ISLAMABAD: The World Bank has approved $300 million financing for the upgradation of rural roads in the most vulnerable districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to ‘provide safe and reliable access to schools, health facilities and markets’.

The World Bank’s resident mission announced in Islamabad on Friday that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Rural Accessibility Project (KPRAP) approved by the bank’s executive directors would provide safe and affordable transportation to primary and middle schools, especially for young girls, in remote areas, which had the lowest enrollment and attendance rates.

“The project will also improve connectivity to markets and provincial centers to support income generation for rural farmers by reducing transportation costs and travel times,” it said.

World Bank country director for Pakistan Najy Bemhassine said the project took a climate-smart approach that built resilience into the design of transportation infrastructure, which was critical to improving the reliability and connectivity of rural road networks in KP, especially for remote areas most at risk to extreme weather.

“By increasing year-round mobility and access to schools and health facilities, these investments will directly support human capital development and help farmers better cope with weather-related travel disruptions and economic shocks,” he said.

The KPRAP’s climate resilient design includes all-weather roads, that are safer and will help reduce accidents and fatalities. It will also generate savings from reduced maintenance and construction costs when a road fails.

“Access to basic education and health services is a major issue in KP due to travel disruptions and poor connectivity between districts and provincial centers, especially in the northern and southern areas,” said Task Team Leader for the Programme Lincoln Flor.

He said the provision of safe, all-weather roads and reliable transportation would help increase student attendance in to schools to address and reduce to low school enrolment and early dropouts and address the lack of access to health facilities, which is linked to higher mortality rates from preventable or otherwise easily treatable diseases.

Mr Flor said the KPRAP would benefit 1.7 million people, who lived in rural areas of the province, and would improve income generation for women and men in agriculture, accounting for 20 per cent of employment in in the province.

He said the project would also increase regular attendance of up to 60,000 girls at the primary- and middle-school levels and support up to 5,000 girl enrolments from the most vulnerable communities in the province.

Published in Dawn,June 11th, 2022