BISSAU, April 5, 2017 – Today, the World Bank started broad-based consultations on its engagement in Guinea Bissau with the country’s key stakeholders, in particular representatives from the government, civil society, the private sector, and development partners.
These three-day consultations for the Country Partnership Framework (for the period of July 2017 to June 2020) are being held in Bissau and the Oio region. World Bank Country Director for Guinea Bissau, Senegal, Mauritania, the Gambia, and Cabo Verde, Louise Cord, who is based at the country office in Dakar, Senegal, will be in attendance.
Kristina Svensson, World Bank Resident Representative to Guinea Bissau, noted that the partnership framework seeks in particular to improve access to good basic social services, strengthen resilience, and create more economic opportunities in the country. “We specifically want to help Guinea Bissau enhance access to, and the quality of, education and health services, improve access to markets, and strengthen the sustainable management of its natural resources, while expanding the social safety nets,” she said.
She underscored the fact that “gender, governance, and citizen participation will also be key elements of each project that will be implemented under this new partnership.”
With a view to developing the 2017-2020 Country Partnership Framework, the World Bank already prepared a Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) that helped pinpoint the main constraints to poverty reduction and more inclusive growth, as well as the risks and fragility factors hampering the sustainable development of the country.
The World Bank also drew on the Government’s strategy plan (Terra Ranka), which seeks to restore political stability in the country by promoting inclusive development underpinned by good governance and biodiversity conservation.
