were the target of the most DPOs (79 and 53 out of 90 total), but Health (26 out of 90) and Water and sanitation (7) only represented a fraction of the total, significantly below the Financial sector (41 out of 90).24 Social protection schemes and economic support often excluded persons and groups in the most vulnerable situations, including informal workers, women, migrants, persons with disabilities, and Indigenous Peoples. Much of the pandemic response by national governments was meant to provide a safety net for those impacted by the pandemic, the lockdown, and the related economic downturn. While many IFIs stressed the need to target “the most vulnerable”, in many cases these programs were designed without sufficient attention to ensuring universality and accessibility, leaving out marginalized groups and often those most susceptible to the effects of the crisis. MANY IFIS-FUNDED PROGRAMS WERE DESIGNED WITHOUT SUFFICIENT ATTENTION TO ENSURING UNIVERSALITY AND ACCESSIBILITY In Peru, the IDB financed a project to strengthen the national social protection system, boosting access to unemployment benefits and increasing the formality of the labor market. However, in Peru, over 75% of the labor force is informal, with rural areas at over 96%. In the emergency decree approved within the framework of the project, subsidies were directed at private formal employers, leaving out the majority of the population, and the most vulnerable.25 In India, within the ADB and AIIB-supported government response, women were excluded from both a cooking fuel Interactive infographics available in the website of the Early Warning System Covid DFI Tracker: https://bit.ly/COVID19_Tracker distribution program and even a cash transfer program specifically for women, due to requirements that recipients have a bank account. Less than 50% of women below the poverty line in India have a bank account in their name.26 In Lebanon, the World Bank approved the repurposing of a 120 million USD healthcare project to respond to the pandemic. While the loan targeted specific groups 24 Chiara Mariotti, “Development Policy Financing in the World Bank’s COVID-19 response”, Eurodad, September 29, 2021, https:// www.eurodad.org/the_policy_lending_doctrine. 25 Cotrina, P. y Alegre, A., “Préstamos de las instituciones financieras de desarrollo en la región - Caso Perú,” Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, 2021. 26 “Country Assessment Report COVID-19 recovery loans in India”, Growthwatch India, 2021 WHERE DID INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS’ COVID-19 FUNDING GO? 8