Nobo Jibon (New Life)

The design of SO1 is based primarily on PM2A and adapted to the Bangladesh context. PM2A focuses on three core services: 1) conditional food ration; 2) preventative and curative nutrition services for women and children, according to national protocol; and 3) Behavior Change Communication (BCC). Consistent with PM2A, SO1 activities are directed primarily to PLW and women with U2 children. Nobo Jibon’s BCC approach uses best practices defined as Essential Nutrition Actions (ENA) – seven affordable and evidence-based nutrition interventions delivered at health facilities and communities to improve the nutritional status of women and children.

With the market-driven approach taken for the livelihood component, Nobo Jibon targets interventions for each part of the three-part market system: input markets; small businesses owned by Nobo Jibon beneficiaries; and output markets. The beneficiary small businesses are the main unit of implementation of the market-oriented program though which input and output market actors are also reached. Nobo Jibon developed three distinct implementation strategies: (1) homestead production for women; (2) value chain production for productive poor households; and (3) asset transfers for extreme poor households.

The primary aim of the DRR component is that households in targeted communities protect their lives and assets and quickly resume their livelihood activities following natural disasters. Interventions focus on the various factors that contribute to a household’s vulnerability and the ability to recover from disaster including emergency preparedness, physical infrastructure, agency coordination and early warning systems. SO3 activities directly or indirectly benefit all households (approximately 444,241) in the targeted project area. It is currently working in 1,143 communities. The particular package of interventions that any union receives is determined according to the relative disaster risk that the union is exposed to. Based on a vulnerability study carried out in in 86 unions in the 10 upazilas that the project works in, unions were classified into three categories according to disaster risk level. Only those unions (52) that were high risk or medium risk got DRR awareness training, household capacity building and food for work (FFW).