Investing in Social Protection for Inclusion, Resilience, and Efficiency (INSPIRE) Project

On 4 December, Minister of Social Policy Oksana Zholnovych and Arup Banerji, the World Bank's Country Director for Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine, signed the Agreement on launching the new Investing in Social Protection for Inclusion, Resilience, and Efficiency (INSPIRE) Project.

This project enables financing of 29 types of social benefits for the Ukrainians in need of most support as well as support of social protection reforms.

INSPIRE grants USD 1.2 billion for social benefits in Ukraine. The project itself is financed with the World Bank’s Loan from the Advancing Needed Credit Enhancement for Ukraine Trust Fund (ADVANCE Ukraine), which is backed by the Government of Japan.

The project funds are directed to the general fund of the State Budget, so the World Bank allows allocating funds to the citizens in need on time.

Moreover, the project is aimed at implementing a number of important social protection reforms. Therefore, a precondition for receiving funds is actions taken for keep digitalising the social support system; to enhance the targeted nature of benefits paid to internally displaced persons; to introduce the mechanism for co-financing specific social services from the State Budget.

In addition, it is supposed to enhance transparency and efficiency of social benefits.