Two Philippine projects worth $457 million may be approved for World Bank funding this year.
The projects are the $450-million Philippines Social Welfare Development and Reform Project (SWDRP) II and the $7-million Studies for Sustainable Flood Management (SSFM).
The project information document obtained from the World Bank showed that the SWDRP will be financed by a loan from the Washington-based lender, while the SSFM will be financed via grant.
The SWDRP, which is targeted for World Bank Board approval in September 2015, will have four components. The first component is the financing of the Support to the Pantawid Pamilya ng Pilipinas Program or the country’s Conditional Cash-Transfer (CCT) Program, which is estimated to have a tentative allocation of $350 million.
This component will cover the CCT for poor children 0 to 18 years of age across the Philippines, which will account for $345 million of the loan. The remaining $5 million will be used to support the National Project Management Office of the CCT Program.
The second component of the project aims to increase the employability prospects of CCT beneficiaries. The tentative allocation for this component is $80 million.
This component intends to help CCT graduates and beneficiaries transition from school to work through an integrated package of labor-market orientation, life skills and certified technical and vocational training.
The World Bank said the lion’s share, or $75 million, of the amount allocated for this component will be spent for Sustainable Livelihood Program Training Grants, and the remaining $5 million will be for implementation support for the SLP.
The third component of the project will support the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in disaster and emergency response. This component has a tentative allocation of $1.5 million.
“The project would support the enhancement of the automated system that would ensure efficient collection of correct and real-time data to systematize and rationalize disaster preparedness, relief and early recovery,” the document stated.
The last component of the project is the support for DSWD Policy and Institutional Capacity Development. The tentative allocation for the project is $18.5 million.
The component will help the DSWD in its the implementation of policies relating to its projects and social protection in
general. The project will finance expert services, knowledge transfer, training, and software development and informaction and communication technology.
Meanwhile, the World Bank estimates that the first grant for the SSFM will be granted by December 2015.
Based on a project information document, the project intends to support the plan to improve flood management and resilience in the Greater Metro Manila Area.
The project has two components—the preparation of feasibility and design studies for priority flood management infrastructure—with a tentative allocation of $6.8 million. Another component is the project management and administration, which will receive a tentative amount of $0.2 million.
“The feasibility studies will review, as needed, the various options for flood-management improvements in the study areas, including a quick assessment of related social and resettlement impacts in terms of magnitude, costs and risks, to be followed immediately by design studies and preparation of tender documents of the selected options,” the World Bank said.
The projects are aligned with the World Bank’s five-year Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) in the Philippines, covering the period of 2015 to 2018. The CPS intends to focus on five key areas: transparent and accountable governance; empowerment of the poor and vulnerable; rapid, inclusive and sustained economic growth; climate change, environment and disaster-risk management; and peace, institution building, and social and economic opportunity.
The CPS is a joint strategy of the three members of the World Bank Group: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, also known as the World Bank; the International Finance Corp. focused on the private sector in developing countries; and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, which provides political risk insurance to private-sector investors and lenders.