The World Bank Supporting Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelong Development (P176793) Concept Environmental and Social Review Summary Concept Stage (ESRS Concept Stage) Public Disclosure Date Prepared/Updated: 11/29/2021 | Report No: ESRSC02424 Nov 29, 2021 Page 1 of 15 The World Bank Supporting Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelong Development (P176793) BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data Country Region Project ID Parent Project ID (if any) Thailand EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC P176793 Project Name Supporting Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelong Development Practice Area (Lead) Financing Instrument Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Social Sustainability and Investment Project 2/28/2022 5/17/2022 Inclusion Financing Borrower(s) Implementing Agency(ies) Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Interior Kingdom of Thailand Proposed Development Objective The proposed development objective is to increase access to basic service delivery, local economic development and Public Disclosure digital solutions in selected provinces in support of COVID-19 recovery and resilience of communities. Although the proposed project will contribute to the overall COVID-19 recovery in Thailand, it will not be able to measure and report on COVID-19 recovery as too many other variables will affect and contribute to the country’s recovery. Financing (in USD Million) Amount Total Project Cost 300.01 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] Fueled by strong growth and, more recently, the expansion of social assistance programs, Thailand achieved impressive gains in poverty reduction over the past four decades. The estimated 6.2 percent of Thailand’s population (3.3. million people) who remain poor face persistent challenges and structural impediments to moving out of Nov 29, 2021 Page 2 of 15 The World Bank Supporting Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelong Development (P176793) poverty. Most of these poor live in rural areas and are disadvantaged by low levels of education and asset ownership, trapped in low productivity employment, affected by continuous climate-induced natural disaster events, and rely heavily on public assistance and remittances. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the most severe contraction in Thailand’s economy since 1997, exposing and exacerbating the economic vulnerability of rural communities. The pandemic-included shortfall in jobs, particularly in tourist and export-related industries, has caused a reversal of migration flows with people leaving Bangkok and other urban centers for rural areas. Poor farm households, already challenged by stagnating agricultural productivity and increasingly dependent on non-agricultural income, are experiencing large income shocks. With substantial declines in incomes and a lack of job opportunities, these households have resorted to negative coping strategies, such as reducing food consumption, not enrolling children in school, and amassing debt. Vulnerable groups, who have traditionally been excluded and marginalized, are bearing a disproportionate burden of the pandemic’s impacts. Government’s rapid and effective initial response helped to mitigate some of the COVID-19 impacts. Its expanded social assistance programs are estimated to have prevented an additional 700,000 people from falling below the poverty line. Addressing the persistent vulnerability of Thailand’s rural communities, amplified by the pandemic, demands a transformative approach to local service delivery and economic development for longer-term term recovery and resilience. The proposed project seeks to empower communities, increase access to basic services and resilient infrastructure, and improve conditions for local economic recovery in selected poor and vulnerable provinces. Project results will Public Disclosure support Government’s agenda for COVID-19 recovery, poverty reduction, and community resilience. The project design incorporates innovative reforms and activities, including enhanced participatory local planning processes, improved digital platforms and tools, increased local awareness and incorporation of climate change risks and mitigation measures, extensive diagnostics, and expanded partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders, to trigger a process of durable local economic transformation. Three potential components were identified: Component 1: Strengthening community participatory development Under Component 1, the project will support a community driven development approach (CDD) in 10-12 provinces and provide: (i) investment grants to villages and selected sub-districts; (ii) facilitation and capacity development support; and (iii) a digital CDD platform. Sub-component 1.1 – Investment grants and capacity development Under the first sub-component, the project will finance annual investment grants for three years to select villages (a total of 2,000-3,000) and sub-districts (a total of 2-300) in 10-12 participating provinces. These grants will finance both local infrastructure and livelihood-related subprojects identified through village and sub-district level planning processes. The indicative size of the grants range from THB 400,000 to THB 600,000 for villages and from THB 4 to THB 6 million for sub-districts. Sub-component 1.2 - Digital CDD Platform Nov 29, 2021 Page 3 of 15 The World Bank Supporting Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelong Development (P176793) The project will finance the development of a CDD digital platform to provide real-time monitoring of and reporting on subproject development, implementation and results at all levels, village/community, sub-district, district, provincial, and national. The digital platform/application will consist of a core set of functions that can be further enhanced over time. Component 2: Local Economic Development Under Component 2, the project will support: (i) capacity building and grant financing for local economic development (LED); and (ii) development of an enhanced LED digital solution to support integrated service delivery at the local level. Sub-component 2.1 – Grant Financing and Business Development Services During its first year, the project will support the CDD-MOI’s Bureau of Local Wisdom and Community Enterprise (BLWCE) and relevant agencies to conduct a thorough mapping of the LED landscape in Thailand, and, in particular, in the selected provinces and sub-districts, including mapping of key LED stakeholders, an outline of their activities and their digital solutions as well as detailed market assessments. A number of participating sub-districts will be identified during year one of implementation and moved to LED support, receiving technical assistance and grant financing for business development. Sub-component 2.2: LED digital platform The project will support the scale-up of an existing digital platform (integrated online digital system) developed by Public Disclosure agencies engaged in economic development (depending on the final choice of target group/community) or the development of a new platform to support LED activities. Component 3: Project Implementation Support, Monitoring and Learning Component 3 will support project management at the national provincial and district levels, including monitoring and evaluation, reporting and communications as well as administration, training and logistical support for project implementation including activities related to environment and social risk management. The component will also finance third-party financial and technical audits. D. Environmental and Social Overview D.1. Detailed project location(s) and salient physical characteristics relevant to the E&S assessment [geographic, environmental, social] The Project will target 10-12 poor provinces (out of Thailand’s 77 provinces) distributed across all of the six administrative regions in Thailand to ensure diversity in both geographical and cultural representation. Ethnic groups are present in Maehongson, Nan, Surin, Mahasarakarm, Chainart, Chantaburi and Tak. They include Karen, Kui, Khmu, Kachins, Chong, Thin, Tai Lue, Tai Yai, Hmong, Mlabri, Mien, Lua, Lahu, Lao Krang, Lao Ngaew, Lisu, Akha, and Umpi. Especially in Maehongson, Nan and Tak, there are 7-9 ethnic groups in these provinces. The project beneficiaries will include poor and vulnerable groups affected by the pandemic including but not limited to ethnic groups and people who are affected by the conflict in Thailand’s Deep South. Participation of communities including Nov 29, 2021 Page 4 of 15 The World Bank Supporting Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelong Development (P176793) vulnerable groups such as the elderly, the poor, and Indigenous Peoples/ethnic groups will be ensured through the CDD process. To support poverty targeting, the participating provinces are those within each region with the highest proportion of households with the “average individual income of less than THB 38,000 per year”. Within each province, three districts will be selected based on criteria that would include: (a) number of poor households, (b) number of returnees due to COVID-19, (c) number of unemployed, (d) local implementation capacity, (e) innovative LED efforts, etc. It is expected that the respective provincial committee, which comprises representatives from various agencies, including the three departments of the Ministry of Interior (MOI) as well as Ministry of Labor and other relevant agencies, would select the participating districts. These target provinces are located across the country and represent diverse geographical, environmental and social characteristics. Mountains cover much of the northern region and extend along the Myanmar border in the northern and western region down to southern region. The northeastern region is primarily gently undulating land that drains into the Mekong River, while the central region is characterized as lowland area drained by Chao Phraya river and its tributaries and feed into the Gulf of Thailand (GOT). The eastern region has valleys and small hills alternating with small basins of short rivers which drain into the GOT. The southern region is a peninsula with the Andaman Sea to the west and GOT to the east. One of the project provinces, namely Pattani is part of the conflict-affected areas in the Deep South which continues to lag behind the rest of the country on important socioeconomic indicators. The Deep South provinces cover only 2.6 percent of the total of population; however, they account for 7.8 percent of the poor in Thailand (approximately 0.57 million people). In 2017, two of the four provinces, Patani and Narathiwat, had the Public Disclosure country’s highest poverty rates, at 34.2 percent. In addition, there are higher poverty rates in disadvantaged household categories such as households headed by an elderly person or those that speak Yawi (Malay dialect). As a result of the pandemic, labor migrants have returned in large numbers from Malaysia due to loss of overseas employment, many of them are still unemployed, adding additional pressure on limited resources. A variety of geographical features have resulted in diverse ecosystem across each region including the hilly forested areas of the northern and western region, the fertile rice fields of the central plains, the broad plateau of the northeast, and coastline along the narrow southern peninsula and the eastern region. Environmentally sensitive resources are present in different parts of the country and mostly covered by protected areas system including national parks and wildlife sanctuaries to help protect them from threats of over-harvesting of timber and marine resources, increasing population pressure, poor land use practices, conversion of forest into agricultural land and other development, and environmental pollutions, etc. D. 2. Borrower’s Institutional Capacity Thailand has an established legal and institutional framework related to the recognition of ethnic groups, protection of women and children against SEA/SH, fair labor practices and decent