The World Bank Central African Republic Human Capital Project (Maïngo) (P171158) Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Project Information Document (PID) Concept Stage | Date Prepared/Updated: 20-Oct-2020 | Report No: PIDC27238 Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Oct 14, 2020 Page 1 of 15 The World Bank Central African Republic Human Capital Project (Maïngo) (P171158) BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data OPS TABLE Country Project ID Parent Project ID (if any) Project Name Central African Republic P171158 Central African Republic Human Capital Project (Maïngo) (P171158) Region Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Practice Area (Lead) AFRICA WEST Mar 09, 2021 May 13, 2021 Health, Nutrition & Population Financing Instrument Borrower(s) Implementing Agency Investment Project Financing Central African Republic Ministere de l'Economie, du Plan et de la Cooperation Internationale Proposed Development Objective(s) To increase access to learning and skills acquisition to contribute to future employment opportunities for women and adolescent girls, as well as to increase access to essential lifesaving services in targeted communities of the Central African Republic. PROJECT FINANCING DATA (US$, Millions) SUMMARY-NewFin1 Total Project Cost 50.00 Total Financing 50.00 of which IBRD/IDA 50.00 Financing Gap 0.00 DETAILS-NewFinEnh1 World Bank Group Financing International Development Association (IDA) 50.00 IDA Grant 50.00 Oct 14, 2020 Page 2 of 15 The World Bank Central African Republic Human Capital Project (Maïngo) (P171158) Environmental and Social Risk Classification Concept Review Decision High Track II-The review did authorize the preparation to continue Other Decision (as needed) A. Introduction and Context Country Context 1. The Central African Republic (CAR) is experiencing recurrent conflicts, political volatility and extreme poverty. After CAR’s major civil crisis in 2013-14, the country has progressed in obtaining a certain level of stability. However, the road to recovery is still long. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as of 2018 had still not reached its pre-crisis level and stood at US$860.1 The next Presidential and General elections are to be held between December 2020 and March 2021 and will test the ongoing peace process. Various attempts are being made to establish administrative and government systems in all regions of the country, but more needs to be done. CAR remains in a fragile state. Social service systems have not yet been fully established throughout the country and most communities do not have access to essential services. Expanding access to social services is a major challenge in CAR due to the country’s dilapidated infrastructure, as well as insufficient access to electricity, transport, water and sanitation. 2. High levels of poverty, years of conflict, and lack of essential services for human development has translated into low human capital outcomes and immense needs throughout the country. CAR’s 2020 human capital index ranked the lowest in the world.2 A child born in CAR today will be only 29 percent as productive when she grows up as she could be if she benefitted from complete education and full health coverage. Life expectancy is only 52 years of age.3 Only 88 percent of children born in CAR today will survive to age five, and 59 percent of 15-year-old will survive to age 60. Forty-one percent of children are stunted and are at risk of cognitive and physical limitations. A child who starts school at age four can only expect to complete 4.6 years of education by the time they are 18 years old, and after factoring in how much children actually learn in school, it is the equivalent of 2.7 years of high-quality education. 3. A key entry point to build human capital of all people in CAR is to empower women and girls. Empowerment is a process whereby women and girls gain capacity to make informed choices and then transform their choices into action. After decades of continuous conflict, women and girls are two of the most vulnerable groups in CAR. The country is ranked 159 out of 162 in terms of gender equality, with a gender inequality index of 0.682.4 Women and girls in CAR are trapped in a vicious cycle—they lack reproductive autonomy, are disproportionately excluded from all levels of education and have fewer skills than men to compete in the labor market. CAR has one of the highest total fertility rates (TFR) in the world at 6.3 births per woman, and up to 7.5 births per woman in some districts. This, in turn, creates unmanageable pressures on services in a challenging fiscal context. 1 World Bank. (2020). World Development Indicators. Accessed February 27, 2020 at https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/dataset/world-development- indicators 2 World Bank. (2020). Human Capital Index. Washington, DC: World Bank. 3 World Development Indicators, 2020. 