Environmental & Social Management Framework - About ...

Environmental and Social Management Framework(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)Conduct primary field investigations on the environmental and socialsetting in the feasibility study candidates;Identification of local adverse environmental and social impacts andstrategies of how they could be minimized or mitigated;Identification of positive impacts and how they could be enhanced;Incorporation of the consultation and field observation findings/recordsinto the proposed designs;Establishment of indicators and mechanisms for monitoring andevaluation; and,Discussions with the Client to identify needs for institutional strengtheningwith respect to the EA arrangements.The environmental and social screening criteria to identify the sub-project’senvironmental and social impacts have been discussed with the Client and withWorld Bank and are integrated in this ESMF. The social screening criteria willidentify the loss of land, assets, structures, livelihoods, the willingness of affectedpeople/communities to voluntarily donate any required land, the presence ofindigenous, ethnic, vulnerable people and other significant social impacts. Socialscreening will also enable the categorization of subprojects based on their levelsof impacts. Where the extent of adverse social impacts is minor and nodisplacement or loss of assets or livelihoods expected, no further action isrequired. However, where the social screening indicates that land acquisition,relocation, or loss of assets is unavoidable, appropriate mitigation instruments(sub-project resettlement action plans) will need to be prepared.Environmental and social screening has been carried out as part of the feasibilitystudies for selected sub-projects. As far as the social assessment is concerned,the following approach has been adopted:(i)Identification of social Impacts in sample sub-projects: Key beneficialparameters to be assessed were enhanced access to motorable transportand social services, reduction in travel time and transport costs, andemployment opportunities for work on project through beneficiarycommunities. On the perception of adverse project, key parametersassessed were land acquisition, compensation and resettlement.(ii) Development of Social Impact Management Guidelines: The social issuesidentified provided the analytical underpinnings for preparing appropriatemitigation strategies. A Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) has beenprepared to define the policy and institutional framework to guide thecompensation/entitlement for loss of land, assets, livelihoods and othersocial impacts. Similarly, a Vulnerable Community Development Plan(VCDF) has been prepared to address impacts on vulnerable groups andensure their inclusion in the project activities.(iii) The ESMF is applicable to all proposed subproject activities and through allstages of the subproject cycle: pre-planning, planning and design,implementation, and post-implementation.1.3.3 Sources of InformationRelated to specific aspects, sources of information were as follows:(a) Physical Resources• Land, Water and Air• Maps (thematic / GIS maps), Satellite images etc.• Survey data from geological and hydrological studiesApril 2007 Chapter 1-5