170 social and community infrastructure projects; 10,000 potential new jobs in rural areas; and measures to combat malnutrition among children
WASHINGTON, March 22, 2012 – The World Bank’s Executive Board has approved an International Development Association (IDA) grant of US$14 million for Togo’s Community Development and Safety Net Project (PDCplus), to provide poor communities greater access to basic socio-economic infrastructure and to set up a national social safety net system.
The new project will help the Government to strengthen activities under the current Bank-funded Community Development Project (PDC). About 170 community socioeconomic infrastructure microprojects will be carried out to help people access improved health, education, water, and sanitation. Communities will be provided with the resources to carry out these projects and empowered to take charge of their own development.
With this new World Bank financing, Togo will also establish the building blocks of a national social safety net system. Through labor-intensive public works such as reforestation and maintenance of feeder roads, the project will offer potential jobs to 10,000 poor people, with a focus on reaching rural youth. In addition, a pilot cash transfer program will target children at risk of malnutrition or already severely malnourished in the northern regions of Kara and Savanes, where malnutrition rates are the highest in the country.
“Strong results from our previous community development interventions in Togo have played a decisive role in the preparation of this new operation, which will strengthen the resilience of the poorest by providing resources to communities and potential jobs to youth, and by tackling malnutrition among children,” said Mr. Madani Tall, World Bank Country Director for Togo.
The PDCplus is aligned with the World Bank’s new strategy for Africa, which prioritizes ways to reduce vulnerability and strengthen resilience among poor people, it also dovetails with the efforts of the Togolese authorities to promote community-based development and improve the national social security system. Finally, it complements a UNICEF-funded project that treats severely malnourished children and provides preventive services in villages.
