MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government is set to borrow $178.1 million from the World Bank (WB) before President Rodrigo Duterte ends his term on June 30.
The budget is planned to address the stunted growth among Filipino children.
In 2019, the World Bank reported that 29% of Filipino children under the age of 5 suffered from stunting and being small in size for their age.
They also mentioned that “the impact of COVID-19 on hunger and undernutrition has made it even more urgent for the Government of the Philippines to scale up its efforts to tackle undernutrition.”
The upcoming loan aims to “increase the utilization of a package of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions and improve key behaviors and practices known to reduce stunting in targeted local governments.”
The Washington-based multilateral lender board is expected to approve the recent document of the Philippine multisectoral nutrition project, to be jointly implemented by the Departments of Health (DOH) and Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on June 22.