Rakhine Recovery and Development Support Project

dropped

Failure

As one of the states with the highest levels of poverty in Myanmar, both Government and non-government stakeholders recognize theneed to support economic development in Rakhine State by improving access to economic opportunities and livelihoods for all groups.The focus of the proposed project would be developmental and inclusive of all communities in selected areas, and activities will bedesigned in such a way as to maximize their impact on social cohesion. Given its inclusion of all groups living in selected areasof Rakhine State, including Muslim communities who largely depend on humanitarian assistance, the project would help bridge thetransition from a segmented humanitarian approach to an inclusive developmental one that benefits diverse groups and communities inRakhine State. By adhering to an approach that combines activities to improve economic opportunities and to promote social cohesionwhenever feasible, the proposed project aims to help create the underlying conditions to foster peace and stability and drive theeconomic and social development of Rakhine State in an inclusive way. The Project is consistent with the focal areas of theMyanmar Country Partnership Framework (CPF), which focuses on rural poverty reduction through increased agricultural income andproductivity and includes conflict resolution as a cross-cutting theme. Component 1 will seek to improve the resilience of poorand vulnerable households in selected areas of Rakhine State through productive inclusion activities. This would comprise acombination of access to a cash-for-work program to generate short-term income, and livelihoods training combined with small assettransfers to support longer-term income generating opportunities. Component 2 will support the growth and development of SMEs inselected areas of Rakhine State. This component will introduce pilots to test the feasibility of activities to supportentrepreneurs and SMEs. Examples of interventions that may be piloted include financial assistance to entrepreneurs and SMEs in theform of grants or matching grants that may be coupled with business support services. Support may be provided via business plancompetitions or similar mechanisms. The component will likely focus support on value chains with higher job creation potential fordiverse communities. Component 3 will finance technical and operational assistance for the day-to-day management andimplementation of the project. It will provide institutional support and capacity development for project management, coordination,technical and safeguards, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation, including the costs of information and communicationstechnology (ICT) and geo-enabling tools. This component will also include diversity and conflict sensitivity training forimplementing agency staff and all implementing partners. It would also finance activities for citizen engagement, routine and thirdparty M&E, as well as enhanced M&E in sensitive areas of the project. Finally, this component will include technical assistance toprovide analytical and advisory inputs on key strategic issues for Rakhine State’s economic development, including proposedlarge-scale infrastructure investments.

FY17 - Social Protection

World Bank Group

Project

Water Supply and Storage, Bridge, Raw Materials, Government, Residential, Commercial