Philippine secures $1.6-million World Bank grant for new nutrition project
The Philippines has secured another World Bank grant, this time amounting to $1.6 million, or over ₱93 million, for an upcoming nutrition project.
On behalf of the Philippine government, Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto signed on Oct. 9 the letter agreement for the grant extended by the Washington-based multilateral lender for the Converging Nutrition Efforts for Our Children’s Tomorrow (CONNECT) Project.
This financing is backed by the Grant Facility for Project Preparation, which is being jointly administered by the World Bank Group’s (WBG) International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA).
IBRD is the WBG’s lending arm for developing countries like the Philippines, while IDA lends to underdeveloped nations.
For the World Bank, Zafer Mustafaoğlu, division director for the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei, was the signatory.
The CONNECT Project will be implemented by the departments of Health (DOH) and of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), as well as the National Nutrition Council (NNC).
The grant will support the preparation and implementation readiness of the proposed nutrition-focused project by strengthening coordination among the DOH, the DSWD, and NNC.
It involves setting up project implementation units (PIUs), conducting assessments to prioritize high-impact interventions, and enhancing governance through improved coordination, monitoring, and evaluation systems.
The activities also include providing technical and financial support for sustainable nutrition financing, piloting local government capacity-building initiatives, and training facilitators for parenting effectiveness sessions (PES).
This grant will close on Dec. 31, 2026.
As Manila Bulletin reported earlier, the World Bank recently approved three other grants for forthcoming Philippine projects that may be financed by future loans: $1.7 million for the Department of Education’s (DepEd) proposed Supporting Early Childhood Education and Development Project; also $1.7 million for the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Technology-driven, Human-centered climate and disaster Resilience through Innovation for Vulnerable Empowerment (THRIVE) Project; as well as $2 million for the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s (MMDA) Clean Philippines Multiphase Approach (Phase 1) Project.