Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) Guinea Bissau Emergency Food Security Project (P1742336) 1. Introduction/Project Description The Guinea-Bissau Emergency Food Security Project will support the government of Guinea Bissau to proactively mitigate the short-to-medium-term food security challenges that the country is expected to face, as result of Covid-19 impacts on cashew nut production and marketing. Component 1: Support to Agricultural Production (US$10.0 million) The objective of this component is to support an accelerated supply response focused on preserving/restoring the productive capacity of eligible farmers, to enable them effectively engage in continued and expanded production of key staple foods in the short-term (6-12 months). The project will finance: (i) procurement and distribution of improved seeds and planting materials, with a focus on key food security crops and vegetables; (ii) access to necessary farm equipment and labor; and (iii) provision of requisite advisory services in support of improved production, productivity and production system resilience to climate change. Component 2: Support to Community Safety Nets (US$2.5 million) Investment under this component is to ensure household food security for sections of the communities affected by job losses, by mitigating the expected shortfalls in their incomes through support for public works. The focus will be on establishing public assets that would contribute to or enhance the impact of support under Component 1. These could include support to the distribution of inputs, rehabilitation of storage facilities, opening of access roads to agriculturally productive areas, construction of local markets, etc. This component will mainly finance, wages (cash or in-kind), tools and equipment, and other non-wage costs, as would be required for specific public works. Component 3: Support to Risk Mitigation (US$1.5 million) The proposal is to explore the feasibility, and then pilot the implementation of locally appropriate market risk management measures for the cashew sector. This would serve to strengthen the resilience of the sector to market risks that the sector is increasingly exposed and would lay the ground for a sustainable recovery. The proposal is to build on that progress during project implementation. In this context, the project would finance Technical Assistance (TA), as well as the costs related to piloting the identified risk management measure. Component 4: Project Management (US$1.0 million). The component will finance activities related to project coordination and management, including developing annual work plans and budgets, financial management (FM) and procurement, safeguards compliance, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), citizen engagement as well as a Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM). Component 5: Contingent Emergency Response (US$0 million) This zero-cost, contingent emergency response component (CERC) will finance eligible expenditures in case of natural or man-made crises, disasters, severe economic shocks, or other crises and emergencies in Guinea Bissau. The Guinea-Bissau Emergency Food Security Project is being prepared under the World Bank’s Environment and Social Framework (ESF). As per the Environmental and Social Standard ESS 10 Stakeholders Engagement and Information Disclosure, the implementing agencies should provide 1 stakeholders with timely, relevant, understandable and accessible information, and consult with them in a culturally appropriate manner, which is free of manipulation, interference, coercion, discrimination and intimidation. The overall objective of this Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) is to define a program for stakeholder engagement, including public information disclosure and consultation, throughout the entire project cycle. The SEP outlines the ways in which the project team will communicate with stakeholders and includes a mechanism by which people can raise concerns, provide feedback, or make complaints about project and any activities related to the project. The involvement of the local population is essential to the success of the project in order to ensure smooth collaboration between project staff and local communities and to minimize and mitigate environmental and social risks related to the proposed project activities. In the context of infectious diseases, broad, culturally appropriate, and adapted awareness raising activities are particularly important to properly sensitize the communities to the risks related to infectious diseases. 2. Stakeholder identification and analysis Project stakeholders are defined as individuals, groups or other entities who: (i) are impacted or likely to be impacted directly or indirectly, positively or adversely, by the Project (also known as ‘affected parties’); and (ii) may have an interest in the Project (‘interested parties’). They include individuals or groups whose interests may be affected by the Project and who have the potential to influence the Project outcomes in any way. For the purposes of effective and tailored engagement, stakeholders of the proposed project(s) can be divided into the following core categories: Affected Parties These include local communities, community members and other parties that may be subject to direct impacts from the Project. Specifically, the following groups fall within this category: • Smallholder farmers and market gardeners • Other community members • Workers at civic works construction sites Other Interested Parties • Traditional and social media • Politicians • Development partners • Non-governmental organization • Cashew enterprises • The public at large • Vulnerable Groups • Elderly and youth • Persons with disabilities • Women-headed households or single mothers with underage children 2 3. Stakeholder Engagement Program 3.1. Summary of stakeholder engagement done during project preparation TBD 3.2. Summary of project stakeholder needