Federal Government has granted extension in execution of Rs.4.117 billion worth Sindh Nutrition Programme (NSP), Sindh for another one and half years on the request of provincial government. According to official documents, Government of Sindh and World Bank (WB) are sponsoring agencies for the project. The local component of financing comes to Rs.421.71 million whereas foreign exchange component (FEC) stands at Rs.3.696 billion for this project.
The basic objective of the project is to ensure that pregnant women and children under two years of age in Sindh are able to consume essential foods and nutrient supplements and to benefit from the health services that they require to enable children to grow and reach their potential in the critical "first 1000 days" from conception to the first two years of life.
More specifically the project will contribute towards achieving objectives of ensuring availability of infant and young child feeding and community based management of severe acute malnutrition (CMAM) services to the population of the nine districts in Sindh with a focus on economically and socially disadvantaged.
It will also focus on reducing the level of micronutrient malnutrition among male and female children less than five (including children with disabilities), pregnant and lactating women in the nine selected districts strengthening institutional capacity for effective implementation, research and evaluation of the nutrition interventions at all levels.
The project was prepared for nine districts of Sindh for a period of three years starting from 2013-14. The PC-I was recommended by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on 29th November 2013 and approved by the ECNEC on 12th February 2014.
The implementation actually started in 2015.The Planning & Development Department, Sindh submitted the project for 1.5 years extension, without changing the scope and cost of the project.
The extension was sought on the grounds that two years delay was caused in commencement of the project as it was planned to start in year 2013-14 but started in 2014-15.
Also, delayed service delivery in selected districts for un-covered areas due to stay order issued by court and major investment being already done, whereas execution of contracts still remains were the other cause of seeking extension.
The project has already been given two extensions by the P&DD,
the Government of Sindh for a period of 2016-17 and 2017-18. The project implementation period was originally for three years, however, the two extensions in its implementation extended to four years.
During this period only 66% budget was consumed with around 60% physical targets achieved as indicated by the sponsors, which requested 3rd extension.
However, no findings on the impact have been finalized so far which are in being collected, official documents indicated.
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