WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America, — The World Bank approved today a new project in Burkina Faso to expand economic opportunities for vulnerable populations, foster social cohesion, and strengthen the country’s social protection system. This marks a renewed partnership between the World Bank Group and the Government of Burkina Faso in the social protection sector. The project will be implemented over five years and financed through an International Development Association (IDA) credit of $100 million and a $20 million grant from the Sahel Adaptive Social Protection Program.
The new operation builds on the strong results of the Burkina Naong Sa Ya (“Ending Poverty”) Social Safety Nets Project, implemented from 2014 to 2024, which reached more than one million beneficiaries with social assistance and helped establish a national social registry of vulnerable households, providing a critical platform for the expansion and targeting of social protection programs across the country.
The Burkina Faso Economic Opportunities for Resilience Project will support the implementation of the National Social Protection Strategy (2024-2028) and a new national flagship social assistance program: the Economic Empowerment Support Program for Poor and Vulnerable Households. Targeting 120,000 beneficiaries, the operation will expand access to economic opportunities for vulnerable households, including internally displaced persons and returnees; promote investments in skills development, food security, nutrition, and health—the building blocks for productive and better jobs; strengthen women’s economic empowerment; and enhance households’ resilience to climate-related and other shocks.
The project will also focus on making the national social protection system more adaptive, effective, and better coordinated by enhancing programs, information and data, and institutional capacity to maximize the outcomes of interventions. It will support the expanded coverage and use of the social registry; promote its integration with other key databases—including those for internally displaced persons and health insurance—to ensure accurate, efficient, and inclusive identification of beneficiaries.
“The project illustrates our continued commitment to support the government’s effort to achieve more harmonized approach to social protection. Also, it fully aligns with our new country partnership framework for Burkina Faso, which aims to promote sustained development, with a strong focus on creating more and better jobs,” said Hamoud Abdel Wedoud Kamil, World Bank Country Manager for Burkina Faso.
“The package of interventions are both productive and protective. They will help people access food, education, and health services to protect and build human capital, and also access productive assets and financial services, all of which can transform people’s lives in the medium and long terms,” added Trina Haque, World Bank Regional Practice Director for Western and Central Africa.
