The World Bank Social Safety Nets System Strengthening (P175594) Concept Environmental and Social Review Summary Concept Stage (ESRS Concept Stage) Public Disclosure Date Prepared/Updated: 06/08/2021 | Report No: ESRSC02052 Jun 08, 2021 Page 1 of 8 The World Bank Social Safety Nets System Strengthening (P175594) BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data Country Region Project ID Parent Project ID (if any) Cote d'Ivoire AFRICA WEST P175594 Project Name Social Safety Nets System Strengthening Practice Area (Lead) Financing Instrument Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Social Protection & Jobs Program-for-Results 2/28/2022 4/18/2022 Financing Borrower(s) Implementing Agency(ies) Republic of Côte d'Ivoire DG - MSLP (Ministère de la Solidarité et de la Lutte contre la Pauvreté), Ministry of Solidarity and Fight against Poverty Public Disclosure Proposed Development Objective The Program Development Objective is to support the government to expand coverage and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of its Social Safety Nets system Financing (in USD Million) Amount IPF Component 20.00 Total Project Cost 845.00 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] Activities under the IPF component will allow Bank technical expertise to support the government in developing key activities such as impact evaluations, cash transfer process evaluations or social registry roll out through review of bid evaluation reports, no objections and technical workshops. Jun 08, 2021 Page 2 of 8 The World Bank Social Safety Nets System Strengthening (P175594) D. Environmental and Social Overview D.1. Detailed project location(s) and salient physical characteristics relevant to the E&S assessment [geographic, environmental, social] Important progress has been made in Côte d’Ivoire over the last 5 years, signaling strong government commitment in building up the foundations of a social protection system at scale. The productive safety net program (Programme des Filets Sociaux Productifs – PPSNP) has expanded massively over the years bringing the total number of beneficiaries for the program to a cumulative 227,000 households in both rural and urban areas, covering all regions of the country. The safety nets project, including this operation being prepared and its predecessor (P143332), are and will be implemented in the poorest areas of the country both rural and urban areas. These areas are generally categorised by high incidences of poverty, low education and literacy levels, limited access or low quality educational and health facilities as well as no or very limited access to basic services such as water and electricity. Violence against women also remains a concern in Cote d’Ivoire while there have been some efforts made my the government to address this issues since 2015; however, specifically at the household level corporal punishment of women and children remains culturally accepted. In the rural areas of the project it has also been observed during the previous operation that the person or people who generally convey messages about or to the project are the village elders and the chief. Women and other beneficiaries, therefore only have their voices heard when the village elders or chief allows this or when there are one on one interviews with the community agents. Therefore inclusion and voice still represent an issue within this project, which needs to be considered carefully and be managed as part of this new operation. The present PforR, design to upscale and sustain the social and positive impacts on poverty alleviation, will include an IPF component to provide TA on various aspects during the implementation of the PforR. Related to Results Area 1, it Public Disclosure would provide TA to support: (i) the design and organization of the impact evaluation of the productive cash transfer program; (ii) yearly process evaluations on the productive cash transfer program; (iii) the update of the PSNP’s design and implementation arrangements based on the evaluations’ findings; and (iv) the update of the MIS of the PSNP to reflect operational lessons. Related to Results Area 2, it would provide TA to support: (i) the design and operational processes of the RSU roll out; (ii) the update and upgrade of the RSU-MIS to reflect operational lessons; (iii) the design and implementation of the RSU governance and data exchange mechanisms; (iv) the assessment of the accuracy of the targeting methodology to improve targeting performance; and (iv) the conduct of regular process evaluations. Related to Results Area 3, it would provide TA to support: (i) the design and define the operations tools of a shock- responsive system; (ii) training and knowledge exchange to increase the capacities of the safety nets system leadership team; (iii) the improvement of the GRM mechanisms to meet WB safeguards standards; (iv) the assessment and development work required for the use of a coordinated and efficient payment platform; and (v) the development of a financing strategy to fund the safety nets system in the medium term. D. 2. Borrower’s Institutional Capacity The Direction General of the Poverty unit under the Ministry of Solidarity Fight against Poverty is responsible for the overall Program. The current PIU (UGP), put in place by the original IDA-funded Productive Social Safety Net project (P143332) and its additional financing (P167623), is responsible for the scaling and implementation of the PSNP while the RSU is housed under a separate unit of the Ministry of Solidarity. The current PIU has shown great capacity