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World
Bank funds $ 75.6 m to reconstruct Lanka’s conflict areas
WASHINGTON The World Bank last week approved a US$75.6 million
support package to Sri Lanka for the reconstruction of houses
in the conflict affected North and East, upgrading of statistical
capacity and auditing standards, and promotion of equitable
access to basic and secondary education.
Sri Lanka’s strong economic growth has led to rapid poverty
reduction in the past five years. Correspondingly, inequality
among provinces, visible in the previous decade has also declined.
Remarkably, the reported decline in poverty occurred in regions
outside the Western Province, closing the large gap seen in
2002 between the Western Province and the rest of the country.
Nevertheless, pockets of high poverty still remain in several
areas.
“Our support will help address several pressing needs
in Sri Lanka” said Naoko Ishii, World Bank Country Director
for Sri Lanka. “It will provide assistance to families
in the North and East to rebuild their homes and restart their
lives; improve the quality of education in high poverty areas;
and strengthen the capacity of the Auditor General’s
Department and the Department of Census and Statistics.”
The US$43 million in additional financing for the North East
Housing Reconstruction Program is designed to finance the
reconstruction of 13,615 houses in the North and East of the
country. This assistance will add to the 34,784 conflict-damaged
houses in 2712 villages that have been completed or is near
completion increasing the number of poor conflict-affected
families that are resettled under this project. The beneficiaries
will get a housing support cash grant paid as before, in installments
to help reconstruct homes. Technical assistance will also
be provided under the program to help meet the long term housing
needs in the North and East through improved construction
standards, enhanced community involvement in housing construction
and streamlined mechanisms to resolve property disputes.
The US$22.6 million for the Public Sector Capacity Building
Project aims to improve public administration and financial
management by strengthening and modernizing key public sector
institutions - Department of Census and Statistics and Auditor
General’s Department. The project will focus on organizational
strengthening, capacity building, information management,
communication improvements, and physical and information technology
infrastructure provision.
The US$10 million in additional financing for the Education
Sector Development Project is designed to improve educational
outcomes of children living in poor regions of the country.
In particular, it aims to promote English language skills
to improve the future economic opportunities of poor students
and as a link language between children of different ethnic
communities, increase the availability of higher-order learning
spaces and assets such as school Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) centers and library resource centers, and
attend to basic requirements of schools, including the provision
of water and sanitation facilities, in rural, estate and conflict-affected
schools.
The credits are from the International Development Association
(IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm, and
have 20 years to maturity with a 10-year grace period
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