work, occupational health and safety, environmental and social assessment, natural resources management, pollution control and public hearing. Overall, there is alignment between Thai legislation and the ESSs. However, there are some very specific areas of the ESSs that are may not be explicitly covered and would require project-level interventions to ensure compliance. The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and oversighted by a Project Advisory Committee (PAC) that would include representatives from relevant agencies. MOI has divisions that are responsible for environmental and social aspects at various departments, including the Office of the Permanent Secretary, the Nov 29, 2021 Page 5 of 15 The World Bank Supporting Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelong Development (P176793) Department of Local Administration (DOLA) and the Community Development Department (CDD-MOI). Discussions on implementation arrangements for environmental and social risk management of the project are ongoing and it is expected that the Project Management Office (PMO) to be set up at the Office of Permanent Secretary will be responsible for overall environment and social (E&S) risk management implementation of the project. Other implementing departments, i.e., CDD-MOI and DOLA, will also have roles and responsibilities on E&S risk management which will be finalized during the project preparation. Directors from DOLA and CDD-MOI have been assigned as focal persons for environment and social, respectively. CDD-MOI has extensive experience in working with communities including ethnic groups. CDD-MOI has over 400 people at the national level and 3,000 people at the provincial/village levels. Community facilitators undergo training for 70 days to ensure they are equipped in engaging with communities including ethnic groups. However, there is a need to further strengthen its management of broader-based stakeholders such as national and international CSOs, private sector, and interest groups as well as its capacity to tackle some very specific aspects of the ESF including SEA/SH. The Division of Local Environment of DOLA is responsible for working with local government on environmental aspects under DOLA mandates as well as monitoring, providing training for local government staff, and coordinating with other departments within MOI and other ministries. DOLA has 3,000 staff (500 staff at the central level and 2500 at sub-national level) out of which 20 staff are mapped to the Division of Local Environment. These staff have received additional trainings necessary for works. Some staff has experience working with donors such as JICA on solid waste management project but does not have experience with the World Bank Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) Public Disclosure and general environmental risks management aspect of small scale activities typical for CDD. Overall, communities in participating provinces have received some trainings on general environmental and social aspects, but not on environmental and social risks management, through MOI training programs. Communities experiences with the World Bank Safeguards policies/ESF for CDD are limited to some communities in Pattani province those participated in the World Bank completed projects. More detailed environmental and social capacity assessment and capacity building measures for the project, and where possible for broader MOI mandates, at the MOI-level and community- level will be carried out as part of the project preparation. II. SCREENING OF POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL (ES) RISKS AND IMPACTS A. Environmental and Social Risk Classification (ESRC) Substantial Environmental Risk Rating Substantial Environmental risks of the project arise primarily from the small to moderate scale infrastructure and livelihood development activities driven by community demand across a variety of rural sectors in geographically and ecologically diverse setting. These include a range of typical community infrastructure (construction and rehabilitation of intra/inter village roads, small bridges, village water supply, small irrigation systems, drainage systems, village markets, etc.), environmental activities (local waste and plastic management, marine resources/community forest restoration, etc.), and livelihood activities (agriculture, livestock, aquaculture and fisheries, trading goods, other productive and services, community tourism, and entrepreneurial and business development support). Approximately three rounds of annual block grant will be provided to 2,000-3,000 villages Nov 29, 2021 Page 6 of 15 The World Bank Supporting Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelong Development (P176793) and 200-300 sub-districts. The indicative amount of the annual grants for village level sub-project is expected to range from THB 400 – 600 K (USD 12 -18 K) while the annual grant amounts for sub-district level sub-project would range from THB 4 - 6 millions (USD 130 – 200 K). Environmental risks and impacts anticipated from this project include, especially under component 1, typical impacts from small civil works such as site vegetation clearance, local sourcing of construction materials, soil erosion, alteration of drainage, generation of dust, noise, and construction and domestic waste, traffic disruption and road safety impacts, and occupational, health and safety risks. Under component 1 and 2, impacts from livelihood activities such as increased use of water, soil, forest, freshwater and marine resources for livelihoods, pollutions from products processing, agrochemical pollution from intensified agriculture, and soil degradation or soil erosion. These risks and impacts are likely to be localized, small to moderate scale, limited to sub-project site and adjacent areas, and readily manageable through commonly available mitigation approaches. Project activities will be implemented in rural communities in selected provinces across Thailand with environmentally diverse setting from extensively utilized and degraded agricultural and forest