JSDF - Strengthening Preparedness and Response to COVID-19 at the Grassroots level in Vietnam

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This is a JSDF-financed USD 2.75 million small RETF COVID-19 response operation involving local level coordination, public risk communications, and piloting volunteer networks to support vulnerable groups to report and seek help with COVID-19. The high level objectives to which the project contributes is to improve and protect the health of the vulnerable and hard to reach populations in Vietnam and to reduce the risks of disease spreading within the country and to others. The Project was not included in the World Bank Group’s Country Partnership Framework for Vietnam (2018–2022) or the Performance and Learning Review, however COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need to strengthen pandemic preparedness and response for Vietnam.The proposed project has four main componentsComponent 1. Building capacities at the grassroots level in preparedness and response to COVID-19 and other health emergencies (US$994,063)There are 2 sub-components as below:• Sub-component 1.1. Improving inter-sectorial coordination capacity. This sub-component will support the following activities: (i) development of a Community Action Plan to prepare and respond to COVID-19 and other health emergencies. The Plan will be developed through community participatory methods and in consultation with local Government authorities and health authorities at various levels. The Plan will be widely disseminated to the stakeholders at different levels; (ii) training of front-line workers at the commune level on how to operate community and home quarantine and isolation during the epidemics; and (iii) development and implementation of simulation exercises for response with different epidemic/pandemic levels/scenarios.• Sub-component 1.2. Strengthening Commune Health Station’s capacities in preparing and responding to COVID-19 and other epidemics. (i) strengthening the capacity of CHSs, commune and village health workers in preventing and controlling infection at health facilities, (ii) ensuring the continuity of essential health care services provision to commune’s people during the pandemic (this will support CHSs to develop a Manual in continuity of essential health service provision, train health staff on this Manual and adaptation of the Manual at each CHS), and (iii) providing equipment, minor repairs and upgrades of the facilities, as well as essential personal protection equipment to CHSs to establish triage arrangement and/or a separate consultation rooms for suspected patients with COVID-19 or other infectious diseases while still maintaining the provision of essential health care services to other patients or community’s individuals; and (iv) building capacities of grassroots health staff working at CHSs and village health workers in early detection and reporting, epidemiological surveillance and contact tracing, testing and referral for patients with suspected COVID-19 infection and other health emergencies.Component 2. Raising awareness and knowledge towards changing attitudes and behavior of the community through risk communication (US$724,536)There are two sub-components as below:• Sub-component 2.1. Improving risk communication capacity for front-line workers This sub-component will support the review, development, printing and dissemination of communication products, and training of trainers for health workers and community level workers on risk communication in the project’s communes and other localities in the project’s provinces. • Sub-component 2.2. Implementing communication activities and initiatives in the community. This sub-component will finance communication outreach activities at the community level. Community innovations, such as children drawing contests, community games, application of social media, etc. will also be implemented to improve community participation and engagement. Communication equipment, including loudspeakers, TV, radio, etc. will be provided to project communes.Component 3. Developing and piloting models to support the most vulnerable groups in the preparedness and response to COVID-19 (US$618,938)This Component will support the development and piloting of three to four models to support different vulnerable groups in selected Provinces. Intervention models will be for elderly people in the cities, ethnic minorities in Long An province, informal workers in Long An and Khanh Hoa provinces, and HIV-related vulnerable populations, including people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV), people who use drugs and female sex workers, in Vinh Phuc province. Main activities include: (i) the establishment of the community volunteers’ networks. ISDS PMT together with PPMU will organize introductory and consultation meetings with potential enthusiastic group’s volunteers, provide them with brief introduction of the project and expected scope of work of a volunteer, and recruit those who are willing to contribute their efforts to support the most affected, vulnerable individuals in their groups. The work of networks’ volunteers include the following activities: (ii) communication on signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and its impact on health, livelihood and mitigation measures carried out by volunteer networks; (iii) guidance for disease preventions, government-required health reporting and declaration; (iv) providing psychological support, raising their awareness on fundamental development issues such as gender equality, prevention of domestic violence and providing in-kind supports such as PPE, food, medication, etc. to support these hard-to-reach and vulnerable people in preparing, responding to and mitigating the impacts of COVID-19.Component 4. Project Management and Administration, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Knowledge Dissemination (US$412,463)Sub-component 4.1. Project management and administration This sub-component includes the following activities: i) establishing a project management team, ii) forming advisory boards at central, provincial and district levels, iii) establishing project management units at provincial level; iv) developing a project operation manual (POM) based on regulations and guidelines of the WB; v) organizing training on POM for local partners; vi) daily project financial and implementation management; and (vii) launching and closing workshops. ISDS’s PMT include assigned staff from ISDS, including a Project Director, a Chief Accountant, an Accountant and an Administration Officer and is supplemented by a team of long-term consultants, including: a Chief Technical Advisor, a Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator, a Planning and Procurement Specialist and a Social inclusion, Safeguard Specialist. For several project activities implementation, ISDS’s PMT will recruit short-term consultants with diverse expertise (public health, communication, social work, coordination, etc.) to support PMT and PPMU to carry out the tasks.Sub-component 4.2. Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation. This subcomponent finances the following activities: (a) a baseline survey, (b) monitoring and technical assistant trips, (c) mid-term evaluation and (d) end-line surveySub-component 4.3. Knowledge sharing and dissemination (US$50,463). This sub-component finances the following activities: (i) a mid-term lesson learned sharing workshop; (ii) dissemination workshop; and (iii) establishment of an open, online knowledge sharing and dissemination hub