Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) Sri Lanka COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project (P173867) (English)

The involvement of the local population is essential to the success of the project in order to ensure smooth collaboration between project staff and local communities and to minimize and mitigate environmental and social risks related to the proposed project activities. [...] The SEP will be periodically revised and updated as necessary in the course of project implementation in order to ensure that the information presented herein is consistent and is the most recent, and that the identified methods of engagement remain appropriate and effective in relation to the project context and specific phases of the development. [...] It will support the scaling up of the vaccination drive and to enable the country to meet its target of fully vaccinating 60 percent of the population by the end of December 2021. [...] In particular, it will support strengthening of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), the establishment of Bio-Safety Level 3 Laboratory Facilities at the National Medical Research Institute (MRI) and the establishment of the Regional Quarantine and Testing Centers to augment the capacity of the NIID. [...] Finally, prevention of social tensions, especially in the vicinity of quarantine facilities and isolation units over the spread of disease and waste management, and conflicts resulting from false information/rumors and risks from the use of security/military personnel for labor services for the vaccination program and in the construction of isolation facilities, will be important factors that woul