lands, and intensive aquaculture and rural residential areas to relatively more sensitive forest and coastal areas. It is expected that activities will take place predominantly in an extensively utilized rural landscape or small settlements with limited sensitive habitats and biodiversity. Activities with potential for significant adverse environmental and social impacts – either due to the nature of activity or sensitivity of its setting – would not be eligible for project support. In addition, the project will enhance positive environmental and social outcomes by supporting environmental restoration and enhancement activities particularly at the sub-district level as well as support training on environmental and climate risk aspects under component 1 and 3 and training around green economy aspects under component 2. The substantial environmental risk rating is based on a precautionary approach given that activities are spread out across the country in geographically and ecologically diverse settings including livelihood support Public Disclosure activities that potentially be located at environmentally sensitive locations, and implementation and institutional challenges. This rating will be re-visited at the project appraisal when more information on project sites and detailed institutional capacity assessment are available. MOI has inhouse resources at the national and sub-national level that has experiences and responsible for environmental aspects. However, MOI capacity to manage environmental risks of the project activities to meet ESF requirements would need to be enhanced both during project preparation and implementation. The capacity building for ESF would also cover other relevant stakeholders including implementing communities. Social Risk Rating Substantial Social risks are Substantial in spite of the strong participatory nature of the Community Driven Development (CDD) approach of the Project. The CCD approach ensures that ethnic groups, the poor, and vulnerable groups can get access to and are included in project benefits such– services, infrastructures and livelihoods but risks of exclusion for certain groups such as the elderly and technologically challenged could be encountered. The expected outcomes of the CDD also include individual and community empowerment, social accountability, and institutional strengthening but these outcomes may be more difficult to attain in conflict areas. In addition, the Community Development Department of the MOI has human resources and extensive experience including trainings for community volunteers to ensure that stakeholders in the community including ethnic groups are managed. However, implementation and institutional challenges for other social aspects of the ESF that the MOI is new to could be significant. It is expected that small-scale infrastructure will be implemented mainly by community workers and that there will be no labor influx, thus minimal risks are anticipated with regard to labor and employment, and occupational and community health and safety including sexual exploitation and abuse/sexual harassment (SEA/SH) in the workplace and in communities. For infrastructure related activities, acquisition of small parcels of land are anticipated. The project will avoid involuntary resettlement and protocols for other forms of land acquisition Nov 29, 2021 Page 7 of 15 The World Bank Supporting Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelong Development (P176793) including voluntary land donations will be included in the ESMF. At this stage of the project, there is a possibility that the geographical coverage could include conflict-affected areas in the southernmost provinces of Thailand. Because of the ongoing conflict, the government-supported project could be disrupted by the insurgent groups, or the government staff could exclude certain groups whom they deem to be associated with insurgents (otherwise called as “people who see things differently” because the Thai government sees the issue as domestic conflict). However, experience from World Bank-supported CDD projects over the past decade in the conflict-affected areas suggests that this risk is very low, as the CDD approach encourages participation of different groups within the communities, supported by rigorous monitoring, transparency and GRM systems. The World Bank-supported projects in the Deep South since 2009 have never utilized military or security personnel under the projects; the same practice will be applied to this proposed project. Risk mitigation including supervision and monitoring may require additional measures to ensure that the project activities do not exacerbate the existing conflict. Functioning grievance redress mechanisms are existing and may be enhanced/complemented by the technological aspects of the Project. Because digital innovations will be integrated into the project, it is important that the project pays attention to the elderly, other technologically-challenged groups, and the extremely poor who may be unable to pay for technology and would potentially be at risk of not having access to technology-based benefits and activities of the Project. The Project will consider enhancing digital literacy for these potential groups and simplify the technology applications to ensure broader inclusion. Awareness-raising and trainings also need to be conducted for very specific requirements of the ESF including for SEA/SH. As with all projects at this time, the Covid-19 pandemic and its restrictions pose difficulties in project preparation, implementation, and monitoring. The ESMF will include Covid-19 guidelines during public consultations and construction. Public Disclosure B. Environment and Social Standards (ESSs) that Apply to the Activities Being Considered B.1. General Assessment ESS1 Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts Overview of the relevance of the Standard for the Project: Environmental risks and impacts anticipated from this project include, under component 1, the typical impacts from village and inter-village infrastructure construction or rehabilitation