PESHAWAR: The World Bank (WB) has reduced the size of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Human Capital Investment Project (KP-HCIP) by cutting Rs11 billion in funding after the province’s Elementary and Secondary Education and Health Departments failed to meet key project targets within the stipulated timeframe.
According to World Bank documents available with HUM News English, the KP-HCIP was launched in 2021 with a Rs50 billion loan and grant package to improve education and health facilities in four districts — Peshawar, Nowshera, Swabi, and Haripur.
However, following the 2022 floods, the project was revised to include the restoration of 1,307 flood-affected schools and 158 health centres, and additional districts were added to the scope.
The documents reveal that after a delay of 20 months and failure to meet the outlined targets in the education and health sectors, the WB had expressed dissatisfaction with the project’s progress in 2023.
Now, after a recent review, the WB has cut Rs11 billion from the total Rs50 billion fund — with Rs5 billion slashed from the education sector’s Rs31 billion allocation, and Rs6 billion from the health sector’s Rs23 billion share.
Also read: WB-funded KP education project marred by alleged corruption, irregularities
The WB has also granted a one-year extension to the KP-HCIP, which was originally set to conclude in June 2025, following a request from the Economic Affairs Division in Islamabad, allowing more time to achieve the project’s goals.
Project Directors for the education and health sectors, Asif Shehab and Dr Bilal, said that work on the project has been expedited.
They said that civil works targets will be met by the end of June, and staffing shortages in the health sector have been addressed.
Various measures are being taken to ensure that project goals are achieved, they added.