WB to provide $ 22.00 million for urban areas basic services in Yemen
[26/May/2010]
WASHINGTON, May 26 (Saba)- US$ 22.00 million equivalent will be provided for the Yemen Integrated Urban Development project to improve access to basic services at urban areas in Taiz province, the World Bank has announced.
In a press release, the WB said that the proposed project contributes to the strategic objectives of its recently approved Urban and Local Government Strategy that emphasizes the scaling up of urban upgrading, from a local to a national scale and improving living conditions in these areas by extending affordable services to informal settlements.
‘’Through this project, the Bank’s support will help improve urban management of the cities through an effective approach to basic service delivery for the urban poor in Yemen. Through continuous donor coordination and harmonization, this project “will also build the platform for future donor intervention in urban upgrading of informal settlements in key cities in Yemen as well as complement efforts of other IDA-funded projects like the Urban Water and Sanitation Project, the Social Fund for Development and Public Works Project to maximize leverage and impact,” noted Benson Ateng, World Bank Yemen Country Manager.
In Yemen, informal settlements in urban areas are characterized by poor access to basic infrastructure and services like water supply and sewerage, garbage collection and street lighting, environmental degradation, lack of economic and educational opportunities, poor health care, and lack of security of land tenure.
Taiz is one of the cities that are most severely affected by the rapid growth of informal settlements. Nearly 70 percent of the total residential built-up area of Taiz is informal and the vast majority of residential development since the 1980s has taken place informally.
