Background
The Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) programme began some twenty-four years ago as the Caribbean Education Development and Basic Human Needs/Employment Sector Programme. CDB launched this initiative with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) targeted at improving living conditions in rural poor communities. Now into its fifth cycle, the programme has undergone major enhancement after successive evaluations. These enhancements include the introduction of country Poverty Reduction Action Plans to integrate BNTF activities with each Borrowing Member Country’s (BMC’s) development goals and poverty reduction strategies, strengthening of administrative arrangements and introduction of tools and instruments to improve sub-project formulation and project management and implementation.
The objective of the BNTF programme is to assist low-income communities in planning and implementing projects to improve their access to essential services through the provision of social and economic infrastructure and the opportunities for the development of skills to enhance employability. The programme provides funding in five main areas: infrastructure construction, minor maintenance for education and health facilities, skills training and upgrading, institutional strengthening, public awareness and information, and project management and implementation. During sub-project preparation and appraisal BNTF staff must consider thematic areas such as gender and environmental assessment and seek to integrate disaster mitigation measures into infrastructure sub-projects.
The Fifth BNTF Programme (BNTF 5) provides a Grant of US$56 million (mn), $32 mn from CDB approved in December 2001 and $24 mn from the Government of Canada through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) approved in March 2003 and ratified in May 2003, to 10 beneficiary countries viz.: Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The beneficiary Governments will provide counterpart financing of $12.74 mn.
