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| "The World Bank is pleased to continue supporting the government's social and economic development strategy by investing in projects that promote equal opportunities for all Jamaicans," said World Bank Country Director for the Caribbean Yvonne Tsikata after the funds were approved on Tuesday. (File photo) | |
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 14, 2008 - The World Bank Board of Directors has approved three loans for Jamaica, totalling US$65 million, to support the country's efforts to strengthen its social safety net, improve services for young children and their parents and support HIV/AIDS prevention and control.
"The World Bank is pleased to continue supporting the government's social and economic development strategy by investing in projects that promote equal opportunities for all Jamaicans," said World Bank Country Director for the Caribbean Yvonne Tsikata after the funds were approved on Tuesday.
"These projects, which are at the core of the country's development strategy, seek to improve the efficiency of social assistance programmes, provide children better access to and quality of education and health services, and support services to prevent new HIV infections and provide treatment and care for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS," she added.
The first US$40 million loan for the Social Protection Project will strengthen the country's social insurance and social assistance system by supporting activities including the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH).
Since its launch in 2002, the PATH - a cash transfer programme that provides benefits on the condition that children attend school and visit health centres periodically - has become the country's flagship social assistance programme providing cash transfers to almost 230,000 beneficiaries last year.
The World Bank's support will allow the government to increase the benefit level by 23 per cent to adjust for inflation, to increase grants for secondary school students by up to 75 per cent to stimulate grade progression and high school completion and to give a one-time bonus to students moving to tertiary education or training.
It also will expand benefit coverage by 50 per cent to reach approximately 14 per cent of the population, the equivalent of the country's poverty rate in 2007. The increase in benefits also addresses loss of purchasing power of PATH benefits due to the sharp increase in food prices and the need to compensate families for the increasing opportunity cost of schooling.
The second loan for US$15 million will co-finance the implementation of Jamaica's National Strategic Plan for Early Childhood Development.
The remaining US$10 million will be used to help implement the government's National HIV/AIDS Programme by supporting prevention efforts targeted at high-risk groups and the general population; increasing access to treatment, care and support services for infected and affected individuals; and strengthening the national HIV/AIDS programme management capacity and supporting analysis to identify priorities for building the capacity of the health sector to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other priority health problems.
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