The Vice President of the World Bank for the Latin America and the Caribbean Region, Jorge Familiar, alongside the Ambassador of Ecuador in Washington, Francisco Borja Cevallos, signed an agreement on April 22 to help the people affected by the recent earthquake that devastated the Ecuadorian coast a few days ago, the World Bank website said.

“The signing of this US$150 million loan will be of great help in coping with the consequences of the devastating earthquake that affected the Ecuadorian coast. The funding provided by the World Bank will serve to support emergency recovery and forms part of the multi-lateral loan package that Ecuador has activated to assist those populations that most need it,” said Francisco Borja Cevallos, Ambassador of Ecuador in Washington.

TYhe Ecuador Risk Mitigation and Emergency Recovery project has US$150 million at its disposal. The World Bank has also offered the government of Ecuador the possibility to restructure other loans to increase the amount of resources available to deal with this emergency.

A damage assessment team of the World Bank went to Ecuador just hours after the earthquake, and part of the agreed support respond to the humanitarian needs identified so far. This assessment and the immediate response of the World Bank has been done in coordination with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the central and subnational government, and other donors.

The massive 7.8-magnitude quake that struck on April 16, killing 587 people, has left some survivors clamoring for food, water and medicine.