Health Coverage, Refugee Management: World Bank Provides Over FCFA 50 Billion

#Economie

Cameroon becomes the first country in the world to benefit from the World Bank’s International Development Association’s IDA18 sub-regional window for refugees and host communities.

The government of Cameroon has signed two key financing agreements with the World Bank worth 84 million US dollars, circa FCFA 50.4 billion. The agreements were signed in Yaounde, Monday December 17, 2018, between Cameroon’s Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Alamine Ousmane Mey and the Coordinator of the Sustainable Development Pool of the World Bank, Issa Daw.

One of the financing agreements will pave the way for additional funds for the third phase of the National Community Driven Development Programme. Of some 48 million US dollars (about FCFA 27.8 billion) concerned, 8 million US dollars (circa FCFA 4.6 billion) is in the form of a loan while the rest in a grant.

The other part of the World Bank money will be pumped into the project for reinforcement of the performance of the healthcare system. Six million US dollars (about FCFA 3.5 billion) for this project costing 36 million US dollars (about FCFA 20.8 billion) has been accorded to Cameroon as a loan. The recent financing takes the World Bank’s portfolio in Cameroon to over FCFA 1,000 covering 15 projects in different sectors.

According to Minister Alamine, the funds will substantially support the country’s response to the humanitarian consequences of the influx of Nigerian and Central African Republic refugees following political conflicts. As of October 31, 2018, statistics of the UN High Commission for Refugees shows that there are over 372,542 refugees in Cameroon.

“Faced with this challenge, the government of Cameroon engaged in multiple actions to bring support to the population facing social and economic difficulties,” Alamine said. He lauded the World Bank for not hesitating to assist when solicited.

The funds made available by the World Bank will be used to put in place high quality and durable social amenities in local councils and facilitate access to them by the population, including refugees.

The funds will also be used to put in place infrastructures in the education, health, water and sanitation sectors. The construction or rehabilitation of markets, community grain barns, irrigation channels, and farm-to-market roads is also envisaged.

In the health domain, it will ease access to treatment in health centers as well as nutrition for infants. The targeted beneficiaries of the funding are populations of the Far North, North, Adamawa and East Regions.

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