World Bank to provide $650m for uplift projects

Agreement to support projects in education, health, water and disaster sectors

ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan and the World Bank on Wednesday signed four agreements worth $650 million to support projects in education, health, water and disaster sectors.

Out of the total amount, $200 million have been allocated for the Balochistan integrated water resources management and development project.



The objectives are to strengthen the provincial government’s capacity for water resources monitoring and management and to improve community-based water management for targeted irrigation schemes in Balochistan.

The project consists of institutions, capacity and information, water infrastructure and management investment along with project management and technical assistance.

Representatives from Punjab signed the $300 million Third Punjab Education Sector Project (PESP-III).

The objective is to support Punjab in improving school participation, completion and teaching-learning practices with a particular focus on Low Performing Districts.

The project consists of improved access, quality and education system management along with capacity building, project management, monitoring and evaluation.

The Sindh resilience project, amounting to $100 million, was also included in the agreement. The objectives of the project are to mitigate flood and drought risks in selected areas and to strengthen Sindh’s capacity to manage natural disasters.



The project consists of strengthening disaster and climate risk management, improving infrastructure and systems for resilience along with contingent emergency response. The fourth agreement included the National Immunisation Support Project (NISP), amounting to $50 million, and a multi-donor trust fund grant of $39.68 million for NISP.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2016.