Community Development Support Project

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The Community Development Support Project aims to 1) test demand-driven and participatory approaches through a multi-sectoral special fund and draw lessons on how to support community development in Lesotho; and 2) test various mechanisms and tools to monitor poverty trends in Lesotho and coordinate national poverty monitoring and analysis activities. There are three project components. The first supports the establishment and implementation of the Lesotho Fund for Community Development (LFCD) by pre-testing LFCD operations and procedures in sub-projects in 22 pilot communities; setting up a basic set of operational and financial systems including an accounting and management information system; and financing all recurrent operational costs. The second component trains staff to build the capacity of LFCD and provides technical support to LFCD partner institutions such as community-based organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and private sector firms. The third component strengthens the capabilities of the Bureau of Statistics to collect, process, analyze, and disseminate data for poverty monitoring; and strengthens the quality of program monitoring and poverty analysis.