World Bank approves $46m for child healthcare in KP

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank has approved $46 million to enhance access to child healthcare services and improve citizen-centered service delivery in selected districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

The financing was approved by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors as part of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Citizen-Centred Service Delivery Project.

According to a statement, the project aims to address both the supply and demand sides of healthcare delivery in the province and improve the functioning of citizen-centric administrative facilitation centres in the Newly Merged Districts.

“The Project will support the Government in expanding the provision of Child Wellness Grants targeted at mothers, provided they attend health awareness sessions”, said Najy Benhassine, WB Country Director for Pakistan.

Nearly 300,000 children under the age of two will benefit from Child Welfare Grants (CWGs) under the project.

To mitigate the financial barriers associated with the use of these services, families of these children will receive Rs12,500, spread over five visits, for attending the health awareness sessions and growth monitoring of their child.

The project will also support the KP government in adoption of the one window operation model of the Citizen Facilitation Centers (CFC) to promote essential service delivery to the local population.

The CFCs, in addition to provision of Child Wellness Grants, offer vital services to the local communities such as registration services including recording of birth, death, marriage, divorce, family registration etc. 560,000 individuals will be utilising the services provided at the CFCs.

“The project will facilitate the transition of the program to the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, bridging the continuity of the activities under the 40 CFCs already established with the support of the Federal Government,” said Amjad Zafar Khan, Task Team Leader for the project.