Environmental and Social Management Framework (esmf)
List of Abbreviations & Acronyms
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- Executive Summary
List of Abbreviations & Acronyms
Executive SummaryProject background. The World Bank is providing support to the Government of Azerbaijan in implementing of the Employment Support Project. This operation is built around supporting the Government’s Self-Employment Program. The objective of this Program is to strengthen self-employment and entrepreneurship as a pathway out of poverty and in to the labor market for vulnerable individuals. The improvement and scale up of the self-employment program are consistent with the recently adopted the “Employment Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2019-2030” and its action plan in draft. The third priority direction on “increasing the scope and efficiency of the active labor market programs and strengthening the integration of citizens who need in social protection and who have difficulties in finding a job in labor market” points to the need to enhance the effectiveness and scale of interventions supporting entrepreneurship and self-employment. Project objective. The Project Development Objective is to improve the access of vulnerable people to self-employment and income generating opportunities in Azerbaijan. Rationale of the Proposed Project and Project components. The Employment Support Project (the Project) aims to improve employment outcomes (employment status and earnings) among vulnerable groups of jobseekers: youth, women, internally displaced people, people with disabilities and lower educated people, including beneficiaries of the Targeted State Social Assistance (TSSA) program. The project will achieve this by (i) scaling up and improving the effectiveness of Azerbaijan Self-Employment Program (AzSEP); (ii) strengthening program implementation capacity in the State Employment Services (SES), along with the capacity to provide a broader menu of activation and employment support programs (job intermediation services vocational training interventions); and (iii) improving monitoring and evaluation practices of the SES. The Project include the following components: Component 1: Enhancing the scope and effectiveness of the AzSEP; Component 2: Strengthening the capacity of SES to implement activation and employment services; Component 3: Project Management, and Monitoring and Evaluation. The Project is being prepared under the World Bank’s new Environment and Social Framework (ESF), which came into effect on October 1, 2018, replacing the Bank’s Environmental and Social Safeguard Policies. Under the ESF, all World Bank clients have agreed to comply with ten Environmental and Social Standards (ESSs) applied to investment project lending financed by the Bank. Location. The Project will be implemented country-wide. Project Risk Ratings. The environmental and social impact assessment concluded that the project will generate mainly positive socio-economic benefits through the establishment and growth of micro and small enterprises and the support of the required infrastructure. The environmental risk of the Project is rated as moderate. The environmental aspects to be considered are those associated with the introduction of the best environmental management practices and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) standards through various training programs aimed at the development of specific skills to improve employability of job seekers, and through up scaling and diversifying vocational training. There are also environmental aspects related to the activities of project beneficiaries which they will be undertaking using in-kind transfers from the project. This may include small-scale manufacturing, livestock breeding, food processing and service delivery. While the project will not finance any physical works for which in-kind transfer of assets are to be provided, the potential environmental and social risks of such works/activities are subject of the World Bank’s due diligence during the project preparation and addressed in a set of environmental and social instruments. Present Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) will ensure that high or substantial risk activities are screened out, and those activities are supported where the potential environmental and social risks and impacts are predictable, not significant in magnitude and site-specific with low probability of serious adverse effects to human health and/or environment. The social risk is rated as moderate reflecting: (i) the potential for weak or insufficient information and engagement with targeted beneficiaries that may result in their excision from the program or in decreasing public trust in the program; (ii) possible exclusion errors in the delivery of benefits and (ii) low capacity of local SES staff through which the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population (MLSPP) is planning to implement the Project. Overall, the Project does not entail negative social impacts as it aims to improve employment opportunities among vulnerable groups of jobseekers: youth, women, internally displaced people, people with disabilities, unskilled people, war veterans, unemployed persons released from places of detention, family members of martyrs (people killed during inter-ethnic and territorial conflicts), and beneficiaries of the Targeted State Social Assistance (TSSA) program. The Project will achieve this primarily through improving the effectiveness and enhancing the scale of the existing AzSEP and by strengthening the capacity of SES to deliver employment services. The