The World Bank has announced in a statement this week that it have granted to Senegal a loan of $ 40.5 million through the International Development Association (IDA) credit to help Senegal to establish the building blocks for a national social safety net system and provide targeted cash transfers to poor and vulnerable households.
According to the statement, the project was approved in May 2014 by the World Bank Executive Board of Directors.
The project of this Social Safety was implemented by Senegal’s Social Protection and National Solidarity Delegation to contribute to “the establishment of the first-ever unique registry of vulnerable households that will allow all social programs to identify and target their beneficiaries more efficiently”.
“Senegal has a unique opportunity to build a robust safety net system. The registry will be the cornerstone of this system and will provide for efficient targeting of the country’s most vulnerable,” said Vera Songwe, World Bank Country Director for Senegal in the statement
On the overall budget of $ 40.5 million, $ 25.7 million will be spent on transfers to the poorest households, recipients of the National Family Safety Grants Program (PNBSF).
“These accompanying measures are an essential part of the cash transfer program as money alone cannot bring about sustainable change. Households need to invest into their human capital, and especially those of their children, in order to break the cycle of poverty,” explains Aline Coudouel, World Bank Lead Economist for Social Protection in the statement released by the bank.
The statement has also added that, the World Bank Group is preparing a new project to strengthen social protection measures that aim to mitigate the impact of climate change and other shocks on the poorest households, in the framework of the Sahel Adaptive Social Protection Trust Fund. This 11 million dollars project is currently under preparation and will be launched in 2016.