Pregnant and breastfeeding women across Chin State are now receving cash payments and support to improve their nutrition during their children’s crucial first 1,000 days of life thanks to the rollout of the maternal and child cash transfer programme in Chin State by the Department of Social Welfare with LIFT's support.
Chin State is one of the poorest states of Myanmar where the poverty rate is as high as 73 per cent and stunting – below height for age - affects 41 per cent of children under five years. Stunting has long-term effects on a child’s development and economic potential and is mainly caused by inadequate diets, micronutrient deficiencies, and repeated infections during the first 1,000 days of life, from conception through to two years of age. Children who receive good nutrition in the first 1,000 days complete more grades of school and earn up to 21 per cent more as adults.
In 2017, LIFT, a multi-donor fund managed by UNOPS, began an ambitious programme with the Department of Social Welfare to deliver maternal and child cash transfers (MCCT) of MMK 15,000 (around USD12) to all pregnant and breastfeeding mothers in the remote, hilly Chin State. The cash transfers are accompanied by social behaviour change communication (SBCC) about good nutrition and the impact it can have on a child’s life in the first 1,000 days, from conception to 2 years of age.
LIFT has led the way in supporting the piloting and evidence generation of maternal and child cash transfer programmes for nutrition outcomes. The MCCT programme is one of the eight ‘flagship’ programmes addressing vulnerabilities along the life cycle outlined in Myanmar’s National Social Protection Strategic Plan. MCCTs were piloted in LIFT’s Rakhine programme in 2014 and then scaled up in LIFT’s Rakhine, Delta, and Dry Zone programmes.
The Chin programme begun in March 2017 was ambitious because it was the first statewide MCCT programme in Myanmar and the first time LIFT partnered with the government for cash distribution.
Cash distribution to Chin MCCT beneficiaries began in October when around 8,500 eligible women were registered to receive payments.
While beneficiaries were being registered by government staff, LIFT supported DSW to develop monitoring and evaluation plans and conduct a baseline survey of Chin State.
The government has shown a strong commitment in moving this programme forward, coordinating several ministries, and allocating significant resources for staff. For the SBCC component, DSW convened an inter-ministerial SBCC committee with representatives the Ministry of Health and Sports Health Literacy Promotion Unit (HLPU) and the National Nutrition Centre (NNC), UNICEF, Save the Children, LIFT and 3MDG, also a multi-donor fund managed in Myanmar by UNOPS.
To strengthen government capacities in nutrition education at Union, State and Township levels LIFT contracted 3MDG’s current partners in Chin State - Save the Children, the Danish Red Cross (DRC) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) - to provide technical assistance that includes a component on process monitoring and formative research on nutrition that will contribute to the development of the government’s SBCC strategy for Chin State.
In 2018, LIFT and partners will monitor the cash distribution, the capacity of health services to respond to increases in demand and other barriers to the adoption of good nutrition practices such as water, sanitation and hygiene, gender and access to year-round nutritious foods in remote areas.
Photo credit: Jennifer Hardy, CRS
