LILONGWE, December 12, 2019— The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved a total of $142 million equivalent for the Malawi Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods project on December 10, 2019. The project will improve resilience among the poor and vulnerable population of Malawi through social cash transfers and support income generating investments at household level. Of this amount, $125 million is an International Development Association* (IDA) grant while $17 million is a Global Risk Financing Facility (GRiF) co-financing grant.
“The ability of households to improve their welfare in the face of continuous livelihood challenges, as well as to maintain it in the face of shocks, is possible when successful social protection programs are connected to more effective livelihood investments” says Rob Chase, Practice Manager for Social Protection and jobs. “Social protection helps to increase poor people’s access to assets, productive opportunities, and coping capacities”
The project will have four focus areas built strongly on the success of the social cash transfer programme. It will help improve social and economic inclusion through cash transfers, livelihoods support, enhanced public works and provide financing in time of crisis. It will also strengthen harmonized delivery systems to promote harmonization within the social safety net sector and potentially link to other sectors to improve effectiveness of delivering interventions. The project will provide capacity building and institutional support through learning and help set up the institutional structure necessary for project implementation. Finally, the project will establish a contingent emergency response for rapid reallocation of project funds in the event of a natural or man‐made disaster or crisis that has potential to cause a major adverse economic or social impact.
“The Malawi Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods project supports the roll out of a national system for social protection. As such it will be a major catalyst for strengthened human capital development and resilience programmes in Malawi, which will be at the core of our new Country Partnership Framework currently under development”, says Greg Toulmin, World Bank Country Manager for Malawi. “The project will also contribute to the reduction of gender gaps in human capital and the strengthening of the governance systems that are necessary for effective delivery of safety net systems at both national and local levels.”
* The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 76 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change to the 1.6 billion people who live in IDA countries. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 113 countries. Annual commitments have averaged about $21 billion over the last three years, with about 61 percent going to Africa.
