PH - ARMM Social Fund

The objectives of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Social Fund Project (ASFP) for Philippines are: a) to provide and/or improve sustained access to social and economic services by the poor as well as conflict-affected communities; b) to provide capacity building for women, indigenous women and out-of-school youth for improving food security, employment opportunities and household income; c) to strengthen social cohesion and partnerships between and within communities in the ARMM region; and d) to improve local governance and institutional capacities for implementation in the ARMM region. The extension is necessary to give enough time to complete the process of the signing of the loan agreement for ASFP additional financing which was approved by the Board on May 25, 2010. The Bank and the Philippine Government planned to have the signing of the loan agreement for the additional financing before the current loan closing on May 31, 2010 (this will also have extended the current loan closing date), but were unable to meet the deadline because an error was discovered in the version of the draft loan agreement initialed at negotiations. The Philippine Government required that this be formally communicated to them so they could also respond in writing. After this, the loan document signing can be done.