to implement a productive cash transfer program at some scale. The PIU however, was created by inter-ministerial order in 2015 to address the institutional arrangements described in the financing agreement for the project with the World Bank. As such the main role of the PIU was to implement the World Bank funded PSNP. With the closing of this project in 2022 (FY23), the PIU would technically no longer exist. To ensure continuity however and safeguard the acquired experience from the PSNP, the institutionalization of the PIU as an official government unit, not as a World Bank Jun 08, 2021 Page 3 of 8 The World Bank Social Safety Nets System Strengthening (P175594) implementation unit, would be necessary. This would not only maintain the institutional memory and gained capacity, but also ensure adequate funding to the unit during budgeting exercises. This will be addressed in the Program Action Plan (PAP). The Unique Social Registry (RSU) is a significantly newer unit. During project preparation the technical assessment will seek to assess the existing capacity within this new unit to manage the evolving registry and the data collected. II. SCREENING OF POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL (ES) RISKS AND IMPACTS A. Environmental and Social Risk Classification (ESRC) Moderate Environmental Risk Rating Low The IPF component will allow Bank technical expertise to support the government in developing key activities such as impact evaluations, cash transfer process evaluations or social registry roll out through review of bid evaluation reports, no objections and technical workshops. The outcomes of the TA will have very limited environmental impacts and risks. However, considering the that 10 individual consultants and 5 firms will be mobilized for this TA, risks associated to intellectual services and traffic accidents should be monitored by the PIU. Social Risk Rating Moderate The consultants / firms that will be hired to undertake the work under the IPF component need to ensure that the information and feedback received from the beneficiaries and the implementation agencies avoids elite capture and is widely consulted, with separate consultations being held with women, youth and vulnerable people to ensure that Public Disclosure their voices have been adequately reflected, as there is a risk that the evaluations and monitoring activities do not reflect all beneficiaries’ voices equally. This is particularly important in rural areas, where the voices of women and vulnerable people are often not heard due to the strict hierarchies at village level. Therefore, the consultants and firms undertaking the studies and evaluations should be accompanied and make use of the community agents to include all voices and establish relationships with the beneficiaries. It is also important to take into account aspects such as SEA/SH to make sure that specific questions are asked and feedback is continuously provided and integrated to improve the program, as SEA/SH is one of the known issue in Cote d’Ivoire. There were no known SEA/SH risks raised during the previous operation (P143332); however, there was also not an in-depth monitoring or screening done for any SEA/SH risks, therefore it is unclear if there were no concerns or just non reported. Improvement to the GRM (established under the P143332) will also need to be done, as the previous GRM received mostly grievances related to payments, which were resolved accordingly to the PIU and the centralized register they maintained; however, at the local level grievances were not recorded and often resolved only verbally, therefore it is unclear if there were additional grievances. Towards the end of the operation P143332, the project introduced a management information system with an offline GRM module that can be accessed offline by community agents, as this has only been introduced its efficacity is unclear. The new operation will build on this and should increase the capacity to use this tool. Due to these potential risks of elite capture, undetected SEA/SH incidences and a poor GRM system, the social risk rating is moderate. B. Environment and Social Standards (ESSs) that Apply to the Activities Being Considered B.1. General Assessment Jun 08, 2021 Page 4 of 8 The World Bank Social Safety Nets System Strengthening (P175594) ESS1 Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts Overview of the relevance of the Standard for the Project: The TA activities financed as part of the IPF component under the project will likely have limited social and environmental impacts as the activities are mainly related to undertaking studies, assessments etc. The main risks will be related to the need for inclusive stakeholder engagement to inform the assessment and improvement recommendations for the program (this is outlined in greater detail under ESS10) and the need to adhere to codes of conduct, including SEA/SH measures for the approximately 10 individual consultants and 5 firms to not cause any unwanted behavior for community members and beneficiaries. The TA activities will also need to respect all COVID 19 measures put in place at a national level, including wearing masks, social distancing and limiting the number of people at public consultations in order not to prorogate the disease. As for the HSE risks, they mainly come down to the risks associated to intellectual services and traffic accidents, as consultants and firms will undertake field visits in vehicles. Areas where “Use of Borrower Framework” is being considered: The Borrower’s Framework will be applied