WASHINGTON, March 8, 2002
ARGENTINA: World Bank Approves $100 Million For Emergency Social Programs
Contact Person:
Christopher Neal (202) 473-7229
e-mail: Cneal1@worldbank.org
The World Bank today announced that it is providing $100 million to support emergency social programs to meet the urgent needs of Argentina's people.
"We are concerned about the difficult situation faced by many Argentines and we want to respond to their most pressing needs in health, education and community development," says David de Ferranti, the World Bank's Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean.
During his visit to Argentina, De Ferranti held productive conversations with President Eduardo Duhalde and members of his cabinet, in which he was informed of critical elements of the government's plan and discussed how best the World Bank could provide support for it. The discussions concluded with an agreement to focus some existing development assistance support on meeting basic needs of the most vulnerable groups in Argentina. In recent weeks, experts from the World Bank and Argentina's Ministries of Health, Education, and Social Development have made extraordinary efforts to identify the neediest groups, and the vital services that can address their needs using existing funds.
The $100 million financing will be provided for the following:
Ø Health: About $34 million will be provided for: (1) essential medical supplies to meet the primary health care needs of mothers and infants, including medicines to fight bacterial infections such as pneumonia, bronchitis and other respiratory infections, to prevent anemia, and to provide nutritional supplements; (2) expansion of vaccination programs; (3) national programs to eradicate Chagas' disease, dengue, yellow fever, malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis; (4) blood bank programs.
Ø Education: About $12 million for educational supplies for public schools. Of this amount, $5 million will be a loan directly to the Province of Buenos Aires.
Ø Community Development: About $50 million will support small donations directly to non-governmental organizations, networks and grass-roots community groups undertaking productive activities, or contributing to social infrastructure, community kitchens, and other social work in poor neighborhoods.
Given the importance that these programs be implemented in a transparent manner, it has been agreed that Argentine civil society representatives will participate actively in the monitoring and evaluation of the use of these funds. The program includes measures to ensure that information on the activities financed by these funds be made available, and that monitoring be carried out by designated civil society groups, and that a systematic evaluation of the impact of these programs be conducted by independent analysts.
