Lessons Learned and Innovations Lessons learned COVID-19 vaccination and routine immunization efforts competed for health staff and system capacity, including cold chain storage and vaccine distribution. To overcome this, UNICEF installed additional cold-chain equipment, hired cold space and refrigerated vehicles and introduced vaccine and logistics management in DHIS2. Adopting a facility-based COVID-19 vaccination strategy enabled routine immunization to continue. UNICEF managed risks of handling procurement services for essential and life-saving commodities, particularly vaccines, with respect to in-country logistics and last-mile delivery, as high volumes of sensitive shipments arrived with great intensity. Undercapacity of Government to ensure smooth and timely receipt of vaccines, poor infrastructure, and bureaucracy will be considered in future supply chain management. Multisectoral coordination was critical to deliver the COVID-19 response in Bangladesh. Putting in place WASH facilities and guidelines laid the groundwork to safely reopen schools in September. Multisectoral collaboration was also essential to plan adolescent nutrition interventions and reach adolescents with in-school nutrition services, linking with the education curriculum to enhance adolescents’ knowledge and practices on healthy diets. Integrated urban interventions for improved nutrition further strengthened multisectoral collaboration. A randomized controlled trial integrated nutrition-sensitive interventions, such as in WASH and social protection, with nutrition-specific interventions, accompanied by strong SBCC. A proof of concept will now be developed for integrated interventions to improve complementary feeding practices and reduce environmental enteropathy among vulnerable urban children. Integration of SBCC in multisectoral programming enabled better results for children and adolescents. Local advocacy and partnerships enlisted local leaders’ responsiveness and community action to prevent child marriage and connect referrals to services. It is necessary to scale innovative SBCC approaches such as U-Report, which reached and gathered feedback from adolescents. Monitoring results during COVID-19 and other emergencies was challenging. BNNC can enhance accountability of multisectoral nutrition efforts by establishing interoperable data and financial tracking systems for increased, equitable investments for nutrition. Monitoring of WASH in schools via existing EMIS is key and strategic, as is a framework for clearer roles and responsibilities regarding construction and operation and maintenance (O&M) of WASH in schools. Ensuring safe and sustained services also involves substantial and recurrent funding and adequate O&M systems. Real-time monitoring and reporting for the vitamin A campaign facilitated immediate follow-up and a timely supply response to achieve coverage targets. Reaching locked-down adolescents was critical. With service uptake reduced, the health and child protection systems adopted alternative modalities to reach adolescents, like online platforms, peer education with physical distancing, a sexual and reproductive health and rights digital platform, and RCCE. Conducting activities online raised challenges, however, including how to reach target audiences in remote locations lacking continuous internet connectivity or the many adolescents without mobile phones. Inclusion of adolescents with disabilities has been particularly difficult during the pandemic. The prolonged COVID-19 crisis has further emphasized the importance of a systemic and adaptive social protection mechanism for children. More evidence on promising practices in social protection must be generated for aggressive advocacy for policy reforms, combining efforts with other development partners. Page 9 of 10 Page 9 of 10