Announcement of Four Million Eight Hundred Thousand Dollars IDA Credit to Tunisia for Population Planning Project on March 25, 1971

• INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION 1818 H STREET. N.W .. WASHINGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE EXECUTIVE 3-6360 IDA Press Release No. 71/8 Subject: $4.8 million IDA credit March 25, 19 71 to Tunisia for population planning project Follmdng c:. request from the Tunisian Government, the International Development ~Bsociation (IDA), of the World Bank Group, h2s approved a credit of $4.8 million to help further develop Tunisia's family planning services. The IDA credit will finance the foreign exchange component of the $7.7 miliion project and the Government will provide $2.9 million for • local expenditures. by the World Bank Group. It is the second financing of a population project In June 19 70 the World Bank made a $2. 0 million loan to Jamaica for a $3.0 million project in the Government's national family planning program. Tunisia's population has been growing at an annual rate of 2.8% in recent years -- impeding economic progress, aggravating unemployment and creating other serious social problems. The Government, recognizing these difficulties, initiated a family planning program in 1966. The purpose of the project is to enhance the effectiveness and expand the capacity of this program. It is expected that it will more than triple the number of Tunisian women receiving family planning advice every year . • /more  lf;A P.R. No. 71/ 8 -- Tunisia -- pnpulation planning - 2 - • The project consists of the establishment of four maternity hospitals, two rural maternity centers and 29 maternal and child health centers where specially trained personnel will provide the full range of family planning services, and the extension of a paramedical school in Tunis, including a post-graduate section. The provision of family planning services in close association with that of health services for mothers and children is important to the success of the program. Another key aspect of the project is its financing of technical assistance in management and in personnel training and in reviewing the program's effectiveness. Although small as a percentage of tne tot2.l project cost, this assistance is expected to play a crucial role in recommending to, and implementing with the Tunisian authorities a system which will ensure optimum use of family planning services. It is also • expected to strengthen administration of family planning servj.ces, which the Tunisian authorities have already started to change. The project, scheduled for completion in 1975, will be implemented by the Ministry of Public Health (Tunis, Tun:Lsia). The Government is · actively considering the establishment of an Institute of Family Planning which would concentrate its activities in population planning and m&ternal and child welfare. The IDA credit is for a term of 50 years 1 including a 10-year grace period. The credit is interest free but carries a 3/4 of 1% service charge to meet IDAvs administrative costs. - 0 - •