Burkina Faso - Economic Opportunities for Resilience Project

Overview & Synopsis

Economic Opportunities for Resilience Project for Burkina Faso has the development objectives to increase access to economic opportunities for poor and vulnerable households and to strengthen the adaptive social protection system. Components include: Component 1, Socioeconomic Empowerment Support for Poor and Vulnerable Households, with Sub-components 1.1 Economic inclusion that provides a package of support including the formation of Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA), coaching to build entrepreneurial skills and confidence, facilitation of access to markets and inputs, training in trades and in microenterprise management, simplified business planning, and productive grants, with beneficiaries prioritized from poor and vulnerable households registered in the Unique Social Registry (RSU) and a strong focus on women, returnee Internally Displaced Person (IDP) households receiving reinstallation material kits where relevant, and performance-based support to organize viable cooperatives including equipment and referral to a Microfinance Institution (MFI); and Sub-components 1.2 Strengthening Human Capital and Social Cohesion that delivers information modules on health, nutrition, hygiene, and early childhood development, climate resilience practices and low-carbon options linked to livelihoods, and social cohesion including domestic violence prevention, civil registration, and community values, using mixed face-to-face, radio, and voice messaging approaches engaging household members and community leaders. Component 2, Strengthening the Adaptive Social Protection Information System, with Sub-components 2.1 Deployment, management, use, and updating of the RSU to expand coverage through community processes and proxy means testing, enable on-demand registration and updates, and promote use of RSU data for program targeting; and Sub-components 2.2 Interoperability for integrated registries and systems that link RSU with program Management Information Systems (MIS), the IDP database, the government payments platform Faso Arzeka, and the national unique identifier supported by the West Africa Unique Identification for Regional Integration and Inclusion (WURI), while applying data protection and cybersecurity frameworks. Component 3, Institutional Capacity Building and Learning, with Sub-components 3.1 Enhancing the capacity of the National Council for Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation (CONASUR) through constructing 28 warehouses, procuring 48 vehicles, and rehabilitating 10 provincial intake centers to strengthen logistics and local service delivery; Sub-components 3.2 Strengthening operational capabilities of social workers via training, operating support, and field equipment; and Sub-components 3.3 Strengthening Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) and learning through interministerial coordination for the Economic Empowerment Support Program for Poor and Vulnerable Households (PAMPV), annual planning and reviews, studies and impact evaluations, and strategic communication. Component 4, Project Coordination Management, covers Project Implementation Unit staffing and operations, communication, integrated MIS development and hosting, and a call center and grievance redress mechanism with appropriate handling of gender-based violence. Component 5, Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC), enables rapid reallocation of funds for eligible emergencies following a CERC Manual, Emergency Action Plans, and agreed environmental and social requirements.