Key Concepts

Income Restoration

Restoration of the incomes of all affected persons is one of the key objectives of the Bank's resettlement policy. It requires that after resettlement, all of the affected persons should have incomes which are at least equivalent to their pre-project income levels.

Restoration of incomes, the standards of living and the productivity levels of the affected persons constitutes the core of the Bank's resettlement policy. Though resettlement programs should be designed to help improve the standards of living and income levels of the affected population, they must minimally be restored. Resettlement planning is one of the main mechanisms through which the Bank and the Borrower work towards ensuring that the incomes of all categories of affected persons are restored after resettlement.

Replacement Cost

The Bank's policies require that all affected assets (land and structures) are compensated at their replacement cost. Replacement cost of an affected asset is equivalent to the amount required to replace the asset in its existing condition. Since in most of the Borrower countries, and especially at the project sites, there may not be markets in old housing that function well, the replacement cost of structures should be equal to the cost of constructing/purchasing a new structure, without making any deductions for depreciation.

The legal frameworks of many countries do not provide compensation at replacement cost. The Bank accepts a combination of compensation permissible under the local legal regimes with other allowances (with variable terminology) so that the total is equal to the replacement cost of affected assets.

Squatters and Encroachers

Squatters and encroachers are persons without legal titles to the land and structures occupied / used by them. The term 'squatters' is typically used for those occupying structures for residential / commercial purposes, while 'encroachers' are those occupying land for agriculture.

The Bank's resettlement policy explicitly states that the affected persons cannot be denied compensation /resettlement assistance based on the lack of legal title. Bank projects, therefore, need to make provisions for helping squatters / encroachers achieve the objectives of the Bank's resettlement policy.

Displacement

Displacement is the impact that necessitates resettlement of affected persons. Displacement could be physical, i.e. where the affected persons are required to relocate, or economic, where the impact of loss of incomes forces the affected persons to move or to initiate alternative strategies of income restoration.

Project-Affected Persons

Persons affected by land acquisition, relocation, or loss of incomes associated with change in land use due to the project are defined as project-affected persons (PAPs).

Though project-affected persons may form the unit of impact for the purpose of baseline surveys, some of the resettlement entitlements could actually be provided to the households as units of entitlement.

Linear Resettlement

Linear resettlement is usually involved in projects producing linear patterns of land acquisition (highways, railways, canals, power transmission lines, etc.). It is differentiated from site-specific resettlement because of the problems that arise when resettlement actions have to be coordinated across multiple jurisdictions and different cultural and linguistic areas.

Urban Resettlement

Resettlement in urban or peri-urban settings is usually referred to as urban resettlement. It is differentiated from rural resettlement since the types of problems involved and the strategies proposed to address them are substantially different from those in rural resettlement.

Indigenous Peoples

Project where resettlement of indigenous peoples is required need to be prepared and implemented with extreme sensitivity to the socio-cultural requirements of indigenous groups. The Bank's  OP/BP 4.10  deals with issues in development projects with indigenous peoples. Where IPs need to be resettled in a project, the requirements of OP/BP 4.12 and OP/BP 4.10 need to be complied with.

Baseline Surveys

The term 'baseline surveys' refers to two types of surveys that are ideally conducted early in the resettlement planning process:

1. a census of all affected persons and assets, and
   
   
2. a survey of the socio-economic conditions of the affected persons.

Baselines surveys are essential since:

1. they form the basis for identifying the various types of project impacts
   
   
2. they are a vital guide to designing effective resettlement programs
   
   
3. they constitute a baseline against which the incomes and standards of living of PAPs after the project can be measured.
   
   
4. they form the basis of all resettlement planning.

The entitlement policies, costs and budgets, institutional arrangements for implementation, etc. can only be worked out once the baseline surveys are completed.