By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The World Bank approved a $46 million loan to Pakistan to improve health and administrative services in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the government is trying to integrate the former tribal areas into the mainstream.
The loan will fund interventions to increase the use of child health services, especially among mothers, and to expand the operations of one-stop centers that provide registration and other essential services to the local population, the World Bank said in a statement on Friday.
The project will benefit about 300,000 children under two years old, who will receive cash grants of Rs12,500 each if their families attend health awareness sessions and monitor their growth. The project will also support 40 citizen facilitation centers that offer services such as birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates, reaching about 560,000 people.
“The project will support the government in expanding the provision of child wellness grants targeted at mothers, provided they attend health awareness sessions,” said Najy Benhassine, World Bank country director for Pakistan. “It will also help improve access to quality child health-related services.”
The loan is part of the World Bank’s efforts to help Pakistan recover from the economic and social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2022 floods that devastated parts of the country.
In May, the lender approved a $213 million loan to improve livelihoods and risk protection in communities affected by the floods, with a focus on Balochistan province.
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