Covid recovery: WB approves $300m loan for Bangladesh

The World Bank approved a $300m loan for Bangladesh yesterday aiming to support the country's urban local government institutions in facing the coronavirus pandemic and its future shocks.

The funding, under a programme titled The Local Government Covid-19 Response and Recovery Project, targets to benefit about 40 million urban residents, read a press release of The World Bank.

Some 329 municipalities and 10 city corporations in all eight divisions --Barishal, Chattogram, Dhaka, Khulna, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Rangpur, and Sylhet -- will have the provision to receive funds bi-annually.

Aided by the funding, the eligible urban local bodies will install community hand-washing stations and toilets; and improve sanitisation in municipality-owned or operated markets, burial grounds, and public offices.

The project will help the residents have better access to municipality-operated health clinics and facilitate vaccine registrations for disadvantaged people, and conduct awareness programmes on Covid-19 protocols, vaccines, and climate risks.

Besides, the project will support labour-intensive public works to restore the livelihoods of poor and vulnerable people, who were most affected by the Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns.

It will create 1.5 million days of temporary work as well as employment for 10,000 women under the public work scheme.

"The Covid-19 pandemic had hit hard the poor people in urban areas, caused income losses and disrupted basic service delivery. But the city corporations and the municipalities can play a critical role in helping the urban poor recover from the pandemic as well as get cities prepared to handle future shocks," said Mercy Tembon, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.

"This project will help the cities and towns to build back better as they recover from the pandemic and prepare for future shocks, including climate change, disasters, and disease outbreaks," she added.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed the number of urban poor up to 27 million," said Shenhua Wang, World Bank Senior Urban Development Specialist and Task Team Leader for the project.

"The project will carry out labour-intensive public works and operations and maintenance schemes that in one hand will ensure water supply and sanitation, drainage, and other critical services reach low-income areas, slums, and areas exposed to high disease outbreak and disaster risks and in other hand create jobs for the poor urban people," said Shenhua Wang.