ISLAMABAD: The World Bank will consider the “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)/Fata Citizen Centered Service Delivery Project” of worth $50 million to support the early recovery of families affected by the militancy crisis, promote child health, and enhance citizen-centered service delivery in selected districts of KP province, official documents revealed.
The proposed project will bridge the financing gap for the continuity of the activities under the ongoing Fata Temporarily Displaced Persons Emergency Recovery Project (TDPERP), thereby, facilitating smooth transition of the programme to the province of KP. An additional financing to the ongoing project is not possible as it is under the old safeguards policies, the project documents noted.
TDPERP was operationalised in Fata agencies in 2015 through the federal government funding and has since successfully delivered services to its citizens. Effective phased transfer of the program requires covering the funding gap for the TDPERP program by the federal government for the transition period. The proposed project will continue to support the existing activities under the TDPERP for a period of two years, providing an opportunity for a phased transition of interventions to the government of KP.
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The program design and institutional setup will be replicated under the new project with revised results to cover the extended period of support.
The project will retain the original components from the TDPERP: (a) Early Recovery Package for Temporary Displaced Persons - which includes reimbursement of the Early Recovery Grant (ERG) and provision of the Livelihood Support Grant (LSG); (b) Promoting child health in selected areas of FATA; and (c) Strengthening program management and oversight. The ERG is a one-time transfer per family to assist the Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs) to settle after returning and offset their transportation costs.
The LSG provides monthly income support per TDP family for four months as subsistence support while livelihoods are re-established. The Child Wellness Grant (CWG) aims to promote the uptake of selected child health services offered to both TDP and non-TDP families with children aged 0–2 years. The Citizen Facilitation Centers (CFCs) make available services for immunization, growth monitoring of the children, nutrition services and referral of complicated cases.
The CFCs are also offering additional services including Vital Registration Services (VRS), Civil Registration Management Services (CRMS) and NADRA E-Sahulat (an E-Commerce Platform providing online payment and collection facility through various outlets). Simultaneously, due to overwhelming community support for the program, the TDPERP program was also extended to four of the adjacent southern districts of Pakhtunkhwa province. Currently the program is being run in seven merged districts (Mohmand, Orakzai, North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Bajaur, Khyber and Kurram districts) and four settled districts (Bannu, LakkiMarwat, Tank, and DI Khan).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023