Myanmar Strengthening Community Resilience Project

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The project would strengthen the capacity of vulnerable communities to address short- to medium-term development priorities through training, facilitation support, community-based infrastructure, and livelihoods support. The project would also support emergency response activities for communities affected by crisis or disaster, including in response to the recent powerful earthquake of March 28, 2025, through the provision of livelihoods assistance and essential services such as water, shelter, sanitation, lighting and other assistance. Component 1:Investing in Community Assets, Livelihoods and Institutions (implemented by UNOPS). This component would finance the repair or renovation of small-scale, climate-resilient social and economic infrastructure (such as roads or irrigation canals, water and sanitation structures, schools or health clinics) and basic livelihoods support (unconditional cash grants, seeds and tools for climate-smart agriculture production, community revolving funds, and basic training). This support would be available to help respond to the needs of communities affected by the recent earthquake. Communities would identify the types of activities to be financed through a participatory process managed by local village groups with facilitation support. The works and livelihood activities would be designed to fit the local capacities of communities with support from implementing partners (IPs). The selection and implementation of activities under this component will be guided by a Project Operations Manual (POM) that will include a negative list of activities not eligible for financing. This component would also finance emergency top-up grants to the targeted townships in the event of a natural disaster or human-made crisis. This reflects lessons learned under the Myanmar Community Support Project (MCSP) in allowing for flexibility to respond to changes in context and needs.Component 2: Strengthening Communities (implemented by UNOPS). This component would support: i) capacity building of local groups at village levels who would lead local recovery and development activities in a participatory manner, and ii) facilitation and assistance to communities to implement the activities financed under Component 1. Support under Component 2 would include training and assistance in participatory problem analysis and planning, household and community vulnerability mapping (including climate change and disaster risks), simple financial management and procurement procedures, application of simplified environmental and social instruments, inclusion of women and marginalized groups, and technical training and guidance. Component 3: Responding to Urgent Needs (implemented by ICRC). This component would help to respond to urgent needs of communities affected by conflict or compound risks including climate-related disaster, including the recent earthquake, and would be implemented in any area of the country where ICRC is operating. Specifically, the component would, depending on needs and priorities identified by communities, finance among other things essential household items, cash-for-work wage transfers, and provision of basic services such as water, sanitation, and shelter. Criteria and procedures for identifying when and how these resources would be applied will be agreed upon between ICRC and the World Bank and documented in the POM. This component provides the flexibility for the project to respond to rapid changes in the operational context, reflecting lessons learned from the MCSP.