World Bank Allocates USD 84 Million Assistance For Afghanistan

The World Bank has announced an USD 84 million aid package for Afghanistan. The World Bank stated that this aid package has been allocated by the International Development Association for Afghanistan Community Resilience and Livelihoods Project.

On Tuesday, the World Bank wrote in a statement that the executive board of the bank approved support for livelihoods and services in urban and rural areas of Afghanistan.

The institution has stated that the Afghanistan Community Resilience and Livelihoods Project began in 2022 with a grant of USD 265 million from the Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund, focusing on providing livelihood support and services in rural and urban areas, providing social grants for women and the most vulnerable, and strengthen community institutions for inclusive service delivery.

According to the World Bank statement, with the allocation of this new aid package, the project's activities will expand to more rural and urban areas, providing more services specially for women.

The bank stated that this aid package will also be used to provide employment for returning migrants to Afghanistan.

Melinda Good, World Bank Country Director for Afghanistan said, “In the past 18 months, the project has laid the foundation for an effective service delivery platform and operational model at scale for delivering jobs, providing essential services and assets, and, importantly, reaching women”.

She stated that with the allocation of new assistance, this project will continue to provide services in 26 provinces and 6200 villages, including eight major cities.

According to the World Bank's announcement, this project has created short-term employment for more than 776,000 Afghan families so far, benefiting around 5.4 million individuals.

The organisation stated that 92,200 vulnerable families in Afghanistan, including families headed by women, have received cash or in-kind assistance from this project, and nearly 7.4 million Afghans have accessed social services such as roads, health centres, and drinking water during this period.

The World Bank stated that in the past two years, more than 2.1 million people have received training in health and nutrition, the effects of climate change and disaster risk management.