Contacts In Washington : Beldina Auma (1+202) 458-7307 baumaowuor@worldbank.org; In Monrovia : Kay Schwendinger (+ 231) 6 592 898 kschwendinger@worldbank.org WASHINGTON , June 14, 2007 – The World Bank Board of Directors today approved an International Development Association (IDA) grant of US$5 million to support the basic emergency needs of the population and help stabilize the social and political situation in Liberia. The Second Community Empowerment project (CEP II) aims to improve poor rural communities’ access to basic services and economic opportunities through a Community Driven Development approach by investing in community sub-projects and in capacity building at the community and local government levels. It will address the emergency situation in social services, in health and education in particular, and open new economic opportunities. “The CEP II envisages a strong involvement of local authorities in key sub-project phases by providing them with capacity building and involving them in the selection and supervision of sub-projects,” said Giuseppe Zampaglione, the World Bank Task Team Leader of the project. It is estimated that the project will benefit about 125,000 people and train some 860 people. Also, approximately 250,000 person-days of employment would be created by the end of the CEP II. A total of 260 sub-projects in poor communities, mostly located in rural and remote areas of the country will be funded with emphasis on vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, including women, children, orphans, female-headed households, ex-combatants and unemployed youth, persons living with HIV/AIDS, disabled amputees, internally displaced persons and war-affected victims. The Second Community Empowerment project will focus on the following components: - Community Driven Program which will provide support to local communities to select, design, implement and maintain small-scale sub-projects that will help in restoring social and economic infrastructure.
- Capacity Building Program which will fund the community facilitators, engineering consultants, and training programs for communities, local authorities and other key stakeholders to enable them to play a leading role in identification, design and implementation of community-based activities.
The European Commission will also contribute Euro 8.5 million to the funding of this project. The Second Community Empowerment project falls under the World Bank’s new rapid response procedures for emergency projects. ### For more information on the World Bank’s work in sub-Saharan Africa visit: www.worldbank.org/afr For more information on the World Bank’s work in Liberia visit www.worldbank.org/liberia
|
RSS