Djibouti - Integrated Community Resilience Project

Overview & Synopsis

Integrated Community Resilience Project for Djibouti has the development objectives to improve access to basic services and safety nets, and enhance economic opportunities for vulnerable communities, including refugees and host communities in target areas. Component 1: Social Safety Nets Systems will alleviate extreme poverty and build adaptive capacity for poor and vulnerable households nationwide by delivering Cash for Nutrition (C4N) transfers combined with Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) to promote improved nutrition, hygiene, exclusive breastfeeding, and positive parenting, prioritizing households with pregnant women and young children and ensuring strong female participation; it will also provide Financial Inclusion Services (FIS) through a one-off grant and coaching to help beneficiaries test household self-help activities, with emphasis on women, and strengthen links to local savings and credit institutions; and it will enhance the Social Registry (SR) as a coordinated platform interoperable with civil registries and public health systems, expand enrollment to include refugees and host communities, and upgrade social counters to handle registration, updates, and grievances. Component 2: Access to Socio-Economic Infrastructure and Development of Economic Opportunities will finance demand-driven, climate-resilient socio-economic infrastructure and productive facilities in underserved rural areas of Dikhil and in refugee-hosting locations of Obock and Ali Sabieh, including Ali Addeh and Holl Holl, to improve electrification, renewable energy, water and sanitation, small roads, and health and education facilities, address flood risks through culverts and drainage, reduce water losses, and develop context-appropriate productive units such as grain mills, post-harvest processing, drought-resistant seed centers, honey and dairy processing, date palm processing, local markets, and, in coastal areas, refrigerated chambers and ice production; Sub-component 2.1 will prioritize investments with shared benefits for women, refugees, host communities, persons with disabilities, and long-term sustainability confirmed by sector commitments, while Sub-component 2.2 will support economic inclusion for women, youth, refugees, and host residents through income-generating activities and small business development packages that provide practical training, mentorship, in-kind or grant start-up capital, market linkages, value-chain integration, and climate-smart practices, including all-female Affinity Support Groups receiving tailored support to grow into formal businesses and cooperatives. Component 3: Project Management will ensure effective coordination and implementation through dedicated Project Implementation Units in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Solidarity and the Djiboutian Social Development Agency, covering monitoring and evaluation with baseline and endline surveys and an impact evaluation, procurement and financial management, environmental and social risk management, stakeholder engagement, grievance mechanisms accessible to vulnerable groups, and capacity-building and communication to strengthen oversight and sustainability.