Saturday, November 5 2005 15:00 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: The World Bank is planning to grant between US$ 300 to US$ 500 million to bird flu-affected countries to help them fight the spread of the deadly disease.

The funds are expected to start flowing to the nations shortly, Jim Adams, the bank's Vice President for Operations Policy and Country Services said yesterday (Nov 4, 2005).

The funding mechanism would allow low-income countries immediate access to grants and soft loans from the bank's lending arm, the International Development Association, the bottom line thinking being that the bank's resources is to be made available immediately.

The bank is also taking part in an international conference in Geneva next week on Avian Flu in poultry and birds besides planning for a possible human pandemic.

The Geneva meeting is designed to allow donors and the international organisations to sit at the same table as the affected countries and identify needs at the country level.

The aim is to begin work on putting together country programmes so that they would then be eligible for funding. The Bank is preparing to go to its Board with its own financing mechanism worth up to USD 500 million dollars to help countries in the initial phase.

"We have the financial resources to move quickly," Adams said.

The funding proposal will be put up to the Board of Directors of the bank soon after the Geneva meeting.