4 The gender inequality index is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labor market. It is interpreted as the loss in human development due to inequality between female and male achievements. Oct 14, 2020 Page 3 of 15 The World Bank Central African Republic Human Capital Project (Maïngo) (P171158) 4. Empowering women and girls is a driver of human capital formation and growth for the entire country. Empowering women and girls increases the probability that children survive to age five because a mother’s ability to make informed choices and take meaningful actions has a direct impact on the health and wellbeing of her children. It increases the healthy growth of children by improving a mother’s health and delaying the age of her first pregnancy. Empowering women and girls increases expected years of school by reducing gender inequalities in primary and secondary education, where currently, expected years of school in CAR is 5.3 years for boys in 2020 versus 3.8 years for girls.5 It increases the country’s adult survival rate by allowing women to safely space their births. Finally, it contributes to the country’s economic recovery after years of conflict by drawing on women as a largely untapped resource to increase the size of the labor force, national output and productivity.6 Ultimately, women and girls’ empowerment, by triggering the demographic dividend, will contribute to sustainable economic growth in CAR. Sectoral and Institutional Context Enabling environment for women and adolescent girl’s empowerment 5. CAR has multiple policies that aim to improve conditions for women and girls, but these policies have not been implemented at scale. Coordinating across a large number of donors and NGOs working on gender issues is also a challenge. Key partners working to improve women and girl’s empowerment include United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), European Union (EU), United Nations Women, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), African Development Bank and mutliple NGOs such as the International Rescue Committee, International Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC), Mercy Corps, Koopi and Medecins du Monde, among others. 6. Despite progress designing policies and enacting laws that target women and girls, certain social norms and practices in CAR are still prohibitive to women and girl’s empowerment. Gender norms in CAR place emphasis on early marriage and childbearing. The legal age of marriage for women and men is officially 18 years old, and forced marriage is prohibited under the law. However, CAR has the second highest rate of child marriage in the world, and in certain regions, over half of all marriages were forced. This issue has contributed to over 60 percent of girls being married before the age of 18 years, 22 percent of girls aged 15 to 19 years being married to a man who is ten or more years older than them, and 29 percent of married women being in a polygamous marriage.7 Likewise, female genital mutilation is also illegal, but as of 2010, 24 percent of women had undergone the practice.8 Girls who are married or have children are much more likely to drop out of school and complete fewer years of education. As of July 2019, a joint ministerial decree allows adolescent girls to remain enrolled in school in the event of their pregnancy or marriage. Yet, discrimination in schools continues to discourage pregnant girls to stay in school and teenage mothers from returning to school. 7. Adolescent girls and women also bear an overwhelming share of household work and lack economic opportunities outside the home. Time spent on household activities and on raising children reduces the time they have available for learning. The lack of economic opportunities for women reduces the incentive for families to invest in educating 5 World Bank, 2020. Human Capital Index. 6 Cuberes, D., & Teignier, M. (2016). Aggregate Effects of Gender Gaps in the Labor Market: A Quantitative Estimate. Journal of Human Capital, 10(1), 1–32. 7 UNICEF/ICASEES, 2010. 8 UNICEF/ICASEES, 2010. Oct 14, 2020 Page 4 of 15 The World Bank Central African Republic Human Capital Project (Maïngo) (P171158) their girls, as does the limited number of women in the formal labor market or in higher level positions to serve as role models. 8. The country’s ongoing conflict has had a devastating impact for all people, but particularly for women and girls. Kidnapping and child marriages have increased during the conflict, and parents often see marriage as a way of protecting their daughters due to insecurity. Women and girls make up a disproportionate number of internally displaced persons and refugees. Years of conflict has also normalized violence against women and eroded their self- esteem over time. 9. Establishing an enabling environment for women and girl’s empowerment will be a long-term and transformative process for CAR.