including removal of vegetation due to site clearance, use of resources, soil erosion, alteration or of waterways or drainage, generation of dust, noise, construction and domestic waste and wastewater, traffic and road safety impacts, and occupational, health and safety risks. Under component 1 and 2, these include impacts from livelihood related activities such as use of natural resources including soil, forest, freshwater and marine resources for livelihood activities such as small-scale agriculture, livestock, farmed or capture fisheries, value-addition and processing of agriculture products, and community tourism, generation of pollution (solid waste, wastewater, dust, nuisance odor, and noise), use of agrochemicals (although the project will not promote use of such chemicals and will encourage integrated pest management), and soil quality degradation or soil erosion. Potential social impacts and risks anticipated for the Project are: (i) exclusion of the extremely poor who are unable to afford technology, the elderly and other technologically-challenged individuals including ethnic groups, (ii) the conflict in the Deep South may affect risk mitigation including supervision and monitoring and may exacerbate the existing conflict dynamics in the area, (iii) acquisition of small parcels of land for community infrastructure and restrictions to access, (iv) occupational and community health and safety issues including isolated cases of sexual Nov 29, 2021 Page 8 of 15 The World Bank Supporting Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelong Development (P176793) harassment or gender-based violence; and (v) issues arising from broader-based stakeholders requiring the management of national and international CSOs and interest groups. Potential adverse environmental impacts from project activities including impacts on natural habitats/ biodiversity/ ecosystem services are expected to be of low to moderate scale, site-specific with limited footprint and readily manageable, also because of taking place predominantly in an already extensively utilized rural landscape and settlements with relatively low environmental sensitivity. In general, activities in environmentally sensitive areas and critical habitats are governed by the country protected areas system and relevant regulatory frameworks related to forest and natural resources management including on environmental and social impact assessment. Criteria for project eligible activities in forest areas and sensitive coastal areas that meet ESS6 and national regulatory requirements will be developed as part of the ESMF. This would include that new construction of infrastructure that has the potential to cause significant impacts (e.g. degradation of natural habitats, protected forests, or cultural resources) or in areas with sensitive biodiversity or environs will not be eligible for financing, as well as any activities requiring involuntary land acquisition or restrictions on land use resulting in involuntary resettlement. Types of economic ventures and activities that the project cannot support due to expected ES adverse impacts will be identified and agreed up on with the borrower and will then be reflected in a negative list to be included project E&S instruments and project operation manual. Given that sub-project locations and activities can only be identified during project implementation, the implementing agency will develop, consult and disclose an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF), Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) and Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP) prior to project Public Disclosure appraisal. An ESMF will set out the principles and guidelines to screen and assess the environmental and social risks and impacts for all sub-projects in a manner consistent with ESSs, national regulatory requirements, and where applicable, good practices in the WBG General EHS Guideline. It will include Environmental and Social Assessment (ESA), typical Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP)/ Environmental and social Code of Practices (ESCOPs) for sub-projects, Labor Management Procedures (LMP), chance finds procedure for physical cultural resources, Protocols for land donation, and Ethnic Group Planning Framework (EGPF). Subproject-specific E&S instruments will be prepared during project implementation. The ESMF would also include more detailed assessment of the implementing agencies and the implementing communities on ESF and capacity strengthening measures which will be built into the project design. Using the World Bank’s Privacy Policy as a guide, risks related to data privacy will be assessed as part of the environment and social assessment. Aspects to be considered include handling of personal data at the project level as well as data privacy regulatory framework in the country and technological considerations that warrants any safeguards provision. In assessing environment and social risks and requirements, in addition to tapping several decades of team’s experience with managing environmental and social issues in Thailand including for similar activities and settings, project documents of past Thailand projects related to CDD and conflict such as Labor Management Plan (LMP), Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF), Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) and Environmental Code of Practices (ECOP), operation manual, progress reports, etc. were reviewed as well as publications on the distribution and situation of ethnic groups in Thailand by academic and international organizations, social dimensions of the national strategy of Thailand, and social impacts of Covid in Thailand. The document reviewed also include reports on forest and protected areas situation, and state of pollution in Thailand as well as climate risk country profile. Interviews were also conducted among MOI at the central and provincial levels, BAAC, OTOP, etc. Nov 29, 2021 Page 9 of 15 The World Bank Supporting Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelong Development (P176793) Areas