The World Bank
M&E capacity building in South Asia (P177159)
Concept Environmental and Social Review Summary
Concept Stage
(ESRS Concept Stage)
Public Disclosure
Date Prepared/Updated: 11/15/2021 | Report No: ESRSC02341
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The World Bank
M&E capacity building in South Asia (P177159)
BASIC INFORMATION
A. Basic Project Data
Country Region Project ID Parent Project ID (if any)
South Asia SOUTH ASIA P177159
Project Name M&E capacity building in South Asia
Practice Area (Lead) Financing Instrument Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date
Other Investment Project 11/22/2021
Financing
Borrower(s) Implementing Agency(ies)
Institute for Financial Jameel Poverty Action Lab
Management and (J-PAL) South Asia at the
Research (IFMR) Institute for Financial
Management and Research
Public Disclosure
Proposed Development Objective
Financing (in USD Million) Amount
Total Project Cost 3.22
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]
D. Environmental and Social Overview
D.1. Detailed project location(s) and salient physical characteristics relevant to the E&S assessment [geographic,
environmental, social]
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The World Bank
M&E capacity building in South Asia (P177159)
CLEAR SA is hosted by the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, South Asia (J-PAL SA) at the Institute for Financial
Management and Research (IFMR), a public institution located in New Delhi, India. In the past decade, CLEAR SA
succeeded in building partnerships regionally and providing M&E services and training in India, Pakistan, Bhutan,
Nepal, and Bangladesh. Under this project, CLEAR SA will continue to deliver the same services to SA countries and
will extend it to Indonesia in East Asia.
This project will focus on strengthening national M&E systems, building local M&E capacity, generating and sharing
M&E knowledge, and supporting the administrative and management capacity of the CLEAR SA center. It has no
physical investment and has no footprint on the ground, and does not support the purchase of electronic equipment.
The project activities that may have social environment implications are described below against each of the project
components.
COMPONENT 1: Building a culture of evidence-based policymaking. CLEAR SA will support national and sub-national
governments as well as line ministries and other public institutions to strengthen M&E systems and use M&E in
policymaking. TA activities will include providing diagnostics of M&E systems, delivering technical advisory services,
conducting training workshops, advising on M&E and data policies, supporting state-run evaluations, mentoring M&E
staff.
COMPONENT 2: Building local M&E capacity. This component will provide training and advisory support to individual
professionals s (including M&E specialists, evaluators, and government officials) and institutions from public,
academic and non-governmental sectors to diagnose and address M&E capacity and system gaps within national M&E
Public Disclosure
ecosystems.
COMPONENT 3 will focus on: Generating and sharing M&E knowledge generation and dissemination. Activities under
this component will include creating and disseminating M&E knowledge products, such as handbooks, white papers,
and toolkits in M&E.
COMPONENT 4: CLEAR SA Center Development, Monitoring, and Evaluation. This component will support staffing,
staff skills, and expertise enhancement, as well as the management capacity of CLEAR SA.
D. 2. Borrower’s Institutional Capacity
The CLEAR South Asia (CLEAR SA) Center is hosted by the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, South Asia (J-PAL SA)
at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) from 2011. The grant is managed by J-PAL SA and
CLEAR SA will be solely responsible for implementing the program, in coordination and collaboration with other
entities and consultants on the basis of a service contract. CLEAR SA has 10 years of experience in the field of
evaluations. CLEAR SA has successfully completed three previous grants from the World Bank and its management is
well knowledgeable of the WB’s FM and procurement requirements.
CLEAR SA follows the policies, rules, and procedures of its host institutions, including those on labor, gender, and
grievance redress. J-PAL South Asia has in place a suite of policies, staff rules, and procedures dealing with social
risks relevant to the grant project. Key ones among them are J-PAL South Asia's Policy on Prevention of Sexual
Harassment, J-PAL South Asia's Code of Conduct, IFMR's Code of Conduct, and IFMR's Grievance Redressal Policy. All
new employees at the organization are requested to attend orientation sessions covering the above policies and
rules. There are also semi-annual and annual all-staff sessions on the above led by legal experts. J-PAL and IFMR have
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The World Bank
M&E capacity building in South Asia (P177159)
a strong human resource management team with full-time,, and trained Human Resources professionals. They are
leading in the compliance and management of the above policies and rules. As such J-PAL SA has in place relevant
policies and rules, institutional arrangements, and experiences to address potential issues and risks related to labor
and gender under the grant project.
II. SCREENING OF POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL (ES) RISKS AND IMPACTS
A. Environmental and Social Risk Classification (ESRC) Low
Environmental Risk Rating Low
This TA project focuses on capacity building in monitoring and evaluation. The project activities are limited to the
design and development of M&E curriculum and training materials, delivery of training to institutions and
professional individuals, conducting diagnostic, analytical, and research work, technical advisory support in M&E
system development and strengthening, production of knowledge products, assistance in knowledge sharing and
dissemination, as well as the organization of learning workshops and events. The grant will not support any activity
related to the construction or redevelopment of infrastructure or purchase of any electronic equipment. No
environmental risk or potential impacts are expected on the biophysical environment, human health and safety,
and/or valued environmental components from the project activities. The environmental risk from the grant
activities is expected to be low.
