Burundi cash for jobs project is embracing smart IT for social impact

Flexibility and responsiveness are at the heart of effective social programs, and Burundi’s Cash for Jobs Project, locally known as Merankabandi, is an example of how to do this with good impact. When floods and landslides hit the country in 2024, our project team quickly adapted to support affected communities. The project’s Management Information System (MIS) needed an urgent overhaul to effectively track, monitor and deliver emergency support since it had limited operational flexibility to accommodate a crisis of this scale.

Something had to change! And that’s where CORE-MIS comes in.

The CORE-MIS (Core Management Information System) isn’t just another tech tool. It’s a game changer, an open-source platform originally developed by the World Bank Social Protection Global Solutions Group (GSG), during the COVID-19 crisis, specifically for social protection programs in low-resource settings, enabling customization and local ownership. It’s modular, transparent, and, most importantly, adaptable to the real needs of programs like Merankabandi. For our program, it supports accurate targeting of beneficiaries, verifies whether they have received their benefits, manages payments, and monitors outcomes. In our case, all data and information collected in the field—including complaints—flow into the MIS, providing greater visibility on our progress.

Making the Switch!

Implementing a new system requires clicking “install” but for us, it also meant rethinking how people work and how we approach their work. While the former system supported basic beneficiary management, it was not aligned with the emergency response. Its rigidity in integrating critical updates—such as adapting modules for data collection, payments, and grievance redress—could have led to implementation delays. In transitioning to CORE-MIS, we proposed a comprehensive process to the government that began with mapping out system needs and actively involving IT teams. The project required migrating over one million beneficiary records, which was a significant undertaking. In addition, payment and monitoring modules were customized to fit the program’s requirements, and grievance mechanisms were adapted to better serve beneficiaries. Each step was essential to ensure the new system met local needs and supported effective program delivery. More details are provided in a related knowledge note.

Early Wins—and a Look Ahead

As we implemented CORE-MIS, within five months, we saw early successes:

• The system was and still hosted by the government, at the Executive Secretariat of Information and Communication Technologies (SETIC- - Secrétariat Exécutif des Technologies de l’ Information et de la Communication), with project and government staff managing both production and test environments.
• Local teams gained valuable skills in system setup, deployment, and maintenance.
• Field data collected with KoboToolbox flows directly to the main system, and dashboards help track progress and complaints.
• The system connects with multiple payment service providers, making payment processing and reconciliation easier.
• Its modular design allows for future integration with other systems.

The system was essential for delivering emergency cash transfers to over 30,000 beneficiaries and for scaling up the project nationally across Burundi to reach more than 315,000 households about 1.5 million individuals.

These show how agile technology can make a real difference during emergencies.

CORE-MIS is being considered for expansion beyond the Cash for Jobs Project to support Burundi’s broader social protection agenda, including the Unified Social Registry, which is a platform that will consolidate demographic, socioeconomic and vulnerability data of individuals and households to facilitate targeting, enrollment, and coordination of social programs (health, education, social protection and labor).

Lessons for Other Programs

In Burundi, we have seen that CORE-MIS isn’t just helping manage information. It helps build trust, increase transparency, and pave the way for more responsive, resilient systems by ensuring full government ownership and control over the system. Digital transformation is most meaningful when it empowers people and makes their lives easier. It’s also most effective when it puts governments in the driver’s seat.

If your program is considering a similar transition, here are some lessons we learned from Burundi's experience:

• Start with needs, not features: It's easy to get excited by flashy features in a new system, but Burundi's experience underscores the importance of starting with fundamentals. Before evaluating any technology, take the time to deeply understand: What are the daily workflows? What is the process flow? What challenges does your team face?
• Prioritize data ownership: Losing access or control of historical data would be catastrophic, so negotiate clear data access and exit strategies with vendors. Ensure robust practices for data storage, security, and regular backups, especially when data is managed by third parties. Protective measures like frequent backups must be non-negotiable requirements.
• Build local capacity early: A sophisticated system is only as effective as the people operating it. Don't wait until implementation is complete; actively engage and train your staff while the platform is being set up for configuration, leading to a more user-friendly and effective tool.
• Choose open over closed: Proprietary solution owned by a single company can put your program in a delicate situation. Even with well-structured contracts, this often leads to 'vendor lock-in,'. This is a key area where open-source solutions offer a significant advantage. Reputable open-source software can be customized and evolved as your program's needs change, drawing on expertise from a vast pool of developers rather than being dependent on a single vendor.

Interested in learning more about CORE-MIS or exploring open-source tools for your program? Let’s connect, because the future of social protection is open, flexible, and centered around people.

The CORE-MIS is part of the OpenIMIS initiative in collaboration with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

Find out more at the OpenIMIS initiative website.