where “Use of Borrower Framework” is being considered: The Borrower's E&S Framework will not be used for this Project. ESS10 Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure Owing to the Project's CDD approach and emphasis on vulnerable groups, engagement with communities will be inherently participatory with a focus on ensuring that the poor and ethnic groups can have access to subproject benefits. With the digital aspects of the project, there is a need to pay particular attention to the extremely poor who may not be able to afford such services and the elderly who may not be adept with technology. In addition, residents with no Thai citizenship can partake of the benefits of community infrastructure under the Project but will not be able to receive benefits requiring transfer of money. A Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) will be prepared that contains a stakeholder analysis and describes how these community stakeholders as well as broader-based civil society organizations and special interest groups such as LGBTQI and persons with disabilities will be able to participate and managed. The Project will employ the CDD approach of the government to enhance inclusive project planning and implementation with due consideration of ethnic, social, and conflict sensitivities involved in implementing the project in different provinces/regions. Community-level key stakeholders will be consulted to capture diverse social and conflict situations/community needs. As such, the SEP will mirror the CDD process for the participation of and engagement with communities while ensuring that vulnerable segments of the local population are included. Public Disclosure The SEP will also explain the disclosure requirements under the Project given the sensitivities in the country. As MOI- CDD's work is focused on stakeholders at the community level, the SEP may also include some actions/interventions to ensure that national and international level stakeholders will be managed. The SEP will also contain the grievance redress mechanism for stakeholders that is different from the GRM for workers. MOI-CDD has an existing GRM at various levels starting from the community to the district to the province. MOI's Damrongdharma Centre is also a functioning GRM for receiving and resolving complaints providing service at the national and regional levels complete with a hotline and a website for following up. During project preparation, the digital aspects of the Projects will be ascertained on how they can support or complement these existing GRMs to include appropriate community feedback measures. 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 The Project will involve direct, contracted, and community workers who are likely to work while Covid-19 is still present. Community workers are expected to comprise the majority of workers for the Project as they will be required to implement the CDD subprojects consisting of various community infrastructure and livelihoods. Thailand is governed by the Labour Protection Act whose main principles for working conditions and terms of employment are aligned with ESS 2. In addition, the Occupational Safety, Health, and Environment Act B.E.2554 (2011) requires Nov 29, 2021 Page 10 of 15 The World Bank Supporting Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelong Development (P176793) employers to keep safe and hygienic working conditions and environment to prevent endangering the lives and health of workers. A Labor Management Procedures (LMP) will be prepared to address occupational health and safety risks of all workers, as well as to protect against child labor and gender discrimination and ensure acceptable working hours, remuneration, breaks and rest days. The national minimum age for employment of 15 will be kept instead of the ESF's 14. In CDD projects, children trying to join community construction activities may be observed as part of their play which in turn, fosters a community spirit in them. This does not constitute child labor as the tasks are minor and work hours are not imposed. However, close adult supervision is needed to ensure health and safety. A set of protocols for their protection will also be included in the LMP. Women community workers will be provided with equal chances as men to be employed in the subprojects. They will also be provided with the same wages as men for the same type of work. To avoid avoid SEA/SH risks in the workplace codes of conduct and trainings for workers will be included in the LMP. The LMP will include a grievance redress mechanism for project workers, a set of guidelines for construction during Covid-19, and procedures for reporting accidents and deaths. ESS3 Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention and Management Use of resources for small to medium scale village infrastructure and livelihood supported activities including pollution that may be generated are not expected to be significant given size of activities will be at village and sub- Public Disclosure district levels. The pollutions may include dust, noise, waste and wastewater from civil works, various forms of wastewater, solid wastes, smoke/dust/odor/other air pollution, and noise from livelihood activities. Impacts from discharge of these pollutions on local environmental quality of subprojects and nearby areas and on human health are expected to be of moderate scale and manageable through readily available standards practices. It is not expected that the project will generate significant amount of Green House Gases (GHG) emissions during project implementation given type and scale of activities will be small scale. Small amount of GHG such CO2 or methane may be produced from livestock or agriculture practices such as burning of agriculture residues. The project will promote sustainable agricultural practices that could reduce GHG from burning of agriculture residues, improve manure management, and reduce use of chemical fertilizer. Typical measures for efficient use of resources such as water, energy, raw materials, forest/aquatic/ marine resources (for