The World Bank Cameroon Social Safety Nets (P128534) REPORT NO.: RES53306 RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF CAMEROON SOCIAL SAFETY NETS APPROVED ON MARCH 21, 2013 TO THE REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON SOCIAL PROTECTION & JOBS WESTERN AND CENTRAL AFRICA Regional Vice President: Ousmane Diagana Country Director: Abdoulaye Seck Regional Director: Dena Ringold Practice Manager/Manager: Camilla Holmemo Task Team Leader(s): Erkin Mamadaliev, Paula Maria Cerutti The World Bank Cameroon Social Safety Nets (P128534) ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AF Additional Financing AFD French Development Agency (Agence française de développement) CT Cash Transfer ECT Emergency Cash Transfer FCFA Franc of the Financial Community of Africa IDA International Development Association LIPW Labor Intensive Public Works MINEPAT Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development (Ministère de l’Economie, de la Planification et de l’Aménagement du Territoire) MIS Management Information System PDO Project Development Objective PIU Project Implementation Unit SSNP Social Safety Nets Project UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund WHR Window for Host Communities and Refugees The World Bank Cameroon Social Safety Nets (P128534) BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID Financing Instrument P128534 Investment Project Financing Original EA Category Current EA Category Partial Assessment (B) Partial Assessment (B) Approval Date Current Closing Date 21-Mar-2013 30-Dec-2022 Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency THE REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO The project development objective (PDO) is to support the establishment of a basic national safety net system including piloting targeted cash transfers and public works programs for the poorest and most vulnerable people in participating areas within the Recipient's territory. OPS_TABLE_PDO_CURRENTPDO Summary Status of Financing (US$, Millions) Net Ln/Cr/Tf Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed IDA-62230 01-May-2018 09-Apr-2019 27-Jun-2019 30-Dec-2022 30.00 25.93 .91 IDA-D2980 01-May-2018 09-Apr-2019 27-Jun-2019 30-Dec-2022 30.00 27.42 .97 IDA-52240 21-Mar-2013 02-Apr-2014 27-Jun-2014 31-Dec-2019 49.97 45.60 0 The World Bank Cameroon Social Safety Nets (P128534) Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No I. PROJECT STATUS AND RATIONALE FOR RESTRUCTURING A. Project status 1. This Restructuring Paper seeks the approval of the Country Director to introduce additional activities under component 2 “Cash Transfer Program” of the Cameroon Social Safety Nets Project (SSNP). By its closing date of December 30, 2022, the project will have been in effect for 9 years and 9 months. The project is on track to achieve its objectives and most of the Project Development Objective (PDO) indicators have already been met. 2. The SSNP original financing in the amount of US$50 million equivalent (Credit 5224-CM) was approved by the World Bank on March 21, 2013 and became effective on June 27, 2014. The original financing closed on December 31, 2019 and was fully disbursed. The project covered more than 500,000 individual beneficiaries, exceeding its original target of 220,000 beneficiaries. This intervention was also one of the instruments used by the Government of Cameroon to respond to the displacement crisis in the northern part of the country. 3. In 2018, the SSNP received an additional financing (AF) of US$60 million (US$30 million Grant D2980-CM from IDA-18 Window for Host Communities and Refugees [WHR] and US$30 million Credit 6223-CM) to scale up the project and consolidate the national safety net system. The AF was designed to expand cash transfers and the labor-intensive public works program to regions hosting refugees, as well as to other regions affected by poverty and fragility. The interventions under the SSNP were further replicated using funding from the French Development Agency (AFD) and the government to expand to other regions and communities in Cameroon not included in the AF. By 2022 the overall program is expected to cover more than 291,500 households (more than 1.7 million individual beneficiaries) in 151 communes. 4. The pace of the AF implementation has continuously improved since early 2021. Despite delays in payments to beneficiaries between January and June 2022 due to the suspension of advances to designated accounts across the Bank's portfolio in Cameroon, the project is on track to make all payments to beneficiaries by the end of the project in accordance with the revised implementation and payment schedules. To date, the project has achieved the following: a. Under Component 1 “Development of a national safety net system”, the project has established and continuously refined its: (i) targeting system for recipients of cash transfers (CTs), emergency cash transfers (ECT), and labor- intensive public works program (LIPWP); (ii) payment system introducing electronic payments for the first time to deliver the COVID-19 emergency cash transfer; (iii) management information system (MIS) to manage the beneficiary registry of households; and (iv) monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system, as well as a grievance redress mechanism and a communications strategy. The World Bank Cameroon Social Safety Nets (P128534) b. Under Component 2 “Cash transfer program”, the project has supported 111,500 households through CTs, including 87,000 households through regular CTs and 24,500 households through ECTs. Households receiving regular CTs benefit from accompanying measures comprising: (i) human capital development through community awareness campaigns; and (ii) training to develop or scale up income-generating activities (IGAs). Beneficiaries are trained in IGAs which they self-select, such as raising chicken and small ruminants, agriculture, and retail. The accompanying measures are currently enhanced further to address early childhood development (ECD), in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). c. Under Component 3 “Labor Intensive Public Works Program (LIPWP)”, 60,500 people have benefited from public works activities. The activities of LIPWP have made it possible to: (i) rehabilitate rural roads; (ii) build water pools for pastoral or pisciculture purposes; (iii) build water management diversion bays, (d) build; (iv) protective dikes; (v) clean up urban areas; and (vi) develop irrigation canals. The work carried out has facilitated the movement of people and goods, increased economic activity, and improved environmental hygiene in urban 5. There are no outstanding audit reports for the project. B. Rationale for restructuring 6. The project is running a sizable balance (FCFA 3.9 billion or about US$5.5 million under the AF) after all planned activities will have been implemented. This balance was realized due to favorable currency exchange rates and lower actual expenditure in the categories of expenditure other than cash transfers. In view of the overlapping crises, among others, resulting in rising food and fuel prices, and the increase in the number of refugees in the municipalities that host refugees, the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) has drawn up, together with the World Bank task team, a proposal for implementing additional activities. The Government of Cameroon in its letter dated September 28, 2022, requested a restructuring of the project that would allow using the remaining funds to implement these additional activities with the dual objective of (i) supporting urban households to mitigate the negative impact of the rising food prices, and (ii) increasing the number of beneficiaries among refugee and host communities in line with the objective of the IDA WHR window. The implementation of the proposed additional activities is expected to increase the development impact of the project by supporting an augmented total number of beneficiaries and providing them with additional support against the backdrop of rising cost of basic necessities. II. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED CHANGES 7. Based on the rationale presented above, the proposed restructuring would introduce the following changes to the component 2 “Cash Transfer Program”: a. Additional cash transfers for the benefit of all households currently enrolled in regular CT and ECT programs in the cities of Douala, Yaoundé, Bafoussam and Ebolowa to help mitigate shocks due to the rising prices of food and other basic necessities on households. These activities will be funded under the Credit 6223-CM Credit and will benefit 15,000 households. Each beneficiary household will receive an additional amount of 90,000 FCFA in two installments of 45,000 FCFA. The World Bank Cameroon Social Safety Nets (P128534) b. Cash transfers to newly enrolled households among refugees and host communities in the municipalities in the East and Adamawa regions which have received a large number of refugees. These activities will be funded under the Grant D2980-CM and will benefit 10,000 households. Each beneficiary household will receive an amount of 180,000 FCFA in two installments of 90,000 FCFA. 8. The proposed additional activities and the methodology for their implementation were validated by the Project Steering Committee on August 16, 2022. This methodology includes targeting procedures for the two interventions listed in paragraph 6, which are detailed in a technical note prepared by the PIU and discussed with the Bank. All other applicable procedures, including fiduciary, monitoring and evaluation, environmental and social, and reporting are the same as those used for the implementation of component 2 of the SSNP and as laid out in the Project Implementation Manual. 9. The proposed restructuring will necessitate a reallocation from expenditure Category 1 of the Project to Category 2 as presented in Section IV Detailed Changes below. More precisely, it will reallocate (i) EUR 1,804,540 from Credit 6223-CM Category 1 to its Category 2, and (ii) XDR 907,104 from Grant D2980-CM Category 1 to its Category 2. III. SUMMARY OF CHANGES Changed Not Changed Results Framework ✔ Reallocation between Disbursement Categories ✔ Implementing Agency ✔ DDO Status ✔ Project's Development Objectives ✔ PBCs ✔ Components and Cost ✔ Loan Closing Date(s) ✔ Cancellations Proposed ✔ Disbursements Arrangements ✔ Disbursement Estimates ✔ Overall Risk Rating ✔ Safeguard Policies Triggered ✔ EA category ✔ Legal Covenants ✔ Institutional Arrangements ✔ Financial Management ✔ The World Bank Cameroon Social Safety Nets (P128534) Procurement ✔ Implementation Schedule ✔ Other Change(s) ✔ Economic and Financial Analysis ✔ Technical Analysis ✔ Social Analysis ✔ Environmental Analysis ✔ IV. DETAILED CHANGE(S) OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_REALLOCATION _TABLE REALLOCATION BETWEEN DISBURSEMENT CATEGORIES Financing % Current Allocation Actuals + Committed Proposed Allocation (Type Total) Current Proposed IDA-62230-001 | Currency: EUR iLap Category Sequence No: 1 Current Expenditure Category: GD,WK,NCS,CS,TRN,OC 10,800,000.00 7,221,223.76 8,995,460.00 100.00 100.00 iLap Category Sequence No: 2 Current Expenditure Category: CASH TRANSFER PART B1b 13,800,000.00 9,883,242.90 