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The objective of the Second Additional Financing for the Emergency Urban Environment Project for Benin is to improve infrastructure and mitigate the negative environmental impact of floods in Cotonou Agglomeration and to increase Benin?s level of preparedness for future flooding. The Government organized a Round Table on development financing on June 17-19, 2014 in Paris, in an effort to mobilize the public and private financing necessary to fast-track the implementation of the 2011-2015 Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (SCRP-3). Donors and private investors pledged a record US$10.4 billion, against a funding gap of US$6.7 billion, over the period 2014-2018. The project supports GoB?s national strategy for the implementation of the United Nation?s (UN) Climate Change Convention and the National Action Program for Climate Change Adaptation (NAPA), and is aligned with the World Bank?s Africa Region Climate Change Strategy. There is direct linkage between flooding and poverty incidence, since the poorest are the most vulnerable to disasters because they are often pushed to settle on the most marginal lands and have least access to prevention, preparedness and early warning. The project areas have been selected with that in mind, targeting those populations worst affected by the floods. The project also provides institutional and technical assistance activities to help strengthen Government?s capacity in flood disaster preparedness, mitigation and response at the national, municipal and local levels, which will benefit the country as a whole and help boost shared prosperity.
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