World Bank approves $600m facility to support basic services

The World Bank on Tuesday approved a $600 million facility to support Ethiopia's effort to improve equitable access to basic services for its vulnerable citizens.

In a statement, the bank said the approved amount will finance equitable access to basic services in the country, while reinforcing accountability systems at a decentralised level.

The programme will build on the success that has been achieved in service delivery

Improving access to basic services is one of the key drivers for Ethiopia's impressive record in reducing poverty in the country over the past decade, according to a study conducted by the multilateral institution in 2014.

Improving equitable access to services—such as in education and health – promotes long-term growth and is aligned with the World Bank's goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity, the statement said.

In recent years, Ethiopia, with the support from the World Bank, has registered impressive results in basic service delivery.

"This in turn has helped the country to make good progress towards, and even achieve, several of the Millennium Development Goals," says the statement, citing the improvements particularly registered on addressing gender parity in primary education, reducing child mortality, and more.

In future, the bank will support Ethiopia in a new framework for engagement on decentralised basic services, which has been identified as a priority for planning under the new Sustainable Development Goals.

Building on almost 10 years of support to basic services, the World Bank will leverage the government's own programme of block grant financing for basic services to promote equity, enhance capacity, and institutionalise critical systems for service delivery, especially at the local level.

"The programme will build on the success that has been achieved in service delivery over the past decade and builds on lessons by focusing more on ensuring adequate capacity and expertise to deliver services where they are needed most," Guang Zhe Chen, World Bank country director for Ethiopia said.

The Enhancing Shared Prosperity through Equitable Services programme is developed as a new framework for engaging in decentralised basic services in Ethiopia.

Source: theafricareport.com