Social Risk Rating Low
Public Disclosure
The project activities are not expected to incur significant adverse social impacts and risks. There could be risks
associated with labor and sexual harassment and discrimination risks among the project delivery teams, and TA
beneficiaries as a result of people’s interactions in an office environment. The risks will be reduced by the current
COVID-19 context and are considered low, as interactions are anticipated to remain largely virtual for at least the
initial phase of the grant’s implementation period. The key stakeholders involved here include CLEAR SA project
staff, potential partner organizations in South Asia and Indonesia, the trainers of virtual and possible future on-site
workshops, as well as the potential beneficiary participants in various project events from the participating
countries. The project will give priority consideration in their beneficiary selection to those who represent
underserved demographics, geographies, and sectors, including vulnerable, disadvantaged, and indigenous groups.
The project will ensure broad information dissemination of its TA activities and engagement to facilitate broad
participation of potential beneficiaries, particularly the marginalized groups, NGOs, and other institutions who may
represent vulnerable segments of society for maximum project development benefits. The project is not expected to
incur significant stakeholder risks.
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:
This standard is relevant. The project is focusing on capacity building in monitoring and evaluation. The project
activities are limited to the design of M&E training materials, diagnostic and situational analyses, research,
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The World Bank
M&E capacity building in South Asia (P177159)
production of knowledge products, curriculum development, advisory support in M&E system development and
strengthening, assistance in knowledge sharing and dissemination, delivery of online and possible onsite training as
well as the organization of learning workshops and events. There are no civil works or equipment procurement
involved. These activities are not expected to have adverse environmental and social impacts. The capacity building
efforts will have indirect positive environmental and social impacts by supporting the strengthening, monitoring and
evaluation capacity in the beneficiary countries over natural resources, protected areas, forests, and a range of
ecosystems, social impact mitigation, as well as management of (global) environmental issues such as climate change,
pollution, waste, and degradation of natural systems. The project will not produce any advice on policies, regulations,
strategies, etc., that could have adverse environmental and social consequences.
To ensure that the project will maximize its development benefits, the project will ensure broad information
dissemination to raise awareness on the engagement of the project activities to facilitate broad participation in the
training and capacity-building program. This is particularly so with the marginalized groups, such as women,
indigenous groups, other under-represented groups, and sectors so that they can benefit equally from the project
training activities. The project will be implemented by staff members of CLEAR SA and other possible partner
institutions. There may be potentials for labor-related issues for the project delivery staff such as SEA and SH.
Since no significant environmental social impacts and risks are expected from the grant activities, the recipient is not
expected to conduct further analyses than the one carried in this ESRS or prepare any free-standing instruments to
manage the environmental social impacts and risks. An appraisal stage ESRS is also not required.
Public Disclosure
The grant envisions retroactive financing up to US$67,046, (less than 5% of the total) from July 1, 2021. The relevant
expenditure related activities will be reviewed against the risk assessment and any required mitigation measures in
line with relevant ESSs as reflected in the ESCP. If the review identifies any issues of non-compliance, CLEAR SA will
take necessary actions to address them for compliance with relevant ESSs.
Areas where “Use of Borrower Framework” is being considered:
Use of Borrower Framework is not considered.
ESS10 Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure
The standard is relevant. The key stakeholders involved in this project include staff members of CLEAR SA who will
implement the project and potential partner organizations from the participating countries who may join forces with
CLEAR SA to implement capacity building activities as and when synergies exist and the potential beneficiary
institutions and individuals in both public and private sectors from those countries.
The project will continue the past efforts of CLEAR SA in stakeholder engagement to improve the training program
and tailor its design of delivery under the current pandemic situation. Such engagement includes feedback surveys
from participants and internal engagement with the CLEAR SA delivery team, such as after-action reviews with
workshop instructors and facilitators. The project will ensure broad information dissemination to raise awareness on
the engagement of the project activities to facilitate broad participation in the training program. This is particularly
so with the marginalized groups, such as women, indigenous groups, and other under-represented groups so that
they can benefit equally from the project training and capacity-building activities.
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The World Bank
M&E capacity building in South Asia (P177159)
CLEAR SA will establish the following specific GRM mechanisms, to be aligned with ESS10 requirements, to address
any grievances under the project and, and disclose the GRM within the timeframe defined in the project’s ESCP.
• One member of the project management team will be assigned the responsibility to lead and manage
grievance resolution under the project.
• All grievances will be registered, and the project will keep a grievance log for the record. Grievances will be
classified according to their type to ensure they are handled with their own specificity (i.e., labor complaints).
• Maintain an updated list of service providers, which can be used to refer GBV-related complaints.
• All grievances will be deliberated and addressed in a transparent and timely fashion. The complainants will
be informed of the resolution response in a timely fashion.
• If the complainant is not satisfied with the resolutions under the project, he or she can continue, at their own
liberty, to appeal their cases under legal channels and means available under the laws of the respective participating
countries or submit their appeals to the Bank’s Grievance Redress Service (GRS).
