General
Source:Times of Zambia
THE World Bank Group has approved a loan worth US$130 million for the implementation of the Girls’ Education, Women’s Empowerment and Lusaka sanitation projects.
World Bank Country Director for Zambia Kundhavi Kadiresan said the Board of executive directors approved a loan of $65 million for the implementation of the Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihood project.
The project is designed to support the Zambian Government access to livelihood support for women and access to secondary education for disadvantaged adolescent girls.
About 75,000 women and 14,000 adolescent girls would benefit from the project.
The resources would be provided through by the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) which helps the world’s?poorest countries by providing grants and zero-interest loans for projects and programmes that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives.
The main beneficiaries of the project would be about 75,000 women aged 19 to 64 years old who are fit for work, and about 14,000 adolescent girls aged 14 to 18 years old living in extremely poor households in rural areas.
“Through this support, the World Bank is keen to see more adolescent girls completing their secondary education and more rural women engaging in economically productive activities as these are critical steps to reducing rural poverty in Zambia,” Dr Kadiresan said.
In a statement issued from Washington DC, the bank said the project had two components targeting the main beneficiaries, while simultaneously building capacity of departments in the ministries of Education, and Community Development, Mother and Child Health to implement the project.
The first component totalling $36 million would support women’s livelihoods with a package of activities including access to grants to improve productivity and create savings and loan clubs,?training, mentoring and peer support.
Community Development, Mother and Child Health Minister Emerine Kabanshi said the beneficiary women had different needs and the funds would help improve their livelihood.
“The beneficiary women have varying needs so the provision of grants rather than pre-determined goods will give them the flexibility to decide how to allocate these resources according to their unique circumstances, which may encourage more productive investments,” Ms Kabanshi said.
The bank also approved a loan of $65 million for the implementation of the Lusaka Sanitation project.
The World Bank would support sewerage collection, on-site sanitation,?and institutional boost of the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC) which will implement the project.
The World Bank would support Zambia with innovative sanitation technologies to benefit poor household in Lusaka.
The project would use $38 million for sewerage improvements, specifically to upgrade and expand sewerage systems in the Ngwerere and Manchinchi sewersheds.
Sewer networks will be expanded in Emmasdale, Chaisa, Chawama, Kuomboka and Garden neighbourhoods and Kafue Road.
The project would also spend $14 million on on-site sanitation facilities, faecal sludge management infrastructure and service providers, construction of decentralised waste water management systems, and sanitation and hygiene promotion.
About 180,000 people are expected to benefit from on-site sanitation facilities.