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In January 2016 the Government of Bangladesh requested technical assistance from the World Bank and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to estimate the cost of implementing nutrition actions considered for the inclusion in the country's Second National Plan of Action for Nutrition (NPAN2) and to assist with the prioritization of scale up of the nutrition action over the coming 10 years. This report presents the analysis conducted as part of the technical assistance. It consists of four parts. Part I presents background context and an overview of nutritional status of the population of Bangladesh, with a focus on pregnant women and children under age five. Part II describes the methodology employed, including details on the assumptions used to develop unit costs (cost per beneficiary) that will be used by the Government of Bangladesh as the basis for estimating the cost of the implementation of the NPAN2. Part III presents an analysis of the costs, benefits, and cost-effectiveness of a set of key nutrition-specific interventions included in the NPAN2. Part IV of the report summarizes the main conclusions, limitations, and policy implications. The goal of the analysis is to contribute to the building of an investment case for nutrition in Bangladesh and to inform prioritization within the NPAN2 by identifying which interventions are the most cost-effective (that is, which offer the lowest cost per death averted or case of stunting averted) and in which geographic regions investments in nutrition-specific action have the potential to achieve the greatest impact.

This paper builds on global experience and Guinea-Bissau's specific context to identify an effective nutrition approach along with costs and benefits of key nutrition interventions. It is intended to help guide the selection of the most cost-effective interventions as well as strategies for scaling these up. We estimate that the costs and benefits of implementing 10 nutrition-specific interventions in all regions of Guinea-Bissau would require a public investment of USD 17 million over five years (with about USD 3 million needed to maintain the current coverage of the interventions and USD 14 million needed to expand the coverage to reach 90 percent of the population). The two key conclusions of this paper are, first, that investing in nutrition in Guinea-Bissau is cost-effective based on international standards and, second, that investments in nutrition can generate very substantial health and economic benefits, with one dollar spent on nutrition interventions resulting in about 10 dollars of returns over the productive lives of children covered by high-impact nutrition interventions. Economic productivity could potentially increase by USD 120 million (discounted at 3 percent) over the productive lives of the beneficiaries, with an impressive internal rate of return of 9 percent annually. Theses findings point to a powerful set of nutrition-specific interventions that represent a high cost-effective approach to reducing child malnutrition and stunting in Guinea-Bissau.

HarikathÈ (lit. stories of the Lord) is the exposition of a religioustheme, usually the life of a saint or a story from one ofIndia s scriptural texts. Its purpose is to spread devotion to theDivine. HarikathÈ is a composite art containing story-telling,poetry, music, drama, dance, and philosophy. Any story aboutGod or about saints, who are the living exemplars for the existenceof God, is an appropriate subject matter for HarikathÈ.The greatness of HarikathÈ lies in the fact that it providesone of the easiest, if not the easiest path to attaining lastinghappiness and peace. Not only does a kathÈ please its listener,as other fine arts do, but it also comforts the mind and elevatesthe soul of the listener. Thus, as it entertains, it enlightens.Meera Grimes (also known as Balameera Chandra) is wellknown in India for her HarikathÈ performances. Meera is alsoa Bharata Natyam dancer and teacher.