the development banks’ operational COVID-19 response through the interactive COVID-19 DFI Tracker:

→ To access COVID-19 financing by country, click on a country on the map, or choose one or more countries in the “Select a Country” drop down menu.  The data will be filtered by those countries. Note that some projects are considered “regional” or involve multiple countries or regions. These projects can be accessed by clicking on the “Regional/Multi-Country” tab.

→ To access COVID-19 financing by region, click on the regional tabs.

→ To access COVID-19 financing by development bank, click on one of the development banks listed. 

→ The COVID-19 DFI Tracker aggregates information from the Early Warning System to make it more accessible. For each search, there is a project list provided under “Project Details.”  To access project-specific information and project documents, where disclosed, click on ”Project Number” or “Project Name” to be taken to the Early Warning System .  Here you will find an accessible summary of key project information, including  project sector, approval date, environmental risk category, investment from the banks, financing instrument used, and any relevant parent project. You can use the Google Translate function on the top right-hand corner to view information in other languages. 

As you review the project information, here are questions to consider: 

→  What is this project or investment for?  Is there a project description on the project website or in the project documents that summarizes the objective of the project and any sub-components? 

→  Where is the project located?

→  Who is implementing the project?

→  Who might be affected by this project? Is there any way to participate in any process of the project before or after project approval?

→  Is there a stakeholder or consultation plan that lists when consultations will happen?  Projects financed by development banks are required to consult with stakeholders. If you feel comfortable and safe doing so, you could write to the bank or the borrower (government or company) to request information about consultations in your community.  In addition, each development bank has its own policies on disclosure of project information and ways for you to request project information about the project from the bank.  If you feel comfortable, you may reach out to the development bank office in your country. You can search each country office/resident mission to find their contact information.

→  Who from the development banks you may contact for further information?

→  Who from the borrower government or company can I contact for further information?

→  Pay attention to the project status and voting date or board date (the date a project is approved for funding). Most of the COVID-19 related projects have been fast-tracked and approved. However, if you have concerns about the project and it is still in proposed or recently approved, there might be more space for you to influence how the project is implemented. 

→  Find more details in project documents.  The development banks that funded the project may disclose Project Information Document or Environmental and Social Document. These documents are often written in very technical and inaccessible language. You could identify any civil society groups or academics who might be able to help you to understand more about the project details. 

→  Projects funded by development banks will have looked at environmental and social risks. However, the full environmental and social impact assessments are often not published, especially for “fast tracked” projects at the time of disclosure.  Consider documenting how the project or investment has or will impact your individual and collective rights. You can explore guidance on how to conduct community-led participatory action research. Check out IAP’s Community Action Guide on Community-led Research.

There are different ways you can document the process and impacts such as visual, video documentation, and community-led surveys. COVID-19 has made it challenging to conduct these documentation processes. You may seek support in using technologies to design and carry out your research or documentation.  Having data and evidences will support your efforts in influencing and advocating decision makers.