LIFT Project Year Two Quarter Three Quarterly Report

The project aims to provide global leadership and strategic learning to the field of economic strengthening through the development of guidelines, trainings, and other tools to help vulnerable households and those who serve them engage in activities that enhance their economic and nutritional security. LIFT was launched in Fiscal Year 2010 as a five-year Associated Award under the Financial Integration, Economic Leveraging, Broad-Based Dissemination and Support (FIELD-Support) Leaders with Associates (LWA) Cooperative Agreement. The project is managed and led by FHI 360 and implemented with the support of CARE International (CARE) and Save the Children USA (Save). The goal of the LIFT project is to build the continuum of care for people living with HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable households by increasing their access to high-quality, context-appropriate, market-led economic strengthening, livelihood, and food security (ES/L/FS) opportunities that improve their economic resilience and lead to better health. In the second year of the project, LIFT continued to focus on providing technical assistance and strategic support to its partners. At the global level, the project made significant contributions to the development of a standardized assessment methodology, a household economic strengthening (HES) one-day training, and a life in the village simulation activity tool. LIFT also participated in several international conferences, including the International AIDS Society Conference Satellite Session and the Cracking the Nut Conference. In country-specific contexts, LIFT worked with partners in Namibia, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and South Africa to implement economic strengthening and food security activities. In Namibia, for example, LIFT worked with the government to develop a national economic strengthening strategy, while in Nigeria, the project supported the development of a household economic strengthening program. In the DRC, LIFT worked with CARE to implement a livelihoods and food security program for vulnerable households. The project also made significant progress in operational areas, including partnerships, communications and outreach, project administration and support, and deliverables. LIFT established partnerships with several organizations, including Save the Children and CARE, and developed a comprehensive communications and outreach strategy to promote the project's activities and results. The project also made significant progress in staffing, work plan and budget development, and deliverable implementation. In terms of successes, LIFT reported several achievements in the second quarter of the project's second year. These included the development of a standardized assessment methodology, the completion of a household economic strengthening one-day training, and the implementation of a life in the village simulation activity tool. The project also reported several challenges, including difficulties in implementing the life in the village simulation activity tool and delays in the development of a national economic strengthening strategy in Namibia. Looking ahead to the next quarter, LIFT plans to focus on several key areas, including the development of a LIFT literature review and research agenda, the implementation of an outreach strategy, and the provision of technical global leadership. The project also plans to continue its work in country-specific contexts, including the DRC, Nigeria, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, and Tanzania.