World Bank wing rates $212.379m Fata TDPs project as ‘highly relevant'

ISLAMABAD: The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank has rated 'Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) Temporary Displaced Persons (TDPs) Emergency Recovery Project' of worth $212.379 million as highly relevant and satisfactory, as the project exceeded almost all the output targets.
The Group in its 'Implementation Completion Report (ICR) Review' stated that the original project was financed by a $75 million credit, followed by additional financings of $114 million, $15 million, and $12 million (the latter two through Bank-administered Multi-Donor Trust Funds), bringing total planned financing to $216 million. $210.1 million was actually disbursed, with the difference due to exchange rate fluctuations.
The original Project Development Objective (PDO) was to 'support the early recovery of families affected by the militancy crisis, promote child health, and strengthen emergency response safety net delivery systems in the affected areas of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).' Revision to the PDO was done in two stages via restructurings administered through additional financings.
World Bank rates $118m KP project as 'moderately satisfactory'
In 2019, in order to expand the project into the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and to increase the type of services delivered, the PDO was slightly revised to becomes as follows: 'to support the early recovery of families affected by the militancy crisis, promote child health, and enhance citizen-centered service delivery in the tribal districts of KP province'. In 2021, the PDO was again modified: 'to support the early recovery of families affected by the militancy crisis, promote child health, and enhance citizen-centered service delivery in the selected districts of KP.'
The project's overall rating is satisfactory, which is consistent with minor shortcomings in project design and implementation. The project was highly relevant and aligned to both government and Bank priorities. There was substantial project efficiency.
Efficacy of objectives was rated substantial. The project succeeded in reaching a large number of households and provided them with unconditional and conditional cash transfers. Equally, it managed to fully vaccinate a high number of children, the majority of whom were girls. It also expanded service delivery in terms of both geographical coverage and the types of services offered. However, given the lack of information regarding the number of TDPs that retuned to FATA, it is not possible to determine the extent to which the project was able to incentivize the return of TDPs.
Furthermore, there is insufficient evidence regarding the extent to which the grants were able to smooth consumption given that over time they were not increased to reflect the higher cost of living.
The project was highly relevant, as it addressed the development challenges faced by the government of Pakistan, namely: (1) high number of TDPs, (2) inadequate child health outcomes, and (3) lack of social services in the targeted areas. The project was aligned with the government's strategies and sectoral policies. Specifically, it was in line with the government's National Social Protection Strategy, including preventing households and individuals from falling into poverty due to shocks.
Furthermore, the project contributed to the Fata Sustainable Return and Rehabilitation Strategy, which identified social protection as one of the top priority sectoral interventions, with cash transfers as an important tool for the emergency response and recovery.
Initially, 306,471 displaced families (list provided by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority) fulfilled the eligibility criteria and were made part of the Livelihood Support Grant (LSG) caseload. An additional 144,591 families - constituting 32 per cent of the final caseload - were added based on the grievances that were lodged after the project was launched.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

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