livelihood related activities), and measures to prevent/reduce/mitigate pollutions including GHG will be included in relevant sections of the ESMF. Subproject- specific measures will be included in subproject ESMP, where required. The Project will not promote use of pesticide, instead it will emphasize on green activities and green economy including organic farming, sustainable agricultural practices, and waste and plastic waste management subproject. Sustainable agricultural practices could also contribute to reduced pollutions in form of PM 2.5 from open burning, and agricultural wastes, reduced use of agrochemicals, and efficient use of water. Where possible, under the LED component the project would also seek opportunities to link environmental sustainability aspects to create value- added of products and marketing opportunity. ESS4 Community Health and Safety Nov 29, 2021 Page 11 of 15 The World Bank Supporting Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelong Development (P176793) Labor influx is not expected, but sexual exploitation and abuse/sexual harassment (SEA/SH) in communities where workers operate may ensue. The LMP will need to include measures to avoid SEA/SH, including having codes of conduct and trainings for workers. The Project will also ensure that the grievance redress mechanism for stakeholders will be sensitive to SEA/SH incidents/cases. The project intends to support climate change adaptation and enhance community resilience in the target areas through the implementation of project activities. Design of local infrastructure to be supported by the project will take into account climate change considerations. ESS5 Land Acquisition, Restrictions on Land Use and Involuntary Resettlement Minimal land acquisition is expected for small-scale and community infrastructure. Involuntary land acquisition will not be allowed and will be part of the subproject negative list. However, small parcels of land for small-scale and community infrastructure may be acquired through voluntary donation, usufruct, and willing-buyer willing-seller mode. The local government may allow public land to be used for households/communities who wish to do farming- related activities especially if they do not own any land. Protocols for these modes of land acquisition will be included in the ESMF. ESS6 Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources Project provinces are distributed across the country with diverse ecological and biodiversity sensitivity settings. There is one UNESCO World Heritage Site, namely Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, a part of which covers Umphang district in Tak province where project districts are yet to be selected. Overall, it is possible that some villages to be Public Disclosure supported under the project are located in degraded forests, classified forests or more sensitive forest or coastline which location of project participating districts will be identified during project preparation. Exact locations of sub- projects will only be known at project implementation stage. However, it is expected that the project will be implemented mostly in an already extensively utilized rural landscape and settlements with relatively low environmental sensitivity. Given size of sub-projects are small and they are dispersed in nature, potential adverse impacts from sub-projects on natural habitats/ biodiversity/ ecosystem services are expected to be of low to moderate scale with overall limited impacts manageable through application of mitigation measures. Nevertheless, adopting a precautionary approach, the project environmental risk at the concept stage is rated substantial and will be re-visited at project appraisal when more information is available. The rating taking into consideration the geographically and ecologically diverse settings of project locations, and implementation and institutional challenges. Potential impacts from the project include impacts from small scale infrastructure such as clearance of vegetation, use of resources, soil erosion, alteration or of waterways or drainage, disposal of solid waste and wastewater from construction, disturbance from construction noise and vibration, etc. Livelihood support activities may involve utilization of forest resources or natural resources in community forest or other types of forest or aquatic/marine resources. There is also a risk of introducing alien species from livelihood support activities or restoration of forests or community forests which will require due regard for suitability of the introduced animal (for livelihood support) or planted species. Procedures for screening and managing potential impacts on natural habitats/ biodiversity/ecosystem services and for promoting sustainable use of living natural resources will be included in the ESMF. In general, activities in environmentally sensitive areas and critical habitats are governed by protected areas system and relevant regulatory frameworks related to forest and natural resources management including on environmental Nov 29, 2021 Page 12 of 15 The World Bank Supporting Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelong Development (P176793) and social impact assessment. Criteria for project eligible activities in forest areas and sensitive coastline that meet ESS6 and national regulatory requirements will be developed as part of the ESMF. This would also require that activities that would cause significant conversion or degradation of critical natural habitats/biodiversity/ecosystem services will not be eligible for the project support. Importantly, it is also anticipated that the project could contribute to increased community resilience, biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of living natural resources through targeted supports to environmental restoration activities. Potential activities that are eligible for project support include coastal resources restoration, community forest restoration, tree plantation, watershed conservation and waste and plastic waste management which would contribute to reduced marine plastic debris. ESS7 