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WB Supports Social Service Delivery In Armenia

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  • WB Supports Social Service Delivery In Armenia

    WB SUPPORTS SOCIAL SERVICE DELIVERY IN ARMENIA

    States News Service
    February 25, 2010 Thursday

    The following information was released by the World Bank:

    The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$5
    million loan for the Additional Financing for the Armenia Social
    Protection Administration Project (SPAP). The Additional Financing
    will expand activities under the ongoing SPAP to further improve the
    delivery of social protection and employment services by strengthening
    institutions and better targeting social safety net programs.

    The Project will target job seekers, including youth choosing
    a career path and the rural unemployed, as well as poor and
    vulnerable households, current and future pensioners, and people
    with disabilities.

    The Additional Financing supports several activities that are essential
    for further improvement and maintenance of the efficiency of the
    social service delivery system, including:

    - rehabilitation of the regional social service offices;

    - development and widespread use of management information system
    and network of information flows;

    - introduction of reporting and record-keeping in support of Armenia's
    pension reform program;

    - overcoming the institutional and reform bottlenecks for rural
    employment;

    - improving the targeting, coverage and administration of the social
    safety net programs; and

    - integration of social services for efficient and coordinated
    delivery.

    "The implementation of the social reform program requires strong
    administrative capacities both at central and local levels," said
    Asad Alam, World Bank Regional Director for the South Caucasus. "With
    severely constrained fiscal resources, aggravated by the current global
    economic crisis, the Government has to continue pursuing a strategy
    aimed at increasing the efficiency of use of program resources and,
    in that way, expand the scope for increasing benefit levels and ensure
    that the most needy individuals and households are protected."

    "While the urgent challenge for the Armenian authorities is to mitigate
    the economic and social impacts of the current economic crisis, the
    measures supported by the Project will lay the foundations for an
    effective post-crisis social protection system that provides vital and
    sustainable protection to the poor and the most vulnerable groups,"
    added Lire Ersado, head of the World Bank team designing the project.

    The IBRD Flexible loan has a maturity of 25 years and a grace period
    of 10 years included.

    Since joining the World Bank in 1992 and IDA in 1993, the commitments
    to Armenia total approximately US$ 1.3 billion.

    For more information on the World Bank's activities in Armenia,
    please visit:

    http://www.worldbank.org.am
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