Union Cabinet approved signing of MoC between MWCD and Gates Foundation

The Union Cabinet has approved the signing of Memorandum of Co-operation (MoC) between Ministry of Women & Child Development (MWCD) and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
It was signed for the cooperation in Information and Communication Technology enabled Real Time Monitoring (ICT-RTM) of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and other related technical matters.
The MoC would cover 162 high malnutrition burden districts of 8 States viz. Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtrta, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
The MoC would help in

• Implementation of ICT-RTM of ICDS for timely intervention for ensuring proper service delivery by the authorities.
• Technical support through high quality technical teams of nutrition experts.
• Putting up in place a shared national communication campaign, communications guidelines and strategy and customizing communications.
• It will also bring different products and material to local contexts along with developing plans for large scale dissemination.

The Foundation would provide

• Technical support for strengthening capacities to deliver nutrition especially during pre-conception, pregnancy and first two years of life at the national and state level
• Funding to applicable organisation that meet eligibility criteria as will be mutually agreed upon by the Foundation and MWCD.
• The funding will be used to provide support and technical assistance for designing, development of Common Application Software (CAS) to drive the ICT-RTM of ICDS Systems Strengthening and Nutrition Improvement Project (ISSNIP) and Support System/
• Support the ministry in developing a shared national communication campaign for child and maternal nutrition among the target population.

The phase-I of ISSNIP will be rolled out ICT-RTM through 1 Lakh Anganwadi Centers (AWCs) in 162 high burden districts of 8 participating States. The beneficiaries target group will cover children of age group 0-6 years, pregnant women and Lactating Mothers.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016