3.4 Indicative Budget

The full cost of implementing EBEP-II programme at national level and in six priority provinces for five years is estimated at USD 25.700 million as shown in Table 2. The total EBEP-II programme budget is planned to be covered as follows:

• USD 2.200 million (9 per cent) by UNICEF regular resources
• USD 2.317 million (9 per cent) by other donors including UNICEF National Committees
• USD 21.183 million (82 per cent) by Sida contribution

Table 3 presents the detailed project cost proposed for Sida funding estimated at a total cost of USD 23.278 million which consists of USD 21.183 million programme budget and USD 2.095 million cost recovery. The cost recovery contribution was computed based on the applicable rate of nine per cent of total donor contribution according to the policy set by the UNICEF Executive Board in June 2003. A copy of this policy document is attached as Annex 3.

The programme budget proposed to be funded by Sida is allocated to three projects with Project 2 receiving the highest allocation at 52.5 per cent to support the expansion of Child-Friendly School and School Readiness Programme. Project 1 and Project 3 are allocated 31.0 per cent and 16.5 per cent of the total programme budget, respectively.

Project 3 has the smallest budget allocation since many of the innovative projects are initially planned for small scale implementation with a gradual expansion as initiatives prove successful. Funds for such expansion will be sourced through contributions from other donors and UNICEF National Committees at an estimated total of USD 2.3 million beginning in year 2008.

Table 3 also shows the annual projected budget requirement from Sida contribution during the period 2006-2010. Fifty-five per cent of the required budget is planned to be disbursed during the first two years of the Country Programme. This is a result of the quick expansion of the Child-Friendly School in the six provinces according to the plans developed by the six Provincial Offices of Education. The required annual EBEP-II budget will gradually decrease from 2008 until 2010. This is based on the assumption that direct budget support from Sida to the MoEYS will start from year 2009, a part of which can be utilized by the government to improve the quality of education including nation-wide expansion of the CFS.

Table 4 also shows the budget proposed for Sida’s consideration by implementation level. Roughly 28 per cent of the total budget is allocated for implementation of national level activities; while 46 per cent is for sub-national (province/district/schools) activities. The rest are allocated for national level technical assistance (11 per cent) and programme support (16 per cent) to cover salaries of national and provincial level staff of UNICEF.

Table 2 : Full Cost of Implementing EBEP-II Programme (in 000’ US $)

Table 3: EBEP-II Programme Budget Proposed for Sida Funding: By Project (in 000' US$)

Table 4: EBEP-II Programme Budget Proposed for Sida Funding: By Implementation Level (in 000' US$)