The administrators of the World Bank approved on 3 May 2016, a financing worth a total of USD 127 million (close to FCfa 70 billion), in order “to improve health services for reproduction, mother, new born, child and adolescent and nutrition services” in Cameroon, an official communiqué from this Bretton Woods institution.

This funding, the World Bank specifies, includes a loan of USD 100 million (approximately FCfa 55 billion) from the International Development Association (IDA), the concessional one-stop shop of the World Bank; and a donation of USD 27 million (about FCfa 14.8 billion) provided by the Fiduciary Fund of the Global Financing Facility (GFF).

The first phase of the project (2016-2018) thus financed, we learn, is meant to cover 36 districts of Northern Cameroon and specifically targets women, adolescents and children under five, as well as displaced populations and refugees affected by the insecurity prevailing in this area of Cameroon.

The project focuses on two components, which are enhancing the provision of health services and institution building to improve the results of the health system.

“The Cameroonian authorities, with six years of experience in financing based on results consider that it is essential to operate with this type of funding to strengthen the efficiency of the allocation and use of resources meant for the health sector, improve the performance of health agents by increasing their motivation and satisfaction, and broaden the access of the population to essential health services by improving the quality of health services”, notes Elisabeth Hyubens, Cameroon Operations Director for the World Bank.