PESHAWAR: A senior delegation of the World Bank, led by Robin Mearns, Practice Manager Social Sustainability and Inclusion for South Asia, visited different project sites in Landi Kotal tehsil of Khyber which have been completed under the Pakistan Community Support Project (PCSP).
The delegation also comprised other senior members of the World Bank team in Pakistan as well as the PCSP project management team and the representatives of the district administration. Khyber is one of the implementation areas of the PCSP in addition to Peshawar and Nowshera, which combine to make the CASA-1000 transmission line corridor.
The delegation engagements included field visits to multiple sites in Landi Kotal including a rehabilitated government girls primary school, a constructed street pavement with drainage system, and a flood protection wall which has been raised following the community’s pressing need after last year’s monsoon flood. The World Bank visiting team also interacted with the community members and beneficiaries of these completed sub-projects while appreciating their participation in the development efforts.
Earlier in the day, the World Bank delegation was given a detailed brief by the Project Director PCSP, Shakeel Ahmed, on the overall implementation progress and specific achievements under all the project components. The delegation expressed admiration for the transformative work undertaken by PCSP within the CASA-1000 corridor. Robin Mearns, on behalf of the World Bank, commended PCSP’s dedication and its positive impact on the community. “The project is a testament of the collaborative efforts that drive sustainable development and social inclusivity in the region”, said Robin.
The PCSP has become a model for community-driven development for the uplift of the rural parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including the Merged Areas. The implementation of the project has enabled the community members and project management in identifying the priority needs of the citizens through participatory bottom-up planning. This has been further amplified to improve the lives and livelihoods of the citizens by engaging them in development initiatives which are directly benefiting them, under the benefits sharing feature of the CASA-1000 Project.
