MANILA, Philippines — The World Bank announced Friday it approved a $300 million loan to provide additional funding for the Philippines’ conditional cash transfer program.
In a statement, the Washington-based multilateral lender said the new funding will finance cash transfers to poor families for a period of two years, as well as help combat malnutrition and promote early childhood development.
The loan will also provide technical assistance to the Philippine government to promote efficient payment systems, monitoring and evaluation, and family development sessions.
“This additional financing shows the World Bank’s continuing commitment to the country’s social protection program as it grows with greater sophistication to tackle a broader array of development concerns, including child malnutrition,” said Mara Warwick, World Bank country director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.
Known as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program — or “4Ps” — the conditional cash transfer program benefits 4.2 million families, including 8.7 million children, World Bank said.
Under the program, cash grants are provided to poor families to ensure that children stay healthy and in school. Implemented in 145 cities and 1,483 municipalities in the country, the 4Ps is responsible for a quarter of total poverty reduction in the country, according to the World Bank 2018 Poverty Assessment.
“Since 2008, the 4Ps has promoted safer birth deliveries and has improved poor children’s access to educational and health services. We are proud to support programs such as this that help millions of families overcome poverty,” Warwick said.
President Rodrigo Duterte recently signed Republic Act 11310, institutionalizing the 4Ps and providing higher cash subsidies for all beneficiaries.
READ: New law institutionalizes Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program
— Ian Nicolas Cigaral