World Bank approves $100m for North
Jun 02, 2009
THE World Bank has approved a $100m (about sh220b) project to support the Peace, Recovery and Development Plan in northern Uganda. The three-year programme will be managed by the International Development Association.
By Joel Ogwang
THE World Bank has approved a $100m (about sh220b) project to support the Peace, Recovery and Development Plan in northern Uganda.
The funds are part of sh1trillion budgeted for the reconstruction of northern and eastern Uganda following over two decades of insurgency.
The three-year programme will be managed by the International Development Association.
It is a follow-up on the five-year $100m Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF), said Suleiman Namara, the bank’s team leader of the project.
He said the project will use the community-driven development approach through local governments to improve access of beneficiary households to income-earning opportunities and better services.
Namara said the new investment was critical in helping to reduce the development gap between northern Uganda and the rest of the country.
“It also consolidates the return to peace in the region by serving the immediate needs of the large numbers of previously displaced persons returning to their homelands and seeking to rebuild their communities,†he said in a statement.
The north has the largest proportion of people living in poverty, estimated at 61%, almost twice the national poverty level of 31%.
Kundhavi Kadiresan, the World Bank country manager, said the bank has been engaged in supporting reconstruction of the north since 1992.
She said it was the opportune time to consolidate human development following the return to peace and the groundwork laid by NUSAF.
“This new operation will assist in the critical period of transition from predominantly humanitarian assistance towards a broader and more sustainable government-led development effort,†she said
NUSAF, also a community driven project, started in 2003 and ended in March as part of the Government’s broader Northern Uganda Reconstruction Programme.
The project empowered communities in the 18 (now 29) districts of northern Uganda by enhancing their capacity to systematically identify and plan for their needs within their own value systems and ultimately, to improve economic livelihoods and social cohesion.
THE World Bank has approved a $100m (about sh220b) project to support the Peace, Recovery and Development Plan in northern Uganda.
The funds are part of sh1trillion budgeted for the reconstruction of northern and eastern Uganda following over two decades of insurgency.
The three-year programme will be managed by the International Development Association.
It is a follow-up on the five-year $100m Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF), said Suleiman Namara, the bank’s team leader of the project.
He said the project will use the community-driven development approach through local governments to improve access of beneficiary households to income-earning opportunities and better services.
Namara said the new investment was critical in helping to reduce the development gap between northern Uganda and the rest of the country.
“It also consolidates the return to peace in the region by serving the immediate needs of the large numbers of previously displaced persons returning to their homelands and seeking to rebuild their communities,†he said in a statement.
The north has the largest proportion of people living in poverty, estimated at 61%, almost twice the national poverty level of 31%.
Kundhavi Kadiresan, the World Bank country manager, said the bank has been engaged in supporting reconstruction of the north since 1992.
She said it was the opportune time to consolidate human development following the return to peace and the groundwork laid by NUSAF.
“This new operation will assist in the critical period of transition from predominantly humanitarian assistance towards a broader and more sustainable government-led development effort,†she said
NUSAF, also a community driven project, started in 2003 and ended in March as part of the Government’s broader Northern Uganda Reconstruction Programme.
The project empowered communities in the 18 (now 29) districts of northern Uganda by enhancing their capacity to systematically identify and plan for their needs within their own value systems and ultimately, to improve economic livelihoods and social cohesion.