KHARTOUM, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank on Sunday launched the second phase of the Sustainable Livelihoods for Displaced and Vulnerable Communities Project (SLDP) in Kassala State in eastern Sudan.
The World Bank Country Representative in Sudan, Xavier Furtado, said in a press release that the project targets the marginalized communities with the aim to enable them run development operations and gain means of sustainable livelihood.
He said the second phase of the project costs about 4.4 million U.S. dollars, noting that improving the livelihood of displaced and vulnerable communities can reduce the pressures resulting from forced displacement.
The first phase of the project was launched in October 2013 and completed in March 2016 with a fund worth 3 million dollars run by the World Bank and provided by its State and Peace-Building Fund (SPF).
The World Bank in Sudan maintains a portfolio of around 130 million dollars across a range of areas, including education, health, agriculture, natural resource management, climate change, peace-building and public financial management.
According to international statistics, 2.2 million displaced people live in Sudan, 147,000 of them are in eastern Sudan's three states of Geddarif, Red Sea and Kassala.
