The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved $535 million in financing for Pakistan to support two key projects.
The Crisis Resilient Social Protection (CRISP) Program will receive $400 million in additional financing to bolster Pakistan’s social protection system and enhance resilience among poor and vulnerable households. Meanwhile, the Sindh Livestock and Aquaculture Sectors Transformation (LIVAQUA) Project will benefit from $135 million to promote climate-smart and competitive small and medium producers in Sindh’s livestock and aquaculture sectors.
Read more: World Bank Grants Additional Funding Of $1 Billion For Pakistan
Najy Benhassine, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan, emphasized the need for resilience-building, particularly after the devastating 2022 floods. He highlighted the importance of strengthening social protection and supporting economic growth and recovery sectors to help the vulnerable cope with climate shocks through innovative technology and contingency planning.
The additional financing for CRISP will build on the program’s current efforts to improve the policy and delivery system for more effective crisis responses. The focus will be on long-term policy actions to enhance the national cash transfer program’s effectiveness, coverage, and federal-provincial coordination.
Amjad Zafar Khan, Task Team Leader for the Project, noted that CRISP has already provided regular safety net support to over 9 million families and quickly assisted 2.8 million families during recent floods. The additional financing aims to increase resilience to climate and economic shocks and leverage provincial capacities for greater social assistance roles.
LIVAQUA will fund interventions to support climate-smart production, value addition, and inclusive market access in the livestock and aquaculture sectors. This includes improving sector policy frameworks and decision-making, strengthening capacities for disease surveillance, diagnostic services, breeding programs, food safety, and green technology transfer.
The LIVAQUA project, covering all districts in Sindh in phases, is expected to benefit over 940,000 farm families, including 930,000 livestock households and 10,000 aquaculture producers. Measures to ensure female farmers’ participation and reduce gender gaps are also included.
