World Bank Japan Social Development Fund For Developing Countries 2024

The Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF) is a Partnership between the Government of Japan (GoJ) and the World Bank conceived in the wake of the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. It was established in June 2000 as a grant mechanism to provide targeted assistance to groups made vulnerable by the financial crisis in low- and lower-middle-income countries around the world. The objectives of the JSDF program is to provide grants in support of community-driven development and poverty reduction projects that empower the poorest and most vulnerable groups not reached by other programs and improve their lives through direct benefits. Grants are made to eligible recipient countries, based on income level classification. Unlike most Bank-financed projects that are executed by the government at the central level, JSDF grants are executed by NGOs/CSOs and local governments and implemented at the community level. These features make the JSDF program unique, attractive, responsive, and provides a platform for cooperation between NGOs and other local stakeholders in the development process. This had led to meaningful progress in areas not previously associated with the Bank’s work with the public sector. Since its inception until June 2021, the Government of Japan has contributed about US$855 million to the program, with a portfolio size of 786 projects. The fund has become the leading source of support for innovation, multi-sector social poverty alleviation program, responding directly to the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable. As a model for social development and livelihood improvement, effectively contributing to the World Bank's mission of ending extreme poverty and boosting prosperity on a livable planet, the JSDF supported projects have been scaled up with funding from the World Bank, Recipient Countries, and other Development Partners. JSDF  spans themes ranging from Livelihood Support; Improved Nutrition and Early Childhood Development; Inclusive Education; through Environmentally Sustainable Agricultural Practices, Adaptation to Climate Change and Community-Level Disaster Risk Management; to Legal Services and Local Governance; and Basic Health and Sanitation Services. More than 50% of JSDF grants have been implemented by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and about 93 low and lower-middle income member countries of the World Bank have benefited from this Program.