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The government of Bangladesh and the World Bank on Sunday signed a $300 million financing agreement to help the country strengthen its local urban institutions to respond to and recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and improve preparedness for future shocks.
The agreement, which will finance the “Local Government COVID-19 Response and Recovery Project”, was signed by Economic Relations Division Secretary Sharifa Khan and World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan Mercy Tembon on behalf of the Bangladesh government and the World Bank, respectively, according to a press release.
“This project will help local government institutions take the right measures to move toward climate-smart urbanization and prepare for resilience in future shocks,” said Mercy Tembon.
“With quick and proactive measures, the Bangladesh government will be able to address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Sharifa Khan.
“The project will further support to ensure that the urbans areas remain prepared to any future shocks while benefitting the urban poor through job creation, better services, and infrastructure.”
The credit is from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which provides concessional financing, and has a 30-year term, including a five-year grace period.
The project, which is expected to benefit 39.9 million urban residents in all eight divisions, will carry out labour-intensive public works that on one hand will ensure water supply and sanitation, drainage, and other critical services benefitting the 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.
