Standard Project Report 2016
WFP continued its comprehensive technical support to the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education in its ongoing design of the National School Feeding Programme in Poverty Prone Areas , which has continued its notable scale up to cover 2.5 million children in 72 sub-districts . WFP ’ s support included programme design and management , preparation of necessary guidelines , provision of tools for monitoring and reporting , management of assessments and evaluation , facilitation of inter-agency coordination , non-governmental organization ( NGO ) selection and performance assessments , selection of biscuit factories , procurement of biscuits , and quality control support for the government-assisted school feeding programmes .
WFP ’ s school feeding in Bangladesh benefitted from in-kind contributions as well as the Government ’ s support in identifying schools for assistance and in ensuring support from education stakeholders . NGO partners in the districts assisted through WFP ’ s school feeding , implemented the storage , delivery , distribution and verification of biscuits as well as education projects to help achieve intended outcomes . WFP continued its partnership agreement with BRAC , which provided technical assistance to enhance the capacity of NGOs and teachers and helped ensure the efficient delivery of services to schoolchildren . A partnership arrangement with UNICEF continued to contribute to the improvement of students ’ health and hygiene . Under this arrangement , UNICEF provided guidance , training to teachers and education materials . A partnership arrangement was also in place under the school meals initiative with the Ministry of Agriculture and FAO to establish a framework for mutual cooperation on homestead gardening support .
The Enhancing Resilience to Natural Disasters and the Effects of Climate Change ( ER ) programme had a very strong partnership with the Local Government Engineering Department . This partnership was integral to funding cash- and food-assistance-for-assets schemes , and contributing to the additional third year cash grants under the ER + initiative . WFP also partnered with six NGOs for regular interventions .
WFP in collaboration with FAO and the United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP ) implemented a joint programme to reduce the vulnerability of people in waterlogged areas of the country and build strong networks with the Blue Gold Project ( a collaboration between the Governments of Bangladesh and the Netherlands ) and WorldFish ( an international research organization ). An effective partnership was also established with local administrations , respective government departments , UNICEF and partner NGOs .
A partnership has been established between the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics , the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs and its Department of Women Affairs , and WFP , with technical support from Tulane University , to develop and pilot a three-wave small-scale panel survey to explore poverty dynamics among the women participants of the Vulnerable Group Development ( VGD ) and the programme ’ s effect on them . The evidence generated from the survey will help monitor VGD programme performance and sustainability over time and will strengthen government capacity to address challenges and shortcomings of this important social safety net for women and their households .
To capture the full breadth of social safety net programmes currently operating in Bangladesh , WFP provided the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics with an updated social safety net module for the country ’ s 2016 Household Income and Expenditure Survey ( HIES ). Technical support also included the design and development of a tailor-made data management platform for HIES 2016 that aims to enhance and streamline the data collection , transmission , and storage processes . The platform replaces the time-consuming manual data transmission process from the field and ensures real-time quality control checks and automated transmission and storage of HIES 2016 data . WFP also conducted a training in November 2016 for 12 staff members from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics , facilitated by two professors from Tulane University , to strengthen their analytical and statistical skills for panel data analysis .
Two staff members of WFP were placed within the Department of Women Affairs , to support the implementation of monitoring and evaluation activities . A technical working group , which was established in the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs , has developed an improved monitoring and evaluation framework , to be piloted in the Investment Component of the Vulnerable Group Development programme ( ICVGD ).
WFP worked with the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs on proposing funding from government sources to expand the number of ICVGD women within VGD . The ICVGD programme proved successful and WFP ’ s technical assistance played an important role . In view of its success , the State Minister of Women and Children Affairs plans to expand ICVGD to 64 sub-districts , i . e . one sub-district per district , in 2017 / 2018 . WFP also started supporting the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs on its expansion beyond ICVGD in the development of the Vulnerable Women Benefit ( VWB ) programme .
Performance Monitoring
Each sub-office had a dedicated field monitor assigned to monitor the project implementation process for each programme and provide supportive supervision for cooperating partner staff . Monthly monitoring plans using both
Bangladesh , People ' s Republic of ( BD ) 18 Country Programme - 200243