Second Rural Investment Project

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The development objective of the Second Rural Investment Project for Azerbaijan is to improve access to and use of community-driven rural infrastructure and expand economic activities for rural households. There are three components to the project. The first component is rural community infrastructure. This component will finance demand-driven micro-projects in rural infrastructure. Micro-projects eligible for finance through project proceeds will increase access to, and quality of local economic and social infrastructure, such as roads, rural water supply, irrigation, schools, clinics and markets. Costs to be supported from the project include identification, design, construction, rehabilitation, and initial operation and maintenance of the micro-projects. The second component is technical assistance for rural infrastructure. The objective of this component is to enhance the capacity of engaged local stakeholders, including community groups, local authorities, regional grant approval committees, project assistance teams and staff in the regional operations offices in micro-project program development and to provide technical assistance for pilot livelihood support initiatives. Stakeholder capabilities in functions of contracting, procurement, financial management, and participatory monitoring and evaluation will be strengthened. The third component is project management and results monitoring. This component will finance the administrative and operational project implementation and management costs, including overheads of Project Management Unit (PMU) professional staff, as well as PMU and four Regional Operations Offices (ROOs) and their associated support staff, project outreach, and support to Regional Grant Approval Committees (RGACs).