(Ecofin Agency) - The World Bank announced Wednesday it will disburse $133 million to improve the delivery of essential public services in Mauritania.

The amount will be provided in three installments dedicated to different projects. First, Mauritania will receive $66 million from the International Development Association (IDA) to increase access to basic infrastructure and services for refugees and poor communities in the southern localities and to strengthen the capacities of local authorities in planning and managing public services.

The second tranche of $44 million will be directed at improving access to sanitation and water in rural areas and small cities in the southern localities. The last tranche of $23 million will be used to “scale up the Mauritania Health System Support project and expand the utilization and quality of reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health and nutrition services in the Hodh el Chargui region,” the World Bank said.

“These three projects focus on the government’s priority to fight against exclusion, support the decentralization, and improve access to basic health services, drinking water, sanitation and electricity in secondary urban centers and rural areas, in particular in the Hodh regions supported by the Sahel Alliance,” said Laurent Msellati, World Bank Country Manager for Mauritania.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou