Tuesday, June 26, 2012

World Bank hails progress in reducing poverty


Nepal’s experiences in reducing poverty and improving social indicators, particularly the sharp decrease in the maternal mortality rate has been hailed by a senior World Bank official.
"It should be shared more broadly with other lower-income International Development Association (IDA) countries," World Bank vice president for Concessional Finance and Global Partnerships Axel van Trotsenburg said.
He was in the country for a three-day visit that concluded today.
During his visit, van Trotsenburg discussed the broader strategic issues related to the global IDA partnership involving donors and beneficiary countries.
Van Trotsenburg, who is responsible for the IDA – the World Bank’s fund for the poorest 82 countries — conducted site visits to community-led projects in Dhading district, including a rural water supply and sanitation scheme, a poverty alleviation fund scheme and a community-managed school.
Nationally, the projects receive IDA funding of nearly $380 million. “Nepal has made impressive gains,” he said, adding that the evidence is compelling that the strength behind development in Nepal is concentrated at the community level. "Where a supportive framework has been created for communities, there have been notable development successes in the provision of clean water, basic health care and livelihood opportunities, especially for women."
IDA’s support for country-driven development programmes is reflected in the government's Interim Strategy Note for fiscal year 2012-13, which focuses on enhancing connectivity and productivity for growth, reducing vulnerabilities and improving resilience and promoting access to better quality services. Governance, accountability, gender equality and social inclusion are themes that run throughout the strategy.
Under the strategy, Nepal can potentially benefit from an allocation of $200 million a year in IDA resources. The current IDA portfolio in Nepal comprises 16 projects with a value of about $1.27 billion.
Apart from visiting project sites, van Trotsenburg met with care taker Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai, finance minister Barsha Man Pun and senior government officials including chief secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire and finance secretary Krishna Hari Baskota to discuss ways to further strengthen the Nepal-World Bank partnerships.
He also met with heads of bilateral and multilateral development agencies based in Kathmandu.

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