Safeguards and CDD

World Bank Safeguard policies are designed to prevent and mitigate undue harm to people and their environment in the development process. As the Bank’s environmental and social agendas have evolved, its safeguard policies have also shifted from focusing on mitigating the potential environmental and social damage towards a more comprehensive focus on sustainability of projects (a shift from do no harm towards do good).  As such, the Bank’s social and environmental safeguard policies seek to ensure that relevant measures, capacities and processes are in place, and that their application helps Bank’s borrowers decide what actions and programs need to be taken to ensure the environmental and social soundness of projects. Safeguard policies also provide a platform for the participation of stakeholders in project design and selection, and have been an important instrument for building ownership among local populations.

World Bank’s 10 + 1 safeguard policies:

OP 4.01 Environmental Assessment
OP 4.04 Natural Habitats
OP 4.09 Pest Management
OPN 11.03 Cultural Property
OP 4.12 Involuntary Resettlement
OD 4.20 Indigenous Peoples
OP 4.36 Forestry
OP 4.37 Safety of Dams
OP 7.50 Projects on International Waterways
OP 7.60 Projects in Disputed Areas
BP 17.50 Public Disclosure

Community Driven Development (CDD) programs empower local communities and local governments with control over decision-making and investment resources.  However, despite community involvement, cumulative negative environmental and social impact of CDD subprojects can be substantial, especially with regard to changes in land use for livestock, irrigation and reforestation projects.  Also there is some danger that such impacts, particularly in resettlement cases, may not be recognized and suitably mitigated.  In a recent OED evaluation of CDD, 70% of projects in the study sample of 84 were judged “moderately satisfactory” and above for their compliance at entry and implementation. This is not adequate given Bank’s emphasis on “zero tolerance.” The study also found that 9% of Category B and 34% of Category C projects from the sample were misclassified.  

A significant challenge in ensuring environmental and social sustainability in CDD is the fact that the location and design of the eventual subprojects are not known at project appraisal, though the types of potential subprojects may be fairly well-defined.  As a result, traditional safeguards instruments (e.g. an environmental assessment or resettlement action plan) cannot be prepared before appraisal, and safeguards measures to support environmental and social sustainability can only be established during project implementation. Thus, there is a need for greater attention to safeguards implementation, and a need for more supervision mechanisms and resources. 

Resources:

Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF): Toolkit for safeguard aspects of World Bank projects with multiple, small-scale subprojects (Developed by the AFR region)

World Bank Website on Safeguard Policies 

Manual for Safeguard Compliance in Community Driven Development Projects (MNA region)

Mainstreaming Safeguard Policy Compliance Within Community-Driven Development Initiatives (CDDs) in World Bank-Funded Operations: An Exploratory Study Focusing on Africa - Part I . MAy 2001

Case Study on the Safeguard Compliance in the ZAMSIF -Zambia Social Investment Fund - Part II , May 2001