Investing in Early Years and Fertility in Burundi (NKURIZA)

closed

The objectives of the Investing in Early Years and Fertility Project in Burundi are to Increase the coverage of community-based nutrition interventions among women of reproductive age and children under two and to increase utilization of family planning (FP) services in targeted areas. This project has three components (1) Community interventions to increase coverage of nutrition services and utilization of family planning services. Component 1 will be implemented with the support of contracted Implementing Agencies (IAs) at the provincial level. Sub-Component (1.1): Nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive interventions. The objective is to improve demand for and utilization of essential services known to improve nutritional status of children under-two by introducing and integrating community-based interventions related to maternal health, nutrition (specific and sensitive) and early stimulation. Sub-Component (1.2): Family planning and reproductive health services. The objective is to address demand side barriers of FP and promote access to reproductive health services to reduce fertility rates in Burundi. Sub-Component (1.3): Social and behavior change communication activities. Social and behavior change (SBC) communication is central to the success of community level interventions supported by the Project. Component (2): Strengthening institutions, leadership and monitoring. This component aims to enhance national capacities for stewardship and coordination of strategies, policies, programs and projects related to nutrition and demographic issues; to support the development and implementation of a strong communication strategy and promote stronger leadership on nutrition and demographic issues; to build and strengthen capacities to implement the Project and the Government’s strategies related to nutrition and demography; and to ensure adequate resources and means for project management. Sub-component (2.1): Strengthening institutions and capacities. Four main areas will be supported through this sub-component to strengthen the Government’s stewardship, leadership and coordination functions: (i) governance structure and management of nutrition; (ii) capacity building; (iii) communication; and (iv) building evidence. Sub-component 2.2: Monitoring, evaluation and project management. The Project will support supervision, coordination and oversight of the Project’s activities. It will support day-to-day management of Project activities by the Project Technical unit and Provincial Project Coordinators (PPCs) including fiduciary aspects. Component (3): Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC). A CERC will be included under the Project in accordance with the World Bank Investment Project Financing (IPF) Policy, paragraphs 12 and 13 for Projects in situations of urgent need of assistance or capacity constraints. This will allow for rapid reallocation of project proceeds in the event of a natural or man-made disaster or crisis that has caused, or is likely to imminently cause, a major adverse economic and/or social impact.