The World Bank Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project (P166211) REPORT NO.: RES47690 RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF EARLY YEARS NUTRITION AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT PROJECT APPROVED ON FEBRUARY 21, 2019 TO REPUBLIC OF BENIN HEALTH, NUTRITION & POPULATION AFRICA WEST Regional Vice President: Ousmane Diagana Country Director: Coralie Gevers Regional Director: Dena Ringold Practice Manager/Manager: Gaston Sorgho Task Team Leader(s): Menno Mulder-Sibanda, Yacinthe Gbaye The World Bank Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project (P166211) ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS CERC Contingency Emergency Response Component ECD Early Childhood Development PDO Project Development Objective SDR Special Drawing Rights SOP Series of Projects SP-CAN Secrétaire Permanent du Conseil de l’Alimentation et de la Nutrition / Permanent Secretary of the Food and Nutrition Council The World Bank Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project (P166211) BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID Financing Instrument P166211 Investment Project Financing Original EA Category Current EA Category Not Required (C) Not Required (C) Approval Date Current Closing Date 21-Feb-2019 31-May-2024 Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency Permanent Secretariat of the national Food and Nutrition Republic of Benin Council (SP CAN) Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO S-PDO is to reduce stunting and improve ECD outcomes in children under five years of age in targeted communes The PDO (SOP-1) is to improve the delivery of early nutrition and childhood development interventions and services in targeted areas of benefiting Communes in the Recipient's territory. Current PDO The PDO (SOP-1) is to improve the delivery of early child nutrition and development interventions and support emergency services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in targeted Communes in the Recipient's territory. OPS_TABLE_PDO_CURRENTPDO Summary Status of Financing (US$, Millions) Net Ln/Cr/Tf Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed IDA-D4250 21-Feb-2019 25-Mar-2019 16-Jul-2019 31-May-2024 50.00 27.57 23.25 The World Bank Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project (P166211) Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No The World Bank Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project (P166211) I. PROJECT STATUS AND RATIONALE FOR RESTRUCTURING 1. The Benin Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project was approved on February 21, 2019 and declared effective in a timely manner on July 16, 2019. The project’s closing date is set on May 31, 2024. The project has four components including an initially dormant Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC) that has been activated on April 24, 2020 in response to the national emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic. 2. Project implementation, in line with the work and procurement plans agreed upon with the World Bank, has recently slowed down as a result of: (i) the COVID-19 related restrictions on movements and gatherings; (ii) the focus on the emergency response as a result of the CERC activation; and (iii) changes in the management team at a critical time of project implementation. In the last Implementation Status and Results Report (ISR), dated February 2021, the project is rated moderately unsatisfactory on progress towards the Project Development Objective (PDO) as well as on overall implementation progress. The main concern relates to the pending integration of early stimulation and learning activities in the minimum package of activities at community level. The disbursement rate is a healthy 54 percent as of July 21, 2021. The project is implemented by the Permanent Secretary of the Food and Nutrition Council (Secrétaire Permanent du Conseil de l’Alimentation et de la Nutrition, SP-CAN) which reports to the President’s Office. 3. In December 2020, the Bank conducted an early mid-term review mission to anticipate the lowering of performance ratings, better comprehend the bottlenecks and identify potentiel solutions. During the mission, the two parties identified key actions to turn the project’s performance around, including a restructuring in response to the COVID- 19-induced slow down of the project’s core activities. These recommendations have been reviewed and taken up by the Government which accordingly submitted a request for restructuring on July 12, 2021. The proposed changes will: (i) lower selected indicator targets that now prove unrealistically high following the past pandemic year; (ii) drop some activities that do not contribute to the PDO (and have essentially been replaced by the CERC activities), thereby allowing the project to focus more on the PDO; and (iii) accordingly reallocate resources towards achieving PDO results. The PDO, which was modified in response to the CERC activation, remains highly relevant and therefore unchanged. The team fully supports the proposed changes and expects that together with the implementation of other recommendations of the December 2020 mission which is closely monitored through virtuel meetings every two to three weeks, the project will return to satisfactory performance within the new fiscal year. II. