Jul. 1 — The World Bank Group allocated $600 million under the SPIRIT program framework for social support in Ukraine, reported Yulia Svyrydenko, the Prime Minister of Ukraine. 

The SPIRIT (Social Protection for Inclusion, Resilience, Innovation and Transformation) program is an $880 million World Bank initiative that was designed to modernize Ukraine’s basic social assistance. The project funds 18 social assistance programs, providing financial support for people with disabilities, large families and orphans, reaching more than 1 million people in Ukraine.

Sverydenko explained that Japan-backed guarantees provided $300 million of the funding, while bilateral guarantees from the UK government provided another $298.75 million.

She also said the SPIRIT program funds only social assistance programs financed from the state budget and unrelated to military objectives.

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