15,604,540.00 100.00 100.00 Total 24,600,000.00 17,104,466.66 24,600,000.00 IDA-D2980-001 | Currency: XDR iLap Category Sequence No: 1 Current Expenditure Category: GD,WK,NCS,CS,TRN,OC 6,700,000.00 4,435,573.42 5,792,896.00 100.00 100.00 iLap Category Sequence No: 2 Current Expenditure Category: CASH TRANSFER PART B1b The World Bank Cameroon Social Safety Nets (P128534) 14,100,000.00 9,070,494.53 15,007,104.00 100.00 100.00 Total 20,800,000.00 13,506,067.95 20,800,000.00 . The World Bank Cameroon Social Safety Nets (P128534) . Results framework COUNTRY: Cameroon Cameroon Social Safety Nets Project Development Objectives(s) The project development objective (PDO) is to support the establishment of a basic national safety net system including piloting targeted cash transfers and public works programs for the poorest and most vulnerable people in participating areas within the Recipient's territory. Project Development Objective Indicators by Objectives/ Outcomes RESULT_FRAME_TBL_PDO Indicator Name PBC Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 5 Establishment of a national safety net system Development and implementation of an effective targeting No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes mechanism for cash transfer programs (Yes/No) Development and implementation of a functional and effective MIS No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes system for the cash transfer and public works programs (Yes/No) Creation and implementation of a No Yes permanent safety net The World Bank Cameroon Social Safety Nets (P128534) RESULT_FRAME_TBL_PDO Indicator Name PBC Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 5 institution within the Government (Yes/No) Cash Transfer and Public Works Programs reach the poor and improve their living conditions The share of beneficiary households (of both cash transfer and public works 0.00 0.00 50.00 60.00 70.00 70.00 70.00 program) who live below the poverty line (Percentage) Cash Transfer Program 0.00 70.00 (Percentage) THIMO/Cash for Work 0.00 70.00 Program (Percentage) The per capita consumption level of households 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 15.00 0.00 15.00 benefitting from cash transfers (Percentage) Coverage of the population by the Cash Transfer and Public Works Programs Direct project beneficiaries 0.00 834,000.00 (Number) Action: This indicator has been Revised Female beneficiaries 0.00 51.90 (Percentage) PDO Table SPACE The World Bank Cameroon Social Safety Nets (P128534) Intermediate Results Indicators by Components RESULT_FRAME_TBL_IO Indicator Name PBC Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 5 Laying the Foundations of a Safety Net System and Supporting Project Management Cash transfer payment system developed and No No Yes No No Yes Yes implemented (Yes/No) Monitoring and evaluation system developed and No No Yes No No Yes Yes implemented (Yes/No) Frequency of publication of monitoring reports 0.00 6.00 (Number) Program management expenses as share of total 0.00 0.00 0.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 program (Percentage) of which cash transfers management expenses 0.00 20.00 (Percentage) of which emergency cash transfers management 0.00 15.00 expenses (Percentage) of which Labor-Intensive Public Works 0.00 50.00 management expenses (Percentage) Grievances registered 0.00 80.00 related to delivery of The World Bank Cameroon Social Safety Nets (P128534) RESULT_FRAME_TBL_IO Indicator Name PBC Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 5 project benefits addressed (%) (Percentage) Cash Transfer Program with Accompanying Measures to Boost Household Productivity Households benefitting from regular cash transfer 0.00 0.00 5,000.00 20,000.00 40,000.00 40,000.00 82,000.00 program (Number) Refugee beneficiary households benefitting 0.00 8,000.00 from regular cash transfers (Number) Timely payments of regular 0.00 0.00 80.00 80.00 80.00 80.00 80.00 cash transfers (Percentage) Beneficiary households of regular cash transfers participating in 0.00 80.00 accompanying measures (Percentage) Refugee beneficiary households benefitting 0.00 80.00 from accompanying measures (Percentage) Households benefiting from the emergency cash 0.00 18,000.00 transfers program (Number) Action: This indicator has been Revised The World Bank Cameroon Social Safety Nets (P128534) RESULT_FRAME_TBL_IO Indicator Name PBC Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 5 Refugee beneficiary households benefitting 0.00 2,500.00 from emergency transfers (Number) Timely payments of emergency cash transfers 0.00 80.00 (Percentage) Beneficiary households of regular cash transfers who have adopted essential 0.00 80.00 family practices (Percentage) Refugee households registered in the 0.00 10,000.00 Management Information System (Number) Public Works Program Pilot Number of effective days 0.00 0.00 0.00 60.00 60.00 60.00 3,180,000.00 worked (Number) Timely payment of LIPW 0.00 80.00 workers (Percentage) Refugees that are direct LIPW beneficiaries 0.00 8,500.00 (Number) Of which women (%) 0.00 50.00 (Percentage) The World Bank Cameroon Social Safety Nets (P128534) RESULT_FRAME_TBL_IO Indicator Name PBC Baseline Intermediate Targets End Target 1 2 3 4 5 Total direct beneficiaries of 0.00 53,000.00 LIPW (Number) Of which women 0.00 50.00 (Percentage) Number of new community assets created or existing 0.00 0.00 0.00 60.00 130.00 200.00 315.00 assets maintained (Number) Refugees registered in the Management Information System MIS for the 0.00 17,000.00 LIPW/Cash for Work program (Number) IO Table SPACE Click here to enter text. The World Bank Cameroon Social Safety Nets (P128534)