Project Information Document - Support for resilient livelihoods in the South of Madagascar - P171056

Underinvestment in this region and a limited presence of the state (both for administrative and security functions) has led to a lack of infrastructure and services (including road and water networks), leading Sep 22, 2020 Page 4 of 31 The World Bank Support for resilient livelihoods in the South of Madagascar (P171056) to limited opportunities for livelihood diversification and widespread food in [...] By focusing targeting at the commune as opposed to household level, the proposed engagement complements the Bank’s prior household Sep 22, 2020 Page 12 of 31 The World Bank Support for resilient livelihoods in the South of Madagascar (P171056) based engagement in the South, in recognition of the strengths of resilience offered by communities and communes as the unit of engagement. [...] Given capacity constraints and the operational complexities of working in the remote and insecure regions of Madagascar’s South, the SOP will use a gradual approach, working in half of the communes in southern Madagascar beginning in Phase 1, and the other in Phase 2. Given that poverty rates are high in all three regions of the south (over 91 percent of the population living below the poverty lin [...] The activities build on a series of analytics the team conducted for this Project—including a GBV portfolio review, consultations with women groups in target areas, and literature review of donors’ gender and youth assessment in the country—and include a focus on targeting women and youth (girls and boys) to participate in employment activities of the Project and supporting them to overcome social [...] This subcomponent s seeks to improve the organizational capacity of SLCs and Local Development Agents (ADLs) to serve as platforms of participatory planning, as dictated by the decentralization policy, and support the prioritization process and implementation of activities of the Project.