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED CHANGES 4. The restructuring recommends: (i) dropping Component 3 on Integrated Primary School Feeding and Nutrition which does not contribute to the PDO; and (ii) reallocate the remaining resources of US$2.4 million under Component 3, which had already been significantly reduced following the reallocation of resources, to Component 2 (US$2 million) and Component 4 (US$0.4 million). The associated changes in the disbursement table in Special Drawing Rights (SDR) are shown in Table 1. 5. In addition, the restructuring recommends the following changes to the results framework: (i) lowering the target for two of the five PDO indicators; (ii) lowering target for five intermediate indicators; (iii) dropping four intermediate indicators of which three refer to Component 3 which is to be dropped, and one refers to a survey dependent indicator of Component 2 which is proving to be too complicated to measure. The changes are summarized in the table 2. The World Bank Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project (P166211) Table 1: Proposed changes to the disbursement table Amount in SDR Category Current Revised Change 1 Works, goods, non-consulting services, consulting services, Training 10,440,000 10,440,000 No change and Operating Costs for the Project 2 NGO Financings for Communal Subprojects under Part 2(a) of the 16,550,000 17,975,000 +1,425,000 Project 3 Service Provider Payments under Part 3 of the Project 1,730,000 0 -1,730,000 4 Emergency Expenditures under Part 4 of the Project 7,190,000 7,495,000 +305,000 5 Refund of Preparation Advance 90,000 90,000 No change Total 36,000,000 36,000,000 Table 2: Proposed changes to the results framework PDO Indicator Original target Revised Target Percentage of children 0-24 months who benefit from a package of nutrition and 30 10 child stimulation services (percentage) Caregivers with children 0-59 months who have received education on parenting practices that promote ECD within the previous three months (percentage) / of 70 / 40 30 / 20 which male (percentage) Intermediate Indicator Original target Revised target Component 1: Management and Coordination of Early Years Interventions Communes that have put in place a feedback mechanism for citizen beneficiaries 45 22 (number) Regional and national reviews held to evaluate progress (number) 20 7 Component 2: Community-based Interventions for the Early Years Communes that have an advanced strategy to provide community-based 40 20 prenatal and post-natal services, according to a checklist (number) Functional community spaces for child learning and play (number) 185 77 Community leaders who participated in community radio programs on new 800 320 themes and approaches to ECD (number) Observation Action Children 36-59 months with adult member engaged in at least 4 learning Irrelevant Drop activities in last 3 days (percentage) Component 3: Integrated Primary School Feeding and Nutrition School-going children who received at least one meal per day within the previous Component to Drop three months (number) be dropped Local producers engaged in assocations for the provision of food to school Component to Drop (number) be dropped Primary school-age children dewormed (number) Component to Drop be dropped The World Bank Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project (P166211) III. SUMMARY OF CHANGES Changed Not Changed Results Framework ✔ Components and Cost ✔ Reallocation between Disbursement Categories ✔ Overall Risk Rating ✔ Implementing Agency ✔ DDO Status ✔ Project's Development Objectives ✔ PBCs ✔ Loan Closing Date(s) ✔ Cancellations Proposed ✔ Disbursements Arrangements ✔ Disbursement Estimates ✔ Safeguard Policies Triggered ✔ EA category ✔ Legal Covenants ✔ Institutional Arrangements ✔ Financial Management ✔ Procurement ✔ Implementation Schedule ✔ Other Change(s) ✔ Economic and Financial Analysis ✔ Technical Analysis ✔ Social Analysis ✔ Environmental Analysis ✔ IV. DETAILED CHANGE(S) The World Bank Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project (P166211) OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_COMPONENTS_TABLE COMPONENTS Current Current Proposed Proposed Cost Action Component Name Component Name Cost (US$M) (US$M) Management and Coordination Management and Coordination of