The World Bank
Public Financial Management Improvement Project Phase 2 (P177742)
Appraisal Environmental and Social Review Summary
Appraisal Stage
(ESRS Appraisal Stage)
Public Disclosure
Date Prepared/Updated: 02/16/2022 | Report No: ESRSA01834
Feb 16, 2022 Page 1 of 9
The World Bank
Public Financial Management Improvement Project Phase 2 (P177742)
BASIC INFORMATION
A. Basic Project Data
Country Region Project ID Parent Project ID (if any)
West Bank and Gaza MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH P177742
AFRICA
Project Name Public Financial Management Improvement Project Phase 2
Practice Area (Lead) Financing Instrument Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date
Governance Investment Project 2/7/2022 3/30/2022
Financing
Borrower(s) Implementing Agency(ies)
Ministry of Finance High Council for Public
Procurement Policies
Proposed Development Objective
Public Disclosure
The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to improve public financial management, procurement management, and
data use in the Palestinian Authority.
Financing (in USD Million) Amount
Total Project Cost 8.00
B. Is the project being prepared in a Situation of Urgent Need of Assistance or Capacity Constraints, as per Bank IPF
Policy, para. 12?
No
C. Summary Description of Proposed Project [including overview of Country, Sectoral & Institutional Contexts and
Relationship to CPF]
The project will continue with the PFM reforms started under the PFMI project (P162850) with work on expenditure
management, financial accountability, and procurement management. In addition, there will be new work on reforms
to the revenue administration and statistics.
D. Environmental and Social Overview
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The World Bank
Public Financial Management Improvement Project Phase 2 (P177742)
D.1. Detailed project location(s) and salient physical characteristics relevant to the E&S assessment [geographic,
environmental, social]
The PFMI Phase 2 Project will support developing and enhancing systems and building institutional capacity for
improving budget expenditure management and control, improving financial accountability, enhancing revenue
mobilization and administration, improving public procurement management, and closing critical data gaps and
modernize statistics production.
Interventions supported by the project will be applicable across the West Bank. A series of training activities will be
delivered by individual consultants or through consultancy firms. While some of these will be online, there may be
some face-to-face training sessions that may entail risk of exposure to COVID-19. The project will not finance any civil
works and hence there are no environmental and social (E&S) risks associated with physical infrastructure
development. Minor environmental risk related to the end-of-life disposal of e-waste is expected where supplying IT
equipment to support the digitalization of the PFM system.
D. 2. Borrower’s Institutional Capacity
The Project will be implemented and led by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and High Council for Public Procurement
Policies (HCPPP), and will involve other ministries on specific components, the State Audit and Administrative Control
Bureau (SAACB) and Palestinian Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) for Component 2 and Palestinian Central Bureau
of Statistics (PCBS) for Component 5.
A Project Management Unit (PMU) housed in the Directorate General of International Relations & Projects (DGIRP) at
the MOF will support project implementation for all of the Project components. This PMU also already supporting the
World Bank financed Public Financial Management Improvement Project Phase 1 (PFMI Phase 1, P162850). However,
Public Disclosure
as the PFMI Phase 1 project was categorized as Category C with no environmental or social works during the
implementation no environmental or social officer was assigned for PFMI Phase 1. As a result, PMU didn’t develop
any environmental and social capacity to address the potential ESF risks identified under PFM Phase 2. Therefore, for
implmentation of the PFM phase 2 this capacity needs to be developed.
On the other hand, the MOF hosts another PMU that oversees the implementation of the West Bank Emergency
Social Protection COVID-19 Response Project (P174078), for which several ESF instruments were prepared and
currently are under implementation. However, the COVID-19 Response Project PMU Environmental and Social Officer
(ESO) who is in charge of the implementation of the ESF instruments for that project will not support the the PFMI
Phase 2 project.
As a result of the lack of capacity of the existing PMU with regards to ESF and given the PFM Phase 2 project potential
environmental and social risk, the PMU hired a consultant to prepare the ESF instruments including the LMP, the SEP
and the e-waste management checklist under the Project Operation Manual (POM). And to ensure proper
implementation of the ESF requirements under the PMF phase 2, the PMU will hire a part-time social officer (SO)
within one month of the project effectiveness date, the SO will be responsible for the implementation of the project
environmental and social requirements specified under the Project’s Environmental and Social Commitment Plan
(ESCP),where the SO will also assist with the implementation of the SEP, LMP.
