The Government of Maldives and World Bank has signed on two grant agreements with a collect grant extension of USD34 million (MVR524 million) to strengthen the pension and safety nets for Maldivian workers and improve employability.
In addition to this, the grant will be utilized to leverage digital technologies for the development and climate resilience as well.
The agreements were signed at the Ministry of Finance between Minister of Finance Mr. Ibrahim Ameer and Mr. Faris H. Hadad-Zervos, the Country Director for Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka of World Bank.
“The Maldives and World Bank has enjoyed a strong partnership spanning over four decades and across a wide range of sectors such as fisheries, renewable energy, education, financial management,” commented Mr. Ameer.
He further added, “As we look towards a better future for our country and our people, the two grants will give us the fiscal space to kick-start social protection programs, and to leverage new technologies to accelerate our growth and development.”
Grant details are as follows;
- USD24 million grant will be concentrated towards the Sustainable and Integrated Labor Services (SAILS) project to help the government in establishing an unemployment insurance scheme and an employment service scheme. Under the initiative, employers and employees will contribute jointly to a fund which will pay unemployment benefits. Other benefits from the SAILS initiative include counselling, job search assistance, training and coaching to assist job seekers.
- USD10 million grant will be aimed at the Digital Maldives for Adaptation, Decentralization and Diversification Project; that will help the government to promote competition in the broadband market through regulation and modernization of the national identification systems to facilitate online services and transactions. The project also aims to improve climate-related data and analytics by tracking emissions, deploying modern technologies and using existing data more efficiently for policymaking.
Speaking about the grant extention, Mr. Hadad-Zervos said, “The World Bank is pleased to support the people of Maldives with these two grants we have signed today. This financing will help the government protect workers from future economic shocks and help those who have lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic get back into the job market.”
“It will also help harness the power of digital technologies to help protect Maldives’ magnificent marine ecosystem on which so many Maldivians and their economy depend,” Mr. Hadad-Zervos added.