WASHINGTON, February 24, 2017—The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved financing of $20.17 million for the Livelihood Enhancement and Association of the Poor Project (LEAP). The Project intends to help poor and vulnerable families in the Siem Reap Province and Phnom Penh Capital by increasing income, building skills and constructing small-scale community infrastructure.
In Siem Reap, the Project will support poor and vulnerable families in 47 communes by building their capacity through self-help groups and producer groups and providing them with basic training on financial literacy, business planning, accounting and record keeping. The Project will also support unemployed youth and women in building skills marketable in labor markets. Poor families will receive seed grants to run their small business plans. In addition, proceeds from the Project will also help finance small-scale community infrastructure to generate income for the poor, such as water supply and sanitation, small irrigation schemes, small warehouses, community access roads, and on-farm water management.
In Phnom Penh, the Project will support poor and vulnerable families in 13 sangkats ( equivalent to communes) The target sangkats will be eligible for financing support for small-scale community infrastructure, and poor families in these sangkats will receive skills development training and employment support services.
“Cambodia has been a leader in Southeast Asia in reducing poverty,” said Ulrich Zachau, World Bank’s Country Director for Southeast Asia. “This Project will help reduce poverty in Cambodia further, directly improving the lives of the poor and vulnerable in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. The World Bank is honored to support the people of Cambodia through this Project.”
