IDB Invest Clients’ Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Early Lessons and a Road Map for Action Decision Framework.

The 2019 Corona Virus (“COVID-19”) pandemic has placed new demands on the private sector to understand and manage a broader set of health issues as these have been shown to influence business operations, supply chains, workers, and communities. Proactive management of such issues across projects and operations (hereafter referred as “projects”) has emerged as fundamental for the continuity of business. This is reflected in the early experience and on-going response to the pandemic among IDB Invest clients in the LAC region. The aim of this paper is to first describe IDB Invest clients’ experience responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, this paper draws on IDB clients’ early lessons and on best practices in public health and safety principles to provide a road map for strengthening how worker and community health risks can be managed by private sector projects. The final goal of this paper is to enable greater resiliency among business, workers and communities to respond to the ongoing pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic and to future health challenges.