"Improving the Lives of People in Europe and Central Asia"
2010 Competition
WASHINGTON, March 31, 2010 – The Global Food Crisis Response project in Moldova was named one of the 12 winners in the World Bank’s third annual ‘Improving the Lives of People in Europe and Central Asia’ 2010 competition.
"The successful implementation of any project is contingent upon a few basic ingredients", underlined Vadim Pistrinciuc, Deputy Minister of Labor, Social Protection and Family. "The success and achievements of the Global Food Crisis Response Project in Moldova were the result of two factors: the commitment of the Government and development partners to bring closer public services and institutions to the needs of citizens and a strong partnership between the Ministry team, managers of social services and the World Bank team. In simple words, the success of GFCRP was the result of an efficient management supported by a strong and honest commitment to help those in need."
The aim of the project was to protect and improve the health and nutritional status of vulnerable populations. This was achieved through interventions to decrease the nutritional vulnerability of pregnant women, lactating mothers and young children, and provision of temporary cash transfers to social institutions for the elderly, children and people with mental and physical disabilities. A total of 1,645 social institutions received cash transfers and 18,000 target families benefited from food packages to help them mitigate the impact of the global food price increases. The project was implemented in partnership with UNICEF Moldova, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family and local public authorities.
"Although many countries in the Europe and Central Asia region enjoyed very strong growth and higher living standards throughout the past decade, the global financial and economic crisis has hit this region the hardest," said Philippe Le Houérou, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia. "But the winners of the 2010 ‘Improving the Lives of People in Europe and Central Asia’ competition show how innovative projects that improve the daily lives of people in the region despite the harmful effects of the recent financial turmoil on country economies."
Le Houérou also emphasized that "the winners demonstrate real results, including job growth, establishment of small businesses and improved enterprise access to financing, improved health care and health protection and rehabilitated water and irrigation systems that have increased crop yields, just to name a few. These innovative projects and programs also show that a continuous partnership with the World Bank can leverage the effects of economic downturn and demonstrate a real positive impact on the ground."
The winners of this year’s competition are (listed in an alphabetical order by country):
Armenia Rural Enterprise and Small Scale Commercial Agriculture Development Project
Armenia Lifeline Road Improvement Project
Azerbaijan Rural Investment Project
Bulgaria Policy Notes
Georgia Joint Needs Assessment, Donors Conference, and Progress Report
Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, and Tajikistan Food Crisis Response Projects
Latvia Safety Net and Social Reform Special Development Policy Loan
Macedonia Real Estate Cadastre and Registration
Russia Health Reform Implementation Project
Tajikistan Community Agriculture and Watershed Management Project
Turkey - Support to the Turkey Health Transformation Program
Ukraine Programmatic Financial Rehabilitation Development Policy Loan 1
The third annual celebration of results to recognize the winners will take place on June 3, 2010, in Washington, DC