Interventions for the Early 9.80 No Change of Interventions for the Early 9.80 Years Years Community-based Community-based Interventions 27.80 Revised Interventions for the Early 29.80 for the Early Years Years Integrated Primary School Marked for Integrated Primary School 2.40 0.00 Feeding and Nutrition Deletion Feeding and Nutrition Contingent Emergency Response Contingent Emergency 10.00 Revised 10.40 Component Response Component TOTAL 50.00 50.00 OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_REALLOCATION _TABLE REALLOCATION BETWEEN DISBURSEMENT CATEGORIES Financing % Current Allocation Actuals + Committed Proposed Allocation (Type Total) Current Proposed IDA-D4250-001 | Currency: XDR iLap Category Sequence No: 1 Current Expenditure Category: Wrks, Gds, Ncs, Cs, Tr, OC 10,440,000.00 2,466,135.54 10,440,000.00 100.00 100.00 iLap Category Sequence No: 2 Current Expenditure Category: NGO Financing sub proj prt 2a 16,550,000.00 5,234,417.02 17,975,000.00 100.00 100.00 iLap Category Sequence No: 3 Current Expenditure Category: Servc Prov payments prt 3 1,730,000.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 100.00 iLap Category Sequence No: 4 Current Expenditure Category: Emergency Exp under Part 4 The World Bank Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project (P166211) 7,190,000.00 7,483,585.53 7,495,000.00 100.00 100.00 iLap Category Sequence No: 5 Current Expenditure Category: Refund of Preparation Advance 90,000.00 85,542.24 90,000.00 Total 36,000,000.00 15,269,680.33 36,000,000.00 OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_SORT_TABLE SYSTEMATIC OPERATIONS RISK-RATING TOOL (SORT) Risk Category Rating at Approval Current Rating Political and Governance  Moderate  Low Macroeconomic  Moderate  Moderate Sector Strategies and Policies  Substantial  Low Technical Design of Project or Program  Substantial  Low Institutional Capacity for Implementation and  Substantial  Substantial Sustainability Fiduciary  Moderate  Moderate Environment and Social  Low  Low Stakeholders  Low  Low Other Overall  Substantial  Moderate . The World Bank Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project (P166211) . Results framework COUNTRY: Benin Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project Project Development Objectives(s) The PDO (SOP-1) is to improve the delivery of early child nutrition and development interventions and support emergency services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in targeted Communes in the Recipient's territory. Project Development Objective Indicators by Objectives/ Outcomes RESULT_FRAME_TBL_PDO Indicator Name PBC Baseline End Target PDO (SOP-1): Improve the delivery of early nutrition and childhood development interventions Children 0-24 months who benefit from a package of nutrition 0.00 10.00 and child stimulation services (Percentage) Rationale: In line with the December 2020 mission recommendations (see overall comments), the target of this indicator is revised Action: This indicator has been Revised from 30 to 10 percent to reflect the contextual and project changes. Household visits by GrACE members in the past one month 0.00 150,000.00 (Number) Caregivers with children 0-59 months who have received education on parenting practices that promote ECD within the 0.00 30.00 previous three months (Percentage) Rationale: In line with the December 2020 mission recommendations (see overall comments), the target of this indicator is revised Action: This indicator has been Revised from 70 to 30 percent to reflect the contextual and project changes. Of which % male (Percentage) 0.00 20.00 The World Bank Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project (P166211) RESULT_FRAME_TBL_PDO Indicator Name PBC Baseline End Target Rationale: In line with the December 2020 mission recommendations (see overall comments), the target of this indicator is revised Action: This indicator has been Revised from 40 to 20 percent to reflect the contextual and project changes. Women with children 0-59 months trained and practicing household gardens, small animal raising, or transformation of 9,000.00 20,000.00 diverse foods rich in nutrition within the last 6 months (Number) COVID-19 isolation sites made functional (Number) 0.00 5.00 PDO Table SPACE Intermediate Results Indicators by Components RESULT_FRAME_TBL_IO Indicator Name PBC Baseline End Target Management and Coordination of Early Years Interventions Validation of manuel of harmonized package of services (Yes/No) No Yes Communes that have conducted joint missions to support implementation at community level in the last 6 months 20.00 80.00 (Percentage) Communes that have put in place a feedback mechanism for 0.00 22.00 citizen beneficiaries (Number) Rationale: In line with the December 2020 mission recommendations (see overall comments), the target of this indicator is