BO-Social Sector Programmatic Credit

closed

The proposed Credit is aligned fully with the Bolivia Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) presented to the Board on January 8, 2004. The CAS clearly identified the role of this series of Social Sectors Programmatic Structural Adjustment Credits (SSPSACs) in supporting progress in the social sectors, highlighting that particular attention would be paid to reducing inequality in education, health and nutrition, and water and sanitation outcomes across municipalities, ethnic groups and income classes. As reflected in the CAS, if at subsequent stages of preparation Bolivia has made progress in formulating its revised Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), the second and/or third SSPSACs in this series could be converted into a broader Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC). This series of SSPSACs have been prepared closely with other international donors. Germany (through KfW and GTZ) has actively participated with technical assistance and joint missions with the Bank in its preparation and has formally announced its interest in co-financing the first Credit in this series with Euros 8 million. Meetings with the donor community were held in La Paz to ensure coordination around the proposed social program and the areas to be supported by the SSPSACs, and seek synergism with other ongoing efforts. Various countries have contributed significantly with their experience and technical assistance in the design of specific components of this operation. Lastly, this series of SSPSACs has been closely linked to an overall intemational donor effort in Bolivia to support monitoring and evaluation of progress made to attain the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).