II. SUMMARY OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL (ES) RISKS AND IMPACTS
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The World Bank
Public Financial Management Improvement Project Phase 2 (P177742)
A. Environmental and Social Risk Classification (ESRC) Low
Environmental Risk Rating Low
The Project is aimed to enhance the PFM capacity in the country, the project components consist of soft activities
related to the capacity and institutional building. The potential adverse risks and impacts on humans and the
environment are not likely to be significant. Potential health and safety risk related to exposure to COVID-19 is
anticipated to be associated to face to face training under the different components. On the other hand, Component
3 support supply of IT equipment's to enable more efficient revenue collection, where risks related to the disposal of
the IT equipment’s at the end of life, in addition to potential occupational health and safety risk and limited waste
generation related to installation of some of those equipment would be expected. The supply of the IT equipment is
not expected to have adverse impact on energy consumption. As the project potential risks and impacts are likely to
be low in magnitude and can be easily mitigated in a predictable manner, additionally the project will not finance
any civil works and hence there are no environmental and social (E&S) risks associated with physical infrastructure
development. Therefore, the project environmental risk rating will be rated to low.
Social Risk Rating Low
The project is anticipated as having overall positive social impacts. Citizens will benefit due to better economic
management and governance including for purposes of domestic revenue mobilization, budget allocation and
management, improved government procurement, and prevention of corruption and strengthened accountability.
Project interventions primarily involve systems enhancement and capacity building of institutions and in general are
not likely to cause adverse social impacts. Thesocial risks are assessed as low and primarily pertain to exclusion of i.
Public Disclosure
certain categories of users of improved systems who may not readily receive information, in accessible format,
regarding changes/systems improvements such as private sector firms/contractors (particularly small firms or firms
owned by women or vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities etc.) for government contracts (under
Component 4) or property owners (particularly women property owners and vulnerable groups such as women
headed households) in municipalities for the property tax collection pilots (under Component 3); and ii. personnel
within relevant ministries and agencies who might not be able to benefit equitably from trainings due to IT
literacy/proficiency issues or existing vulnerabilities such as physical disabilities. Additional social risks are related to
insufficient information dissemination and stakeholder engagement, particularly for strengthening accountability
and prevention of corruption measures (under Component 2); labor and working conditions; potential exposure of
government personnel to COVID-19 during trainings; potential exposure of personnel to sexual exploitation and
abuse (SEA) and sexual harassment (SH) during trainings (both online and face-to-face); and limited institutional
capacity to meet E&S management requirements. The social risks for the project will be addressed through effective
information dissemination and stakeholder engagement, in accordance with the project’s Stakeholder Engagement
Plan (SEP); labor management, in line with the Project’s Labor Management Procedures (LMP); and access to
effective grievance mechanisms (GMs, including for potential SEA/SH cases) for project beneficiaries and workers.
Finally, the PMU does not have environmental and social capacity to address the potential ESF risks identifed under
PFMI Phase 2. For the implementation of the PFMI phase 2, the PMU shall hire a Social Officer (SO) to prepare and
follow the project ESF requirements.
B. Environment and Social Standards (ESSs) that Apply to the Activities Being Considered
B.1. General Assessment
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The World Bank
Public Financial Management Improvement Project Phase 2 (P177742)
ESS1 Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts
Overview of the relevance of the Standard for the Project:
The Project has overall positive impact aiming to enhance the government’s financial management, procurement,
and statistics systems and building institutional capacity. The project activities are expected to have minor
environmental risks and impacts related to supply of IT equipment’s under the project components including
occupational health and safety risks on workers including risk of exposure to COVID-19, and generation of minor
amounts of waste related to the minor installation activities, where measures to mitigate the OHS and waste
management should be included in the technical specification of the supply bidding documents . On the other hand,
management and disposal of the expected e-waste at the end of life will be addressed in e-waste management
checklist under the PFM Project Phase 1 Operation Manual (POM), that will be updated prior the project
effectiveness date.
