WASHINGTON, October 23, 2019 — The World Bank approved today an International Development Association (IDA)* grant of $35 million equivalent from the institution’s Crisis Response Window as additional financing to scale up the Government of Mozambique’s safety net programs in response to the devastating effects of the cyclones Idai and Kenneth on people’s livelihoods in affected communities. This financing is accompanied by a $10 million grant from a Multidonor Trust Fund supported by the Department for International Development of United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
“The recent natural disaster events have resulted in tremendous human suffering in rural and urban communities throughout Mozambique,” noted Mark Lundell, World Bank Country Director for Mozambique, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Comoros. “This project will help the extremely poor households affected by these natural hazards by providing temporary income support while continuing the efforts of putting in place the building blocks of a social safety net system in the country.”
Climate-related shocks disproportionally affect the most vulnerable, and the two cyclones have destroyed their precarious dwellings and decimated the livelihoods of the poorest families in Mozambique. The existing Social Protection Project supports the implementation of key social assistance programs that are now scaled up in the affected areas. “These extreme events pose serious threats to poverty reduction efforts and emphasize the need to strengthen social protection systems to rapidly respond to support consumption smoothing among vulnerable families,” noted Edmundo Murrugarra, World Bank Senior Social Protection Economist and responsible for the Project.
This aditional financing aims at scaling up the project’s activities in the cyclones and flood affected areas by expanding direct cash transfers activities to vulnerable households as well as support post-emergency public works to facilitate reconstruction activities in the affected areas. Thus, 115,000 additional households will be supported in 15 districts of Sofala, Manica and Cabo Delgado provinces. Through its post-emergency public works activities, the project supports beneficiaries through the provision of timely, predictable and temporary source of income to avoid negative coping strategies. The post-emergency public works are a catalyzer for rapid local recovery of public assets through the implementation of activities focused on removal of debris, rehabilitation of streets and roads, cleaning of drainage canals, rehabilitation of social infrastructure such as schools and hospitals/health units, and rehabilitation of sanitary infrastructure.
These funds are part of the World Bank’s broader package which comprises a set of operations totaling about $700 million in IDA resources to support cyclone response in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.This operation is consistent with the World Bank Group’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity, and it’s in line with the World Bank Country Partnership Framework 2017-2021 for Mozambique.
* The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 76 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change to the 1.6 billion people who live in IDA countries. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 113 countries. Annual commitments have averaged about $21 billion over the last three years, with about 61 percent going to Africa.
