Focused Assistance for COVID-19 Resilient Households

This project aims to increase the wellbeing and resilience of the most vulnerable populations in Mozambique especially children women including victims of domestic violence women-headed households and people living with disabilities. The project works closely with the Government of Mozambique to provide technical assistance to strengthen the capacity of social protection institutions in expanding and effectively delivering gender-responsive social assistance programs. The project provides urgent mobile cash transfers to urban and peri-urban program beneficiaries to address immediate shocks and loss of income caused by the COVID-19 pandemic helping them meet their essential needs and preserve nutrition. Targeted messaging on COVID-19 prevention addressing gender equality issues and on nutrition accompany every cash transfer. The project plans to gradually shift its support to the expansion of the child grant support program helping vulnerable households affected by COVID-19 and with children between the ages zero and 2 with cash transfers and a comprehensive care component. The project supports beneficiaries to adopt positive practices related to health nutrition and hygiene including ways to access referral mechanisms to social services. Community health care workers conduct specialized home visits for families at risk to promote and improve the household’s positive care practices.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) improved practices of households related to health nutrition hygiene and protection; (2) increased access to support services including the use of referral mechanisms addressing gender-based violence including child early and forced marriage; and (3) improved efficiency of national social protection institutions to deliver gender-sensitive social protection assistance programs.