$408 million ADB financing package to aid Marawi rebuilding

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $408 million financing package to assist the government in rebuilding and rehabilitating the southern Philippine city of Marawi and help residents regain their livelihoods.

The Emergency Assistance for Reconstruction and Recovery of Marawi package includes a $300 million quick disbursing loan to finance selected programs, projects, and activities under the government’s Bangon Marawi Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Program covering local governance and peacebuilding, housing and settlement, business and livelihood, and social services.

The second loan of $100 million will finance the reconstruction and rehabilitation by the Department of Public Works and Highways of damaged infrastructure in the city, including about 25 kilometers of roads and 1,700 meters of bridges and viaducts. The infrastructure will be built back better, climate resilient, and will incorporate gender-responsive and inclusive physical design features to enable safe use by women, children, elderly, and people with disabilities.

In addition to the loans, ADB will provide $8 million in grants to restore and rehabilitate water supply systems in 19 barangays. A portion of the grants will also construct local health units with facilities that meet or exceed national standards, procure mobile medical clinics, scale up emergency employment programs and livelihood programs, and deliver primary education in IDP communities.

“With the government’s recovery plan in place, it’s essential that we quickly implement and roll out the programs. It’s important to focus on helping young Maranaos regain a sense of normalcy in a safe learning environment, which they are longing for,” said ADB Country Director for the Philippines Mr. Kelly Bird. “A key component of our grants assistance will equip temporary learning places with better equipment and resources. We will also provide them with culturally sensitive psycho-social support and peace education.”

ADB’s support to Marawi’s rebuilding is aligned with its new Country Partnership Strategy, under which up to $1 billion in development assistance is set to be prepared from 2018 to 2021 to address poverty and income inequality in Mindanao.

Original source: ADB
Published on 14 December 2018