World Bank approves $1.57 billion for Nigeria to improve health services and fight floods

The World Bank says it has approved three new financings totaling $1.57 billion to support Nigeria.

The Washington, D.C.-based organization announced in a statement on Monday.

The international lender said the approved funds will support the federal government in strengthening human capital by improving the health of women, children and adolescents.

The World Bank also said the approved projects would also help build resilience to the impacts of climate change, such as floods and droughts, by improving dam and irrigation safety.

“The World Bank today approved three operations totaling $1.57 billion to support the Government of Nigeria in strengthening human capital by improving the health of women, children and youth, and building resilience to the impacts of climate change, such as floods and droughts, by improving dam safety and irrigation,” the World Bank said.

“The new financing includes $500 million to address governance issues that are hampering implementation education and health (HOPE-GOV), $570 million to strengthen primary health care delivery Program (HOPE-PHC) and $500 million for the Sustainable Energy and Irrigation Project for Nigeria (SPIN).

“The combined HOPE-GOV and HOPE-PHC programs will support the Government of Nigeria to improve service delivery in the primary education and primary health care sectors, which are key to improvement Human capital performance in Nigeria.

“Project SPIN will support improved dam safety and management of water resources for hydropower and irrigation in selected areas of Nigeria.”

According to the international lender, the HOPE-GOV program will support Nigeria in addressing fundamental deficiencies in the management of governance systems and procedures in two key social development sectors.

“He focuses particularly on critical issues cross-cutting challenges and enablers related to both financial and human resource management in the primary education and primary health care sectors,” the World Bank said.

“The program will increase accessibility and efficiency financing primary education and the provision of primary health care services, increase transparency and responsibility for federal, state, and local governments to fund and improve the recruitment, deployment, and performance management of elementary teachers and primary health care workers.

“In support of the government’s newly launched health sector reforms, under the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, the HOPE-PHC project will improve the quality and utilization of essential health and nutrition services for reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health, to ensure significantly reduce the mother and under five years and improving the resilience of the healthcare system – benefiting 40 million people, particularly vulnerable social groups.

The World Bank also reported that the HOPE-PHC project is financed by a $500 million concessional international fund Development Association (IDA) and an additional $70 million in grants from Global Financial Facility for Women, Children and Youth (GFF).

“GFF’s support includes $11 million from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and $12.5 million from the Children’s Investment Foundation Fund (CIFF) in joint funding with GFF to help fill the funding gap primary and community health care and maternal care, newborn care at hospital level, with simultaneous support government efforts to ensure sustainable financing of family planning products,” the World Bank said.

“The SPIN program will help Nigeria protect citizens from floods and drought through improved dam safety and operation. The project will continue to support the provision of new and improved irrigation and drainage services across an area of ​​40,000 hectares.

“This will help up to 950,000 people, including households, Farmers and livestock farmers will directly benefit from more reliable, climate-resilient and efficient irrigation, water supplies and increased agricultural productivity through improved irrigation water management.

“Through the SPIN project, the government will develop a master plan for hydropower and an organized public-private partnership partnership transaction for hydropower project.”

THE FUND WILL SOLVE THE DIFFICULTIES FACED BY WOMEN AND GIRLS

Commenting on the development, Ndiamé Diop, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, said: new financing for human capital and primary health care will help address the complex challenges faced by Nigerians, especially women and girls, in access to and quality of services.

“Effective investment in the health and education of Nigerians today is critical to improving their future employment opportunities, productivity and earnings, while reducing poverty for the most vulnerable,” Diop said.

“The SPIN program is timely and will protect Nigerians from floods and droughts in the areas where it will be implemented, while enabling increased hydropower production.”

He also said that the World Bank is ready to work with the federal government and other stakeholders to implement the programs.

Diop added that the direct positive impact of the project on people and livelihoods is enormous.