Daily Times

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar here on Friday witnessed the signing ceremony of seven project agreements worth $1.336 nillion including grant of $128 million with the World Bank for social protection, improving human capital and building resilience in Pakistan.

The Federal Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs Noor Ahmed, signed the Financing Agreements on behalf of the Government of Pakistan while representatives of Governments of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan signed their respective project agreements online. Country Director World Bank Najy Benhassine signed the agreements on behalf of the World Bank.

This financing will support the government’s initiatives in Social Protection, Disaster and Climate Risk Management, Improving Infrastructure for Resilience, Agriculture and Food Security, Human Capital Development and Governance Sectors.

On the occasion,Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar thanked the World Bank Country Management for extending their continuous support to the Government of Pakistan in achieving sustainable economic development in the country. The minister said this continued and enhanced support shows the confidence of international financial institution and development partners on the progress and reforms being taken by the present government.

The Minister for Economic Affairs reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government to extend all possible support to the Provincial Governments to address the financing needs necessary to overcome the development issues. During the ceremony, the Government of Pakistan and the World Bank signed the following seven project agreements Including Crisis-Resilient Social Protection Program (CRISP) of $600 million:

The objective of the program was to support the development of a more adaptive social protection system that will contribute to future crisis-resilience among poor and vulnerable households in the country.

The program was focused on the key initiatives being undertaken by Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) under the Ehaas Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programs, namely Kafaalat, Waseela-e-Taleem, and Nashonuma. The financial inclusion and informal worker support initiatives of Ehsaas have also been included in the programme.

Locust Emergency and Food Security Project cost $200 million of the Project, through a strengthened and better coordinated federal-provincial government system, will introduce and implement a set of customized activities, such as conducting locust surveillance and controlling operations, rehabilitating livelihoods of affected rural communities and farmers, strengthening and operating the Food Security and Nutrition Information System, emphasizing climate-smart agriculture measures and women’s participation, to effectively address the desert locust outbreak and to reduce vulnerability to climate change in the long-term. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Human Capital Investment Project allocated $200 million.The objective of the project is to improve availability, utilization and quality of primary healthcare services and elementary education services in four districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, that have been hosting refugees i.e. Peshawar, Nowshera Haripur and Swabi.

Sindh Resilience Project to spend $ 200 million. The objective of the project is to mitigate flood and drought risks in selected areas and strengthen Sindh’s capacity to manage natural disasters and public health emergencies. The project will support the establishment of the Sindh Emergency Service, including the development of six divisional headquarters operational facilities, provision of equipment, and training of personnel.

The project will also support the construction of 35 small rainwater-fed recharge dams in drought prone regions of Sindh including Karachi, Jamshoro, Thatta, Dadu and Nagarparker in Tharparkar districts. Balochistan Livelihood & Entrepreneurship and Balochistan Human Capital Investment Projects $86 million. These projects aim to promote employment opportunities for rural communities; achieve sustainability of enterprises and improve utilization of quality health and education services in various districts of Balochistan. Supporting Institutional Interventions for Management of Refugees Project $50 million. The objective of the project is to improve organizational and institutional capacity for managing refugees and host communities.