Support to smooth recovery and reintegration of returnees and resident communities of Orschi Administrative Unit in North Darfur through food security/livelihood (FSL) and protection activities. The proposed project (OPS code SUD-17/ER/111408) is designed to address recovery and reintegration needs of returnees and resident communities living in protracted crisis affected villages of Um Baru locality. 

The idea behind this proposed intervention is to continue supporting the communities which were targeted in 2016-2017 “Um Baru RRR Pilot intervention”, in the three villages of Orschi, Anabaji and Abuleha, in Orschi Administrative Unit. COOPI will build upon the successes of its combined FSL/WASH intervention and will take over the management of the Community Center built under the same pilot by ASSIST in 2016, as a way to ensure continuity and create synergies with past and ongoing interventions, funded by other donors and in cooperation with other stakeholders. The project will target a total of 10,875 beneficiaries (more than 50 percent being women and girls) mostly returnees and vulnerable resident communities.

The specific objective of the project is to restore targeted returnees and resident community livelihood through integrated support on summer/winter season farming, veterinary service and access to extension services. This action is expected to contribute to the restoration of basic production capacities, building upon the distributions and vaccination campaigns from the previous year and in synergy with other ongoing and planned interventions. In addition to assisting needy households meet immediate basic food needs it also intends to contribute on improving household livelihood diversification through (1) Village Community Banking (VICOBA) and (2) Pastoral Field Schools (PFS) approach, which is employed as the main delivering mechanism of the project activities. 

The action is informed by a gender, age and diversity-sensitive analysis and approach through all phases, and will ensure that protection is mainstreamed across all the activities and at every step of the project cycle. In line with COOPI Protection Policy and the 4 main pillars of Protection Mainstreaming, the project will ensure that every person, including the most vulnerable, is granted safety, dignity and a meaningful access to humanitarian assistance without discrimination and through the promotion and implementation of principles accountability, participation and empowerment. 

Furthermore, the project aims at ensuring that vulnerable HHs and beneficiaries (over 50% of the beneficiaries are envisioned to be young and widowed women) are fully able to access and participate without any restriction or discrimination. This will be achieved through engagement of all the communities through the Community Center, built by ASSIST in the previous phase of the Um Baru RRR Pilot project. The center role will be twofold, as it will be used as a training venue for the Women PFS's groups, and eventually run by selected Women Group who will maintain its running costs through selected IGAs, and secondly, it will act as a base for the Community Participation Officer, a new pilot position who will be based within the community and totally engaged in 1) Ensuring that all segments of the targeted communities have effective access to the services or utilities provided by the project on a non-discriminatory basis, and in conditions of safety and dignity 2) Ensure accountability, participation and empowerment to the targeted communities 3) Ensuring the referral of people with specific needs (including Women and Children Headed HH, HIV Affected families, Elderly and disabled outside the scope of the project.