revised Action: This indicator has been Revised from 45 to 22 communes to reflect the contextual and project changes, in particular the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on in-country mission travels. The World Bank Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project (P166211) RESULT_FRAME_TBL_IO Indicator Name PBC Baseline End Target People who have received essential health, nutrition, and 0.00 1,000,000.00 population (HNP) services (CRI, Number) Number of women and children who have received basic 0.00 1,000,000.00 nutrition services (CRI, Number) Regional and national reviews held to evaluate progress 0.00 7.00 (Number) Rationale: In line with the December 2020 mission recommendations (see overall comments), the target of this indicator is revised Action: This indicator has been Revised from 20 to 7 communes to reflect the contextual and project changes, in particular the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on in-country mission travels. Community-based Interventions for the Early Years Children aged 0-24 months receiving monthly growth monitoring 75.00 80.00 and promotion (Percentage) Children followed by GrACE in targeted communes with a 0.00 85.00 verified certification of birth (Percentage) Communes that have an advanced strategy to provide community-based prenatal and post-natal services, according to 0.00 20.00 a checklist (Number) Rationale: In line with the December 2020 mission recommendations (see overall comments), the target of this indicator is revised Action: This indicator has been Revised from 40 to 20 communes to reflect the contextual and project changes, in particular the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on in-country mission travels. Functional community spaces for child learning and play 0.00 77.00 (Number) The World Bank Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project (P166211) RESULT_FRAME_TBL_IO Indicator Name PBC Baseline End Target Rationale: In line with the December 2020 mission recommendations (see overall comments), the target of this indicator is revised Action: This indicator has been Revised from 185 to 77 community spaces for child learning and play to reflect the contextual and project changes. GrACE members trained to deliver services (Number) 20,000.00 30,000.00 Households with children 0-5 years of age with a hand washing 15,000.00 70,000.00 station with soap and water (Number) Children 36-59 months with adult member engaged in at least 4 28.00 70.00 learning activities in last 3 days (Percentage) Rationale: In line with the December 2020 mission recommendations (see overall comments), this indicator is marked for deletion. The Action: This indicator has been Marked for Deletion indicator is dependent on household surveys which have been postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but more importantly, has become irrelevant in measuring the early stimulation activities in the project. Community leaders who participated in community radio 0.00 320.00 programs on new themes and approaches to ECD (Number) Rationale: In line with the December 2020 mission recommendations (see overall comments), the target of this indicator is revised Action: This indicator has been Revised from 800 to 320 community leaders to reflect the contextual and project changes, in particular the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on in-country mission travels. Integrated Primary School Feeding and Nutrition (Action: This Component has been Marked for Deletion) School-going children who received at least one meal per day 0.00 3,000.00 within the previous three months (Number) Action: This indicator has been Marked for Deletion Rationale: The World Bank Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project (P166211) RESULT_FRAME_TBL_IO Indicator Name PBC Baseline End Target In line with the December 2020 mission recommendations (see overall comments), this indicator is marked for deletion following the cancelation of the component from the project. Local producers engaged in assocations for the provision of food 0.00 20.00 to school (Number) Rationale: In line with the December 2020 mission recommendations (see overall comments), this indicator is marked for deletion Action: This indicator has been Marked for Deletion following the cancelation of the component from the project. Primary school-age children dewormed (Number) 0.00 10,000.00 Rationale: In line with the December 2020 mission recommendations (see overall comments), this indicator is marked for deletion Action: This indicator has been Marked for Deletion following the cancelation of the component from the project. Contingent Emergency Response Component Locally manufactured face masks procured (Number) 0.00 2,564,595.00 IO Table SPACE The World Bank Early Years Nutrition and Child Development Project (P166211)