Contacts: In Washington: Patricia da Camara (202) 473-4019 pdacamara@worldbank.org In Bogotá: María Clara Ucrós (57-1) 326-3600 ext. 259 mucros@worldbank.org WASHINGTON, December 18, 2008 – The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved today a three-loan package for Colombia totaling US$1.2 billion to support strategic government programs to cope with the effects of the global economic crisis. The Families in Action program will receive US$636.5 million to expand assistance to the poorest sectors of the population. Meanwhile, US$600 million have been approved to support sustainable development and natural disaster risk management (US$450 million and US$150 million, respectively). “The operations recently approved are part of the alliance between Colombia and the World Bank, which seeks to continue promoting social and economic development with environmental protection,” said Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank Director for Colombia and Mexico. “This financing arrives in an opportune moment taking into consideration the complex global financing panorama,” he added. 1.5 Million Families to Benefit A key part of the new package is Families in Action, which will provide assistance to approximately 1.7 million poor families until 2010 through the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program. Under the program, the head of household commits to send children to school and provide medical check-ups on a regular basis in exchange for monetary support. “This loan will help us consolidate the strategy so that the Colombia’s poorest population and the displaced population have access to basic services such as health and education; also, it supports the program because we will be working in this next stage in the prevention of alcoholism and teenage pregnancy,” said Luis Alfonso Hoyos, Director of Social Action in Colombia. The loan for Families in Action seeks to: o Supplement the income of poor families with children under 18 years of age; o Improve opportunities for poor children by establishing regular check-ups and school attendance; o Improve the quality of the program; o Promote human capital formation, especially among poor children by increasing medical check-ups and school assistance; and o Improve program management. The Environmental and Natural Disaster Risk Management Agenda “Both operations form an integral part of an extensive and long-term policy dialogue that accompanies the financial support to the environmental agenda. We are also pleased to continue our close collaboration on natural disaster risk management,” added van Trotsenburg. The US$450 million loan for Sustainable Development Policies will support sustainable development and promote institutional reforms to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, particularly those pertaining to environmental sustainability. The project has two objectives: o Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the National Environment System (SINA) and o Integrate the principles of sustainable development in productive sectors, with particular emphasis on the most vulnerable groups. Key actions supported by this financing include: · Implementing a monitoring and evaluation system that generates timely information for environmental management and decision making at a national and regional level; · Improving the identification of environmental priorities; · Institutionalizing instruments in the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development and the National Planning Department in order to optimize environmental administration and improve the sustainable development indicators; · Creating a national health policy that includes air and water quality in the National Development Plan; and · Developing an urban environmental policy. Also included is a US$150 million loan to improve the government’s Natural Disaster Risk Management Program. The Deferred Drawdown Option (DDO) for financing contingencies was the credit instrument chosen for this loan. This instrument guarantees immediate access to World Bank funds in the event of a natural disaster. The government requested this option because it provides the flexibility to withdraw the resources only if necessary while the general program implementation continues. The program will improve risk identification and mitigation, increase prevention measures, reduce vulnerability to natural disasters, and improve the services provided by the National Disaster Prevention and Management System. The operation continues previous Bank commitments for natural disaster risk management through adaptable policies loans aimed at reducing vulnerability during disasters. This financing comes under the new Country Partnership Strategy approved last April, which embodies the evolutionary strategy for working with medium income countries of the World Bank Group by means of flexible programming, advisory services and customized technical assistance, as well as long term financing with very competitive conditions and interest rates. Together with previous loans, World Bank lending to Colombia this year has reached US$2.16 billion, the most ever between the Bank and Colombia. - | 
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