The World Bank (WB) would provide US$300 million for improving maternal health and nutrition support to the children of poor mothers in Bangladesh's northern region.
The Bank signed a loan agreement with the government to this effect in Dhaka on Monday.
The Washington-based Bank and the Economic Relations Division (ERD) signed the loan deal. ERD secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin and WB country director Johannes Zutt inked the agreement.
Under the Income Support Programme for the Poorest project, the government will provide Tk 200 each time to a poor mother for attending four antenatal care visits, Tk 500 each time for attending Growth Monitoring and Promotion (GMP) meeting per month to a 0-24 month old child and Tk 1,000 to the 25-60 months age child for attending GMP on a quarterly basis.
It will also provide Tk 500 per visit for child nutrition cognitive development (CNCD) session per month to the pregnant women and mothers, ERD officials said.
Besides, capacity of the Union Parishads (UPs) will be enhanced to monitor and supervise the beneficiaries, of the community clinics for providing health services and of the Post Offices for electronic payment to the beneficiaries under the project.
About 600,000 poor mothers and pregnant women will receive monthly payments through biometric-enabled Bangladesh Post Office cash cards for participating in activities aimed at the growth and development of their children.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said despite Bangladesh's record of reducing child mortality, the country is among the 10 countries with the highest prevalence of malnutrition.
Nearly 41 per cent of children below the age of five are stunted, WHO said.
The project will cover 42 of the poorest upazilas in northern Bangladesh that lag behind in nutrition indicators and is expected to benefit 2.7 million poor people.
Pregnant women and mothers of children below 5 years from extremely poor households will receive payments for regular visits for antenatal care services, child nutrition and development awareness sessions and monitoring of the child's weight and height.
"Ensuring adequate nutrition pre-natally and in the first two years of life helps to maximise a child's intelligence and brain development and enables higher level of learning through childhood and into adulthood," said Johannes Zutt.
"Well-designed safety-nets can improve child health and nutrition outcomes while contributing to reduction of poverty and inequality," said Mr Mohammad Mejbahuddin.
The Local Government Division will implement the cash support project from April 2015 to June 2020.
The $300 million credit from the World Bank has a 38-year term, including a 6.0 year grace period, and a service charge of 0.75 per cent.
kabirhumayan10@gmial.com
$300m WB loan for improving maternal health, nutrition
FE Report | Published: February 11, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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