93330


                                     People’s Republic of Bangladesh

                           Income Support Program for the Poorest Project

                                             December 16, 2014

                                             Chair Summary ∗


       Executive Directors approved a credit in the amount of SDR 202.4 million (US$ 300
million equivalent) to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh for the Income Support Program for
the Poorest Project (IDA/R2014-0336) on the terms and conditions set out in the President’s
Memorandum.

       Directors expressed broad support for the operation, which aims at providing income
support to the poorest mothers while increasing the mothers’ use of child nutrition and cognitive
development services and enhancing local governments’ capacity to deliver safety nets. They
underscored the importance of building on the lessons of the successful conditional cash transfer
pilot which underpins the proposed operation.

        Despite Bangladesh’s remarkable record in reducing poverty over the last three decades,
Directors noted the persistence of high poverty rates which pose a daunting development
challenge for the country. In this respect, Directors appreciated the operation’s focus on
targeting the extremely poor households, the emphasis on nutrition, and the direct relevance to
the goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030. Directors welcomed the operation’s
complementarity with other Bank-financed operations to improve the delivery of social safety
nets. Over the longer term, they encouraged attention to promoting the sustainability of the
project’s intended development impacts.

        Directors acknowledged the implementation risks stemming from the governance
environment and weak institutional capacity at the local government level. To that end, Directors
emphasized the importance of strengthening local government capacity, with a view of
establishing a sound fiduciary and governance framework. Directors expressed support for the
mitigation measures embedded in the project design and underscored the importance of a robust
monitoring and evaluation framework. Directors welcomed the project’s innovative approach to
safety net delivery as well as the collaboration with other donors and the NGO community. The
project’s grievance redress system was also recognized. They encouraged the Bank to use the
operation as a platform for cross-country learning, particularly for countries that face similar
challenges of weak institutional capacity.




∗   This summary is not an approved record