WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by country | Page 318

Standard Project Report 2016
advertisements. These campaign messages were designed to ensure that communities were adequately informed
about the cash-based transfer (CBT) programme. In some of the most severely affected remote areas, however, the
sensitisation campaign did not reach recipients to the extent desired because of limited or non-existent radio
connectivity. This lack of communication resulted in beneficiaries reporting limited knowledge and understanding of
the additional entitlements provided under the joint Government and WFP food assistance programme. In
discussion with the Government and partners on alternative communication strategies, it was decided to scale up
direct outreach to communities and strengthen communication between social welfare district offices, distribution
points and beneficiaries, which resulted in greater awareness of the programme amongst the community.
Overall, beneficiaries reported a high level of satisfaction with the food assistance received from the Government
and WFP. Of the beneficiaries interviewed, 84 percent did not make any complaints, while 16 percent lodged
complaints with retailers and social welfare offices on issues of overcrowding and long wait times at the retailer,
cards not functioning and transportation costs and long travel distances to and from the distribution points. Despite
the short time frame of the intervention, regular monitoring enabled WFP, the Adventist Development and Relief
Agency (ADRA) and the Government of Fiji to make timely adjustments to the programme design to improve the
beneficiary experience; for example, by publicly displaying shopping list items to facilitate planning and providing
support for rapid card replacement when issues arose. Programme monitoring served as a feedback and
complaints mechanism for beneficiaries and provided recommendations for improvement such as to diversify the
number of supermarkets and strengthen the programme communication strategy with beneficiaries.
Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands (FJ)
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Single Country EMOP - 200957