IDA Executive Board unanimously commends the design of the project

Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Subasinghe, welcoming World Bank approval for the grant says that the Gemi Diriya project is a creatively innovative poverty alleviation strategy, one that will nurture the entrepreneurial impulse at the grassroots level

The Board of the Executive Directors of the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank approved an IDA grant of US$51 million (SDR 34, 200,000million equivalent) for the Community Development and Livelihood Improvement "Gemi Diriya" Project, on March 30, 2004. This project is premised upon striking a balance between growth and equity in a context of implementation of a structural adjustment programme. It has been recognized by policy makers that the current growth rates of 4-5 per cent was inadequate to have an empowering impact on the rural poor. Ambassador Devinda R. Subasinghe, welcoming World Bank approval for the grant said, "the Gemi Diriya project is a creatively innovative poverty alleviation strategy, one that will nurture the entrepreneurial impulse at the grassroots level." The project objective is to assist the recipient in its efforts to improve the livelihood and quality of life of its rural communities in the Uva and the Southern Provinces in Sri Lanka. This objective will be achieved through devolving decision -making power and resources to community organizations, strengthening selected local Governments that demonstrate responsiveness and accountability to rural communities, and working with federations of Village Organizations, the private sector, and NGOs on economic empowerment to increase the size and diversity of livelihood. An Innovative Seed Fund will help pilot innovative ideas which need experimentation, learning, and gestation that have the potential for being scaled - up and replicated, including, among others, the development of new economic activities with value- added products for livelihood improvement, and the provision of access to information technology and communication to rural communities. The "Gemi Diriya" Project will be implemented by the Gemi Diriya Foundation (GDF), a company incorporated and registered under the Sri Lanka Companies Act ( No. 17 of 1982). The GDF, headed by a Chief Executive Officer and a Board of Directors, must remain, among other things, committed to the objectives of the project and maintain financial transparency, and conduct its operations and affairs in accordance with sound financial standards and practices with qualified and experienced management. The Executive Board including the French, the US, the UK, Spain, African and Austrian Chairs unanimously commended the design of the Gemi Diriya Project. Its vision encompasses a new thinking of empowering communities to plan, implement and monitor development with a set of principles of good governance with accountability and cost sharing with greater dependence on their capacities and partnerships with the outside world for reducing rural poverty. Embassy of Sri Lanka Washington DC USA 30 March 2004