Indigenous Peoples/Sub-Saharan African Historically Underserved Traditional Local Communities Ethnic groups are present in seven out of the 10 selected provinces (Maehongson, Nan, Surin, Mahasarakarm, Chainart, Chantaburi and Tak). They include Karen, Kui, Khmu, Kachins, Chong, Thin, Tai Lue, Tai Yai, Hmong, Mlabri, Mien, Lua, Lahu, Lao Krang, Lao Ngaew, Lisu, Akha, and Umpi. Especially in Maehongson, Nan and Tak, there are 7-9 ethnic groups in these provinces. Given the CDD nature of the Project, participation of ethnic groups is expected and subprojects that they own and that will benefit them will be supported. MOI-CDD has extensive experience working with ethnic groups (with community facilitators also receiving 70 days of training and some undergoing community immersion especially before Covid) which provides assurance for meaningful consultations and full respect to the culture, ways of life, and perspectives of ethnic groups. Public Disclosure An Ethnic Group Planning Framework (EGPF) will be prepared to guide the identification of ethnic groups in the subproject areas, benefits, impacts, and mitigation measures as well as the conduct of meaningful consultations. Identification of ethnic groups will most likely be according to the definition of Indigenous Peoples in the ESF. Engagement with ethnic groups will be mainstreamed into the CDD process. To further ensure inclusion of ethnic groups, project indicators can specify a participation rate for them where a certain percentage of project beneficiaries constitute ethnic groups. The EGPF may be a stand-alone document or may be included as part of the SEP depending on the discussions with government during preparation. Regardless of the form, all requirements stipulated in ESS7 will be adhered to. Subproject activities do not include any of the 3 conditions that warrant FPIC under the ESF. ESS8 Cultural Heritage ESS8 is considered relevant due to potential impacts from community infrastructure or livelihood related activities on cultural heritage particularly in ethnic groups communities. The risks and impacts from project activities are expected to be low and can be avoided or minimized through measures to be included in the ESMF. The ESMF will ensure that project activities will not adversely affect tangible or intangible cultural heritage of participating communities. It will determine potential impacts of the project activities on cultural heritage, describe procedure to avoid activities having impacts on cultural heritage, and include chance finds procedure and mitigation Nov 29, 2021 Page 13 of 15 The World Bank Supporting Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelong Development (P176793) measures. Dedicated management plans if proportionate to significance of risks and if needed, e.g. cultural heritage management plan will be prepared. ESS9 Financial Intermediaries The project will work with financial institutions, in particular the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), to provide capacity and technical support to local institutions, small enterprises and activities identified by communities and to coordinate closely on the provision of business development services. BAAC will not receive financial support from the Bank. Therefore, ESS9 requirements will not be applied. C. Legal Operational Policies that Apply OP 7.50 Projects on International Waterways TBD OP 7.60 Projects in Disputed Areas No III. WORLD BANK ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL DUE DILIGENCE A. Is a common approach being considered? No Public Disclosure Financing Partners n/a B. Proposed Measures, Actions and Timing (Borrower’s commitments) Actions to be completed prior to Bank Board Approval: - Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) that include Environmental and Social Assessment (ESA), typical Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP)/ Environmental and Social Code of Practices (ESCOPs), Labor Management Procedures (LMP) and grievance redress mechanism for project workers, chance finds procedure for physical cultural resources, Protocols for land donation, COVID 19 Health and Safety Protocols, and Ethnic Group Planning Framework (EGPF); - Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) including Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM); and - Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP). Possible issues to be addressed in the Borrower Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP): - Preparation, and disclosure of subproject-specific documents including ESMPs, and if needed, Ethnic Group Plans; - Effective operationalization and effective implementation of GRMs; - Meaningful engagement throughout project implementation; - Implementation risks management measures and their monitoring; - ESF capacity building for the implementing agencies; and Nov 29, 2021 Page 14 of 15 The World Bank Supporting Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelong Development (P176793) - Allocation of adequate resources (human, including consultants and financial resources) for the implementation of risk management measures and monitoring. C. Timing Tentative target date for preparing the Appraisal Stage ESRS 10-Jan-2022 IV. CONTACT POINTS World Bank Contact: Pamornrat Tansanguanwong Title: Senior Social Development Specialist Telephone No: 5778+8347 / 66-2-686-8347 Email: ptansanguanwong@worldbank.org Contact: Ditte Marie Gammelgaard Fallesen Title: Senior Social Development Specialist Telephone No: 5776+2640 / 63-2-4652640 Email: dfallesen@worldbank.org Borrower/Client/Recipient Borrower: Ministry of Finance, Kingdom of Thailand Public Disclosure Implementing Agency(ies) Implementing Agency: Ministry of Interior V. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT 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): Pamornrat Tansanguanwong, Ditte Marie Gammelgaard Fallesen Practice Manager (ENR/Social) Mona Sur Recommended on 25-Nov-2021 at 04:58:8 GMT-05:00 Safeguards Advisor ESSA Ekaterina Romanova (SAESSA) Cleared on 29-Nov-2021 at 11:06:33 GMT-05:00 Nov 29, 2021 Page 15 of 15