Tuesday, January 14, 2020

WB approves additional credit to support reconstruction

The World Bank has approved an additional credit of $200 million to the Earthquake Housing Reconstruction Project (EHRP) in Nepal.
The project and the second additional financing contribute to the Nepal’s umbrella Housing Reconstruction Program (HRP), which aims to rebuild earthquake-resistant core housing units by providing housing grants to eligible beneficiaries who have enrolled in the programme. The second additional financing will scale up EHRP’s support to the government’s HRP by financing reconstruction of an additional 86,680 houses in the 32 districts affected by the 2015 earthquakes. The impact of the earthquakes is estimated at 35 per cent of Nepal’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with recovery needs of about $7 billion.
“It is our aim to ensure that no one is left behind as Nepal builds back better from the devastating earthquakes of 2015,” World Bank country director for Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives Idah Z Pswarayi-Riddihough is quoted in a press note issued by the World Bank office in Kathmandu. “We support the Government of Nepal’s efforts in reconstruction to help Nepalis rebuild not just homes but also lives,” he added.
The EHRP, approved in June 2015 supported resilient reconstruction of approximately 55,000 houses in the districts most affected by the earthquakes while an additional IDA credit of $300 million was approved in December 2017 to scale up the EHRP and help bridge the financing gap in the HRP by supporting 96,000 additional households under the project.
The EHRP adopts an owner-driven housing reconstruction approach that promotes earthquake-resistant building techniques and materials and aims at improving long-term resilience through a culture of safer and sustainable housing and settlements.
Under the project, eligible beneficiaries receive grants of Rs 300,000 (approximately $2,730) each for reconstruction of houses in compliance with approved reconstruction guidelines in three tranches. As of January 2020, out of 685,193 beneficiaries enrolled under the government’s HRP in 14 most affected districts, 99 per cent received the first tranche, 81 per cent received the second tranche, and 70 per cent received the third tranche of the housing grant.

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