As stated earlier, the project has overall positive social impacts. However, there are certain risks related to exclusion
of certain beneficiary groups and categories of users of benefiting from the improved systems who may not readily
receive information, in accessible format, regarding changes/systems improvements under component 4, such as
private sector firms/contractors (particularly small firms or firms owned by women or vulnerable groups, including
persons with disabilities, government personnel etc.,) as well as some of the users of services such as disabled. These
groups could be potentially excluded from receiving project information, and participating in stakeholder
engagement. Other risks are related to potential exposure to COVID-19 during face-to-face trainings, and labor and
working conditions. To address these risks, MoF has prepared the Project’s SEP. The MoF will disclose on its website
project documents including the SEP, and any project updates and information and project GRM in Arabic language.
Public Disclosure
Where the use of internet options are not available, conventional methods will be used for informing vulnerable
groups and engaging them. The SEP will be reviewed and cleared by the Bank, and disclosed in-country and on the
Bank system prior to project appraisal date. The ministry will also prepare the project LMP. The LMP will be consulted
upon, reviewed and cleared by the Bank, and disclosed in-country and on the Bank system within one month of the
project effectiveness date. MoF will have effective GMs for Project workers and and beneficiaries including for any
potential cases of SEA/SH.
The PMU will hire a part-time social officer within one month of the project effectiveness date, for the
implementation of the project environmental and social requirements as specified under the Project’s Environmental
and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP). The ESCP has been prepared by the MOF, and will be finalized, cleared by the
Bank and disclosed prior the project appraisal date.
The PMU will comply with measures and actions set out in the Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP). It
will also implement the SEP and LMP in the proposed timeline.
ESS10 Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure
A Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) has been prepared for the project. SEP will be reviewed and cleared by the
Bank and disclosed in country and on the Bank’s system prior to appraisal. The SEP includes a comprehensive
identification of various categories of stakeholders and a methodology for information sharing and disclosure and for
ongoing consultation with all stakeholders, including to those who may not have an easy access to the information,
throughout the project. The SEP includes details of a project GM and Grievances will be handled at the project’s level
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The World Bank
Public Financial Management Improvement Project Phase 2 (P177742)
by the Social Officer (SO), who will be hired within one month of the project effectiveness date. Stakeholders can use
the GM to submit complaints related to the overall management and implementation of the project. The PMU will
assign a GM telephone number and email address. The SO will communicate GM details to project affected parties
(PAPs) during stakeholder engagement activities and through appropriate methods. The SO will keep a log of the
complaints at hand. Reports on grievances and complaints will be consolidated into semi-annual project progress
reports prepared by the PMU for the World Bank. The GMs will also include special features to help accept and
address any SEA/SH related complaints, including referral mechanisms. The SEP will be prepared, consulted upon,
reviewed and cleared by the Bank and disclosed prior to project appraisal. The SEP will be a ‘living’ document and
hence, may be updated periodically during project implementation. Finally, stakeholder consultation meetings shall
be conducted in line with the national restrictions regarding public gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic and the
World Bank’s guidance note on “Public Consultations and Stakeholder Engagement in World Bank-supported
operations when there are constraints on conducting public meetings”.
B.2. Specific Risks and Impacts
A brief description of the potential environmental and social risks and impacts relevant to the Project.
ESS2 Labor and Working Conditions
This ESS4 is relevant to the project The project workers will include direct workers (e.g. PMU staff), contracted
workers (e.g. for consultancy services), and primary supply workers (e.g. for project equipment and other materials).
An assessment of project workers will be done during project preparation. The primary labor risks at appraisal stage
are related to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and working conditions. Stand-alone project LMP will be
Public Disclosure
prepared and will cover an assessment of potential labor related risks; an overview of labor regulations, policies and
procedures; an assessment of and plan to prevent GBV/SEA and SH proportionate to the level of risk; contract terms
and conditions; working age regulations; the Ministry of Health guideline and the World Health Organization (WHO)
guidelines in response to COVID-19, and other requirements of ESS2. The LMP will also incorporate a section on OHS.
In line with the requirements of ESS2 a workers’ GM, separate from the GM established under ESS10, will be
designed as part of the LMP and operationalized.