to the wider PforR program and certain aspects will apply to the TA activities such as the codes of conduct for the workers and the SEA/SH mitigation measures put in place. ESS10 Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure A Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) will be developed for this IPF activity to adequately outline the stakeholder engagement related to the different evaluations, assessments and beneficiary targeting activities to ensure that all voices have been adequately reflected and elite capture is avoided. The SEP will include record of all the annual Public Disclosure stakeholder engagement activities undertaken as part of the technical assistance and be updated annually to reflect the status of stakeholder activities. The extent and manner of stakeholder engagement will be proportional to the nature and scale of the project and its potential risks and impacts, including the potential exclusion of women, youth and vulnerable groups in target areas due to strict village hierarchies, security and SEA/SH risks affecting delivery and reception of cash transfers. The project will build on the existing Grievance Mechanisms (GM), for the IPF component, as the grievances will provide important feedback of the activities. The GM must be SEA/SH-sensitive. The SEP will be developed and disclosed before appraisal. 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 IPF technical assistance activities foresee only a small number of individual consultants or specialized firms, approximately 10 individual consultants and 5 firms.. Project workers related to the IPF component will all be over the age of 18, therefore a child labor and forced labor risk is not foreseen. For the IPF activity a separate Labor Management Procedure (LMP) will not be developed; however, the project’s code of conduct and working conditions will also apply to the IPF workers. ESS3 Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention and Management Jun 08, 2021 Page 5 of 8 The World Bank Social Safety Nets System Strengthening (P175594) This standard is not relevant. However, TA may recommend actions or measures that could indirectly have adverse impact on resources and contribute to the increase of pollution. ESS4 Community Health and Safety The main community health and safety risk is related to SEA/SH and inappropriate behaviors by the consultants and firms coming from outside and entering the communities. The codes of conducts to be established for the project should include SEA/SH measures, which the IFP component workers will also need to adhere to. The TA activities focus on evaluations and improvements of the program will review these mitigation measures and will propose changes if necessary and conduct consultations specific to the codes of conduct and the respect of the SEA/SH measures to see how effectively they are being implemented within the program. With COVID 19 still prevalent in the Ivory Coast and the vaccination rates being low, all TA related activities will need to respect the Covid-19 measures including the wearing of masks, the limiting of the numbers of people during public meetings and engagement sessions and respecting all social distancing rules. ESS5 Land Acquisition, Restrictions on Land Use and Involuntary Resettlement Not relevant ESS6 Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources Public Disclosure This standard is not relevant. However, TA may recommend actions or measures that could indirectly have adverse impact on biodiversity and natural resources. The wider PforR program will assess these risks as part of the ESSA for the protection and the conserving biodiversity and sustainably managing living natural resources ESS7 Indigenous Peoples/Sub-Saharan African Historically Underserved Traditional Local Communities Not relevant ESS8 Cultural Heritage Not relevant ESS9 Financial Intermediaries Not relevant C. Legal Operational Policies that Apply OP 7.50 Projects on International Waterways No OP 7.60 Projects in Disputed Areas No Jun 08, 2021 Page 6 of 8 The World Bank Social Safety Nets System Strengthening (P175594) III. WORLD BANK ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL DUE DILIGENCE A. Is a common approach being considered? No Financing Partners N/A B. Proposed Measures, Actions and Timing (Borrower’s commitments) Actions to be completed prior to Bank Board Approval: Develop and disclose the Stakeholder Engagement Plan Possible issues to be addressed in the Borrower Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP): Stakeholder engagement SEA/SH risk Code of conduct for workers C. Timing Public Disclosure Tentative target date for preparing the Appraisal Stage ESRS 01-Feb-2022 IV. CONTACT POINTS World Bank Contact: Solene Marie Paule Rougeaux Title: Senior Social Protection Specialist Telephone No: 5331+3463 Email: srougeaux@worldbank.org Contact: Raphaela Beatrice Karlen Title: Social Protection Specialist Telephone No: +1-202-473-4509 Email: rkarlen@worldbank.org Borrower/Client/Recipient Borrower: Republic of Côte d'Ivoire Implementing Agency(ies) Implementing Agency: DG - MSLP (Ministère de la Solidarité et de la Lutte contre la Pauvreté) Implementing Agency: Ministry of Solidarity and Fight against Poverty Jun 08, 2021 Page 7 of 8 The World Bank Social Safety Nets System Strengthening (P175594) 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): Raphaela Beatrice Karlen, Solene Marie Paule Rougeaux Practice Manager (ENR/Social) Maria Sarraf Recommended on 19-May-2021 at 20:48:18 GMT-04:00 Public Disclosure Jun 08, 2021 Page 8 of 8