WASHINGTON, March 9: The World Bank announced on Friday it would provide $100 million for emergency health, education and other programmes in crisis-torn Argentina.

We are concerned about the difficult situation faced by many Argentines and we want to respond to their most pressing needs in health, education and community development, David de Ferranti, the World Bank’s vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean, said in a statement.

De Ferranti said he had met with President Eduardo Duhalde and members of his cabinet during a recent visit to Buenos Aires to discuss how the World Bank could support Argentina’s recovery plans.

The two sides agreed that the Bank would focus existing development assistance support on the basic needs of the most vulnerable groups in Argentina, he said.

World Bank experts and Argentine officials had drawn up a list of the neediest groups and the services required to meet their needs using existing funds.

Of the $100 million, about $34 million would finance medical supplies for mothers and infants, vaccination programs and campaigns against major diseases including AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Another $12 million would provide supplies for public schools, including five million dollars as a loan to be made directly to the Province of Buenos Aires.

Some $50 million would support small donations non-governmental organizations, networks and grass-roots community groups, including those working in poor neighborhoods.

Argentine “civil society representatives” would help monitor and evaluate the use of the funds to ensure the programs were implemented in a transparent manner, the World Bank said.

The programme includes measures to ensure that information on the activities financed by these funds be made available, and that monitoring be carried out by designated civil society groups, and that a systematic evaluation of the impact of these programs be conducted by independent analysts.

Argentine Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov said earlier in the day he expected his government to sign an agreement with the International Monetary Fund for assistance by April.

Argentina has requested some $23 billion in additional aid to ease its crippling economic crisis.—AFP