interventions will be in the form of (i) expanding the program scale and scope of support, (ii) testing the introduction of complementary business support services for SEP beneficiaries, (iii) improving the coordination between the AzSEP and the TSSA program, (iv) strengthening SES’s capacity to deliver employment services (v) and (vi) foster job-relevant skills development through upscaling and diversifying vocational training. At this stage, data on the potential beneficiaries are not known. There is a risk for exclusion error and inclusion error. Exclusion error fails to target people that actually need to benefit, whereas, inclusion error may cause inefficient targeting of the project beneficiaries. From the social perspective exclusion error is more significant. Also, as part of Component 1, it is proposed to improve the targeting of AzSEP by a screening of individuals for their entrepreneurial attitude and knowledge to business development in sectors other than agriculture. Since not all job seekers will have the motivation or be able to become a successful entrepreneur, therefore, accessing TSSA and SES will become critical to project-affected parties. Purpose of Environmental Management Framework. The main goal of ESMF is to establish a mechanism ensuring that any potential negative environmental and related social impacts caused by implementation of the Project are avoided, minimized or mitigated. Since specific subprojects will be determined during the Project implementation based on the demand, the ESMF was found to be the most appropriate environmental due diligence instrument. The Framework ensures that the identified subprojects are correctly assessed from environmental and social point of view to meet the WB ESF and its applicable Standards, as well as Azerbaijan’s Environmental and Social Laws and Regulations for adequate mitigation of any residual and/or unavoidable impacts. The Framework serves as a guidance tool for the MLSPP, the implementing agencies, in identifying and assessing the potential environmental and social impacts of subprojects, in preparing Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs) that will summarize necessary mitigation measures to minimize or prevent potential risks, to provide guidance on environmental and social monitoring and reporting. Project potential environmental and social impacts. The ESMF identified a number of potential negative impacts that are associated with the activities undertaken by the beneficiaries of in-kind assets transfers. The environmental and social impact assessment concluded that the Project will generate mainly positive socio-economic benefits through the establishment and growth of micro and small enterprises and the support of the required infrastructure. However, there are environmental aspects related to the activities of project beneficiaries which they will be undertaking using in-kind transfers from the project, including small-scale manufacturing, livestock breeding, food processing and service delivery. While the project will not finance any physical works for which in-kind transfer of assets are to be provided, the potential environmental and social risks are addressed by this ESMF and will be addressed in detail by subproject-specific ESMPs. Such impacts might be related to waste generation, noise, dust and air pollution, impacts from possible pesticide use, health and safety risks, etc. It is expected that they will be typical for a limited range of activities (small-scale construction/rehabilitation work, agribusiness, small-scale processing, manufacturing and service) temporary in nature (during construction/rehabilitation works), site-specific, and can be easily mitigated by applying the best methods and appropriate mitigation measures. The impacts expected during the operation of the facilities will need to be mitigated by using activities identified in the national environmental documents and the relevant WB Environmental Health and Safety Guidelines (EHSG) and Good International Industry Practices (GIIP). Sub-projects that could result in temporary and/or permanent involuntary land acquisition, land use restrictions, economic activities, or access to resources because of involuntary resettlement will be not financed under the Project. Any land acquisition must be satisfied under a willing buyer – willing seller arrangement. Institutional capacities to manage environmental and social risks and impacts. The project will be implemented by the MLSPP. A Project Implementation Unit (PIU) will be established, which will be responsible for the day-to-day project management, including environmental and social management and addressing potential environmental and social risks. The Project proceeds will be made available for the PIU to hire consultants who would be adequately qualified to cover aspects related to proper environmental management, OHS and introduction of provisions of EHSG and GIIP as part of the training programs and advisory services under the project. In addition, a training session will be delivered to the PIU staff and consultants to raise awareness on the provisions and requirements of the ESF, including environmental and social standards to be applied to the World Bank-supported operations, and specifically to the proposed project. Environmental and social monitoring. Environmental and social monitoring during the implementation of sub-projects shall contain information on key environmental and social aspects of sub-projects, their impact on the environment, social consequences of impacts and the effectiveness of measures taken to mitigate the consequences. Monitoring