• The project will maintain the GRM users’ identity as confidential and will also accept anonymous complaints
The above-planned actions will be reflected in the ESCP and a summary of the GRM will also be uploaded and
disclosed at the CLEAR SAR website following clearance from the World Bank
B.2. Specific Risks and Impacts
Public Disclosure
A brief description of the potential environmental and social risks and impacts relevant to the Project.
ESS2 Labor and Working Conditions
The standard is relevant. The capacity-building activities supported under the project will be provided through
existing CLEAR SA staff and potential partner organizations and will be conducted in accordance with ESS1-10. The
size and composition of the team specifically working on this project (direct workers) is to be determined later, during
the grant’s execution stage. However, due to the size of the grant and the nature of the project, this team is expected
to be small. There could be labor risks involved such as SEA, SH, and discrimination issues among project staff
members. CLEAR SA will implement the project activities in accordance with the labor-related policies and
procedures of the participating countries and ESF ESS2. where there are conflicts or gaps between ESS2 and relevant
country laws, The project workers will be subject to a code of conduct with provisions to prevent SEA and SH. The
project team will assign one member to take up the responsibility to manage all labor-related issues, within the
timeframe specified in the ESCP. CLEAR SA will also conduct training for all its project staff to raise their awareness
on possible labor risks and the relevant governing policies of the countries and ESF ESS2 and 10.
CLEAR SA follows the existing grievance redress policy and requirements of the Institute for Financial Management
and Research. Additionally, CLEAR SA will establish additional specific mechanisms to address any grievances under
the project in total alignment with relevant ESS10 requirements. Labor-related grievances will be classified as such
and addressed under the same project GRM, which will be incorporated as part of the ESCP.
ESS3 Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention and Management
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The World Bank
M&E capacity building in South Asia (P177159)
This standard is not relevant.
ESS4 Community Health and Safety
This standard is relevant. There could be sexual exploitation and abuse & sexual harassment (SEA /SH) risks among
project staff members and beneficiary participants in the face to face interactions, particularly those associated with
the interactions between people in an office environment. . The project will follow relevant laws of the participating
countries and ESF in addressing such issues, including J-PAL South Asia's Policy on Prevention of Sexual Harassment,
J-PAL South Asia's Code of Conduct, IFMR's Code of Conduct. Most of the project activities will be conducted virtually
through online means. Where face-to-face interactions are planned, CLEAR SA will follow relevant policies of the
participating country and technical advisory and guidelines issued by the World Health Organization for stakeholder
engagement in the current COVID-19 pandemic situation.
CLEAR SA will designate a qualified person to monitor that these provisions are implemented during project
execution, in accordance with the timeframe specified in the ESCP.
ESS5 Land Acquisition, Restrictions on Land Use and Involuntary Resettlement
This standard is not relevant.
ESS6 Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources
Public Disclosure
This standard is not relevant.
ESS7 Indigenous Peoples/Sub-Saharan African Historically Underserved Traditional Local Communities
This standard is not relevant. However, project capacity-building activities are open to all eligible participants in the
targeted countries and potential TA beneficiaries could include members from indigenous groups and/or institutions
such as NGOs or other institutions who may work and represent the interests of the indigenous groups. Therefore,
the project will ensure broad information dissemination on the design and engagement of the project activities to
facilitate their participation in the capacity building programs, including the dissemination of information among
national indigenous organizations
ESS8 Cultural Heritage
This standard is not relevant.
ESS9 Financial Intermediaries
This standard is not relevant.
B.3 Other Relevant Project Risks
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The World Bank
M&E capacity building in South Asia (P177159)
None
C. Legal Operational Policies that Apply
OP 7.50 Projects on International Waterways No
OP 7.60 Projects in Disputed Areas No
III. WORLD BANK ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL DUE DILIGENCE
A. Is a common approach being considered? No
Financing Partners
None
B. Proposed Measures, Actions and Timing (Borrower’s commitments)
Actions to be completed prior to Bank Board Approval:
None
Possible issues to be addressed in the Borrower Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP):
Public Disclosure
The project will include in the ESCP agreed actions and commitments in compliance with ESS2 on Labor, ESS4 on
Community Health and Safety, and ESS10 on stakeholder engagement and grievance redress.
IV. CONTACT POINTS
World Bank
Contact: Ketevan Nozadze Title: Operations Officer
Telephone No: 473-3904 Email: knozadze@worldbank.org
Contact: Shaha Zehra Title: E T Consultant
Telephone No: Email: szehra@worldbank.org
Borrower/Client/Recipient
Borrower: Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR)
Implementing Agency(ies)
Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) South Asia at the Institute for Financial Management and
Implementing Agency:
Research
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The World Bank
M&E capacity building in South Asia (P177159)
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): Ketevan Nozadze, Shaha Zehra
Practice Manager (ENR/Social) Maria Gonzalez de Asis Recommended on 04-Oct-2021 at 16:23:37 GMT-04:00
Public Disclosure
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