WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by project type | Page 27

Standard Project Report 2016
Alongside the established banking system used for the distribution of the government contribution, participants
received their transfers through their individual bank accounts, at branches in their respective sub-districts. This
convenience allowed the participants to manage their financial transactions and amount of cash-in-hand as per their
own timeline and business plan and minimised the risk of misuse and corruption.
The hotline was a common feature across WFP programmes. Among the hotline calls, approximately 50 percent
were related to selection errors for the emergency flood response in north-western Bangladesh, for which there
was a standard operating procedure guiding the timely resolution by the concerned WFP field staff, involving the
help of local administration as necessary. In one case, two participants reported that local political members had
abused them and forced them to give up a portion of their entitlements while on their way back from the distribution
site. WFP took this issue very seriously and brought it to the attention of local authorities which forced the local
politicians to pay back the money. To prevent these issues in the future, the use of hotlines needs to be even more
proactively advertised and local authorities be briefed about it.
In the emergency response, a series of community consultation meetings were conducted with the affected
population to provide information about the beneficiary selection procedures, entitlements and the overall project
goals and process. Distribution points were carefully selected with consideration to security, protection and
convenience for female participants. Safety and security were ensured at each distribution point by the presence of
adequate police protection. All cash and food distributions were made in the presence of government officials, local
representatives and WFP field staff.
For Vulnerable Group Development (VGD), a simple mechanism is being developed by the Ministry of Women and
Children Affairs with support from WFP, through which participants can voice their observations and grievances and
receive a response from the authorities within a reasonable timeframe. Existing protection and accountability
measures included a biometric withdrawal system for each individual bank account opened to ensure the safe
transfer of funds, cash transfer booths established at the union level to avoid long distance travels for ICVGD
participants when collecting funds, adequate briefings for programme participants to help them understand their
entitlements and the individual banking system, and a complaint box at union level with awareness raising on the
purpose and usage of this mechanism.
For Enhancing Food Security (EFS), specific safeguards were identified to ensure that the existing protection risks
faced by the beneficiaries in Cox’s Bazar district were not inadvertently exacerbated as a result of their participation
in the programme. Self-help groups provided an excellent forum to monitor protection risks which could be elevated,
if necessary, to the deputy commissioner, through the programme coordination committee. The particular needs
and protection risks and concerns of vulnerable groups are regularly investigated and addressed. These vulnerable
groups and associated risks include, but may not be limited to: beneficiaries with a disability, children, adolescent
girls, and women selected under the household subsistence support component; the potential and actual impacts of
the programme on cases of sexual and gender-based violence; and push and pull factors for trafficking and
migration amongst vulnerable families.
Addressing micronutrient deficiencies through rice fortification
A proven and effective way to ensure that large numbers of those at risk of micronutrient deficiencies receive the
nutrients they need is through the fortification of a staple food. In Bangladesh, where 70 percent of the average
person’s daily calories come from rice, mainstreaming fortified rice can have a huge impact on the country’s
nutrition status. The goal of the rice fortification initiative is to contribute to the reduction of micronutrient deficiencies
in high-risk groups through the consumption of fortified rice, with a strong focus on women and children. At the
same time, rice fortification actors seek to strengthen market demand for fortified rice products among the general
public as well as the national capacity to fortify rice. The initial venture in Bangladesh between the Government,
WFP and Royal DSM (a Dutch multinational company) began in 2011.
Apart from introducing fortified rice into social safety nets programmes, such as the Vulnerable Group Development,
WFP also pursued other options to support its scale up. WFP has established public-private partnerships for the
domestic production of fortified rice kernels and supported rice millers with technical advice on how to start and
scale up production. Finally, fortified rice has been included into school meals, a pilot intervention that the
Government hopes to introduce at greater scale in Bangladesh. Together with partners, WFP has supported the
development, adoption and implementation of adequate