Ministry of Community Development and social services with support from the World Bank has received additional finances to support the implementation of the Scaling up Shock Responsive Social Protection (SSRSP) project in Zambia.
Muchinga Province Permanent Secretary Henry Mukungule says the project is an extension of the government’s flagship social protection project, Girl’s Education and Women Empowerment and Livelihood (GEWEL) project.
Mr Mukungule explained that the project will continue to focus on building the government social protection system to support the poorest households through the provision of cash transfers.
ZANIS reports that Mr Mukungule said this today during an extraordinary Provincial Development Coordinating Committee (PDCC) meeting.
He stated that a team from Community Development and Social Services from Lusaka are in the province to explain to key stakeholders both how the project will operate.
“It is expected that by the end of the provincial and district meetings all stakeholders will have a clear understanding of the SSRSP project in Muchinga and the country at large,” he added.
Mr Mukungule said government with the help from the World Bank has planned to put up other shock protection measures after the economic hardships experienced following the outbreak of the COVID-19.
And speaking earlier, Ministry of Community Development and Social Services Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist Francis Lukunga said the project was born following the economic hardships brought about by drought in 2018 and the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
He added that the results of the calamities resulted in affecting the financing by the central government adding that the household level was also affected.
“It was from that background that government received support from the World Bank to enable the government to stabilize financing of the social protection in view of the calamities that the country suffered,” he said.
The Scaling up Shock Responsive Social Protection (SSRSP) Project will build on the existing IDA and multi-donor funded, government flagship social protection project, GEWEL and will continue its focus on building the government’s social protection system to support the poorest households in various communities.