Latest update August 21st, 2026 10:11 AM
IDB invests another $5M to Basic Nutrition Programme
… programme a main pillar in new Country Strategy
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is investing an additional $5M in the Basic Nutrition Programme to expand its coverage.
This is according to IDB Country Representative, Marco Nicola, yesterday.
Nicola told Kaieteur News that the programme falls under one of three main sectors that are being looked at in the IDB Country Strategy with Guyana for the period 2008 – 2012. According to him, the highlight of the country strategy is that the bank is going to be reinforcing some of the pillars and activities contained in the previous Country Strategy which ended in 2006.
He added that the three main sectors to attract the attention of the bank within the next four years are the nutrition, water and transport sectors.
Mr Nicola stated that the bank has been funding the Basic Nutrition Programme under the social development pillar of the Country Strategy.
He said that it has been a very successful programme in terms of reducing anemia and general malnutrition.
As such, Nicola stated, the government has decided, based on the good results of the first project, to expand it.
“We are investing $5M more in the programme that will expand the coverage to the entire territory.”
In terms of water, Nicola said that this is one of the most important social sectors, and that water distribution and drainage are big items in the government agenda.
The IDB has been funding the improvement of the water distribution in Georgetown.
“We agreed that we should continue supporting the Government in the water sector and drainage, especially for Georgetown.”
According to him, infrastructure is not the only thing needed, but also strengthened capacity to manage the sector, making it viable, reducing the technical losses of water and improving the quality of the water distributor.
As it relates to the third sector, the transport sector, Nicola noted that Guyana has made a lot of improvement in terms of the transport network, but there are still areas where the government can be supported. “We need to support in the rehabilitation of the system,” he contended.
Nicola added that access to Georgetown is also a key area of discussion.
“We will be looking to open transport, because Georgetown is getting problematic in terms of traffic, and of course we are doing the studies for the road to Brazil, but this is a massive investment that will certainly require the participation of the private sector.”
According to Nicola, work on the Country Strategy started a few years ago and it was finally approved in February.
He said that it includes the medium-term framework between the bank and the Guyana Government in terms of future investment and where it will be supporting the authorities.
(Nadia Guyadeen)
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