The Human Capital Protection Project in Burkina Faso, funded by the World Bank, aims to ensure access to essential health and education services, especially with the ongoing security crisis.

Burkina Faso has moved forward with a plan to improve health and education services by ratifying a $102 million agreement with the International Development Association (IDA). The agreement, signed in September, will support the Human Capital Protection Project (PPCH), which is designed to provide essential services to those most in need.

As announced on October 2 by the Council of Ministers, the funding will cover free healthcare for pregnant women and children under five, as well as vaccinations for children using the pentavalent vaccine. The project will also ensure students can sit for their annual exams, and teachers get the training they need to be certified.

This project, financed by the World Bank through IDA, is part of a larger strategy to improve public services in West and Central Africa. It comes at a crucial time, as Burkina Faso faces a security crisis that has put pressure on education and healthcare. “This project will help protect progress in these sectors, ensuring that more people, including internally displaced individuals, can access basic services,” the World Bank stated on its website.

In Burkina Faso, the need for improved healthcare and education is clear. Statistics show that in 2021, 48 out of every 1,000 children under five died, while literacy rates for people over 15 were just 29.7% in 2019.

Although the government has approved the project, it still requires approval from parliament to move forward.