World Bank Downgrades Rating of $200 Million Investment Project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The World Bank has downgraded the performance of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Human Capital Investment Project (KPHCIP) worth $200 million, after facing delays. Official documents revealed that current progress toward the achievement of the Project Development Objective (PDO) and implementation progress are both rated as moderately unsatisfactory. As of January 12, 2024, the KPHCIP has disbursed $31.76 million, which is about 16 percent of the total project amount. The project faced initial delays and its performance was recently downgraded due to prolonged approvals of the revised Planning Commission Proforma – Project Initiation Document (PC-1). The environmental safeguards rating was also downgraded. The KPHCIP was approved on June 23, 2020, and became effective on March 31, 2021. It is a $200 million IDA operation that includes $125 million from the IDA Regional Sub-Window for Refugees and Host Communities. The current closing date of the project is June 30, 2025. The PDO aims to improve the availability, utilization, and quality of primary healthcare services and elementary education services in Selected Districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP). These goals are supported by 3 components: The project is currently operating in four refugee-hosting districts – Peshawar, Haripur, Nowshera, and Swabi. Documents further revealed that a number of measures to expedite implementation, disbursements, and utilization have been agreed. These include: In response to the widespread flooding across the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the government of Pakistan requested that the geographic coverage of the project be expanded to include flood-affected districts. This request was accepted via a letter from the Country Director to the Ministry of Economic Affairs on September 28, 2022. Subsequently, dated March 24, 2023 the government requested restructuring of the KPHCIP to help respond to reconstruction and rehabilitation needs following the floods emergency. The restructured KPHCIP will add major civil works, which were not included in the original project’s design. The following changes are being introduced as part of the restructuring: