ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday approved two loans worth a total of $270 million for Sindh and Punjab.
One loan is meant to help Punjab to cut infant and maternal mortality rates by improving the delivery of health services and the other to assist Sindh to boost growth and expand economic opportunities in rural areas.
The bank announced after the approval of the loans by its board of directors in Manila that the funds would come from its concessionary arm, the Asian Development Fund (ADF).
The Punjab government will receive $150 million for the second phase of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Programme being carried out by the health department. Under the three-phase programme, reforms are being carried out to improve access, quality and equity of public health services.
“The programme will help the province cut child and maternal mortality levels and more broadly ensure adequate health care for the poor by improving the availability and quality of health services, and by developing a viable pro-poor health-care financing system,” Linda Arthur, Social Sector Specialist in ADB’s Resident Mission in Pakistan, said.
It supports government measures to enhance equipment and staffing levels at primary and secondary health-care facilities and to strengthen the quality of health workers through expanded training, improved facilities and development of a comprehensive human resources plan. It aims to strengthen the management and performance monitoring of health services and to make the procurement and supply of essential drugs more efficient. It continues a conditional grant mechanism for district governments which allocate funds to meet minimum service standards for maternal, neonatal and child health care, and supports improvements in financial management and fiduciary oversight.
Without major improvements in health-care delivery, the province is unlikely to meet the MDGs for reduced child and maternal mortality by 2015.
A $120 million loan is for the ongoing second phase of the three-phase Sindh Growth and Rural Revitalisation Programme that will help the provincial government boost growth and expand economic opportunities in poor rural areas.
The programme supports the provincial government’s drive to reduce poverty and stimulate economic growth by improving management of public spending and enabling higher private-sector participation in the economy.
The second phase of the programme supports government reforms to spur growth, including the development of a legal, institutional and regulatory framework for public-private partnerships, increased private-sector representation and introduction of market-based principles of management to agriculture and industrial state-owned enterprises, by computerising land titles and the corporatisation of public agriculture and produce markets.
It also helps the government improve the management and targeting of public resources.
As a result of the programme, the government now includes a women development secretary in the Provincial Development Working Party.
Guidelines have been drawn up to ensure that all public project proposals assess impact on women and explore employment opportunities for them and public-private partnership projects pursued by the provincial government deliver benefits to both men and women.