reports during the project implementation will provide information on key environmental and social aspects of the project activities, especially regarding environmental impacts and the effectiveness of mitigation measures. Such information will allow the PIU and the World Bank to evaluate the success of measures to mitigate the consequences within the framework of project supervision, and allow, if necessary, to take corrective actions. Component 3 will support Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) activities to track, document and communicate the progress and results of the project. An M&E team within MLSPP PIU will be responsible for overall compilation of progress and results. This Component will finance MLSPP PIU to prepare project reporting—semi-annual reports and quarterly unaudited IFRs—that will be submitted to the World Bank. This Component will also finance midline and end line project monitoring surveys to assess the PDO-level results indicators. MLSPP PIU will be responsible for producing a completion report. Monitoring of the implementation of environmental and social measures shall be carried out by environmental specialists of the PIU. Representatives of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources (MENR) may also be involved in monitoring. The aim is to verify the main points of compliance with the ESMF, the progress of implementation, the scope of consultations and the participation of local communities. The standard checklist prepared during the evaluation studies will be used for the activities report. In the medium term of the project implementation and at the end of the project, an independent audit will be carried out in the field of environmental, social, health and safety. The audits are necessary to ensure that (i) the ESMF has been properly implemented and (ii) mitigation measures are identified and implemented accordingly. The audit will be able to identify any amendments to the approach to the ESMF to improve its effectiveness. Monitoring for social issues will be done on a continuous basis by the social specialist of the PIU to ensure adequate screening of all activities, exclusion of any activities that may cause land acquisition, resettlement or other negative impacts on assets or livelihoods of project affected persons, adherence to the provisions of this ESMF, as well as implementation of the activities included in the project Stakeholder Engagement Plan, comprehensive and inclusive outreach, functioning of the grievance redress mechanism, and any measures taken to prevent exclusion of and maximize participation of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in project consultations. Monitoring will also cover health and labor issues as outlined in the project Labor Management Procedure (LMP). Where issues or noncompliance are identified, the mitigation measures will be proposed in the progress reports or in separate Corrective Action Plans (CAP). Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM). The GRM will be established and maintained by PIU to ensure a functional, transparent and responsive system for handling grievances. Where appropriate, this system can be mainstream to other activities of the SES beyond those of the current project to strengthen government systems. In this mechanism beneficiaries and citizens can turn to register any grievances on all issues that tackle within any infrastructure. The PIU social safeguard specialist will keep a record of the grievances received. This will be done by applying multiple absorption channels such as mail, email, phone, project website, personal delivery. Every grievance shall be tracked and assessed if any progress is being made to resolve them. Given that the project will deal with a high number of beneficiaries, ideally an electronic system will be put in place for entering, tracking and monitoring grievances. The project monitoring and evaluation information system should also include indicators to measure grievance monitoring and resolution. ESMF Public consultations and information disclosure. The Project is being prepared under the World Bank’s new ESF, which came into effect on October 1, 2018, replacing the Bank’s Environmental and Social Safeguard Policies. Under the ESF, all World Bank clients have agreed to comply with ten Environmental and Social Standards applied to investment project lending financed by the Bank. On October 11-12, 2019 MLSPP, as part of the preparation of the ESMF and social assessment, the consultant team conducted meetings with focus groups in two project districts (Binagadi, Baku city and Khachmaz region). Primary data collection included focus group discussions and interviews in Baku and rural regions. Selected respondents included: beneficiaries of existing self-employment program, current applicants of the AzSEP, local authorities (in particular local SES centers), regional social workers/case officers. Minutes of the meetings with focus groups are presented in Annex 13. Upon approval of the draft ESMF by the World Bank, the document was posted on the MSLPP website on December 20,2019 (www.sosial.gov.az/). The public consultation meetings on the draft ESMF were conducted on January,2020. The detailed meetings of the public consultaitons on the draft ESMF are presented in Annex 14. The finalized Azerbaijani and English versions are also posted on the web page of the MSLPP. The ESMF will be used by respective government agencies and other Project stakeholders during the Project implementation. Yüklə 13,37 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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