Finally, in addition to the project workers, some civil servants from implementing agencies may work in connection
(full-time or part-time) with the project without being formally transferred to the project. ESS2 will not apply to such
workers, and they will remain subject to the terms and conditions of their employment with the implementing
agencies. However, the provisions of ESS2 related to protection in the work force (e.g. minimum age and forced
labor) and OHS will apply to such employees.
ESS3 Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention and Management
This standard is relevant to the project, where IT equipment's are expected to be purchased under the different
project Components. The energy consumption due to introduction of IT equipment is not expected to increase
significantly, the components design should consider including energy efficiency in the technical specifications of the
equipment's supply bidding documents.
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The World Bank
Public Financial Management Improvement Project Phase 2 (P177742)
On the other hand, guidelines for management and disposal of the equipment's at the end of life should be included
in an e-waste management checklist prepared under the updated POM, while measures to handle and dispose the
minor waste quantities that are expected during installation should be included in the technical specification of the
equipment's supply bidding documents.
ESS4 Community Health and Safety
ESS4 is relevant due to potential risk of exposure to Covid-19 and potential exposure of beneficiaries to
communicable diseases. To minimize these risks, MoF will prepare and Implement health and safety measures. ESS4
is also relevant due to potential impacts on persons with disabilities including, for example, personnel receiving
trainings and individuals and firms (owned/managed by persons with disabilities), who may want to apply/compete
for government contracts. Potential impacts on persons with disabilities will be assessed during preparation and
requisite measures will be included into the design of relevant activities. Measures to ensure access to information
for (in preferred/appropriate format) and engagement of persons with disabilities, throughout the life of the project,
will be included in the project SEP. The project GM will include special tools for handling and addressing SEA/SH
cases, including strengthening referral pathways within the GM. The project level GM will also include confidential
reporting and ethical documentation of SEA/SH cases.
ESS5 Land Acquisition, Restrictions on Land Use and Involuntary Resettlement
Public Disclosure
ESS5 is not relevant. There is no land acquisition required under the project.
ESS6 Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources
ESS6 is not relevant. There is no civil works required under the project
ESS7 Indigenous Peoples/Sub-Saharan African Historically Underserved Traditional Local Communities
ESS7 is not currently relevant. No population meeting the definition of ESS7 will be affected under this project.
ESS8 Cultural Heritage
ESS8 is not currently relevant. No tangible or untangle cultural heritage will be impacted by the project activities.
ESS9 Financial Intermediaries
Not currently relevant. There are no financial intermediaries that are part of the project.
C. Legal Operational Policies that Apply
OP 7.50 Projects on International Waterways No
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The World Bank
Public Financial Management Improvement Project Phase 2 (P177742)
OP 7.60 Projects in Disputed Areas No
B.3. Reliance on Borrower’s policy, legal and institutional framework, relevant to the Project risks and impacts
Is this project being prepared for use of Borrower Framework? No
Areas where “Use of Borrower Framework” is being considered:
Use of the Borrower Framework is not considered. The program will rely on the Bank’s framework for management
of environmental and social aspects, and this will be implemented through the PMU.
IV. CONTACT POINTS
World Bank
Contact: Riham Hussein Title: Senior Governance Specialist
Telephone No: 5366+6537 / 972-2-236-6537 Email: rhussein2@worldbank.org
Public Disclosure
Contact: Nataliya Biletska Title: Senior Public Sector Specialist
Telephone No: +1-202-473-3595 Email: nbiletska@worldbank.org
Contact: Lina Fateh Allah Abdelmauty Rjoub Title: Senior Procurement Specialist
Telephone No: Email: ltutunji@worldbank.org
Borrower/Client/Recipient
Borrower: Ministry of Finance
Implementing Agency(ies)
Implementing Agency: High Council for Public Procurement Policies
V. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
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The World Bank
Public Financial Management Improvement Project Phase 2 (P177742)
The World Bank
1818 H Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20433
Telephone: (202) 473-1000
Web: http://www.worldbank.org/projects
VI. APPROVAL
Task Team Leader(s): Nataliya Biletska, Lina Fateh Allah Abdelmauty Rjoub, Riham Hussein
Practice Manager (ENR/Social) Lia Carol Sieghart Cleared on 24-Jan-2022 at 12:44:38 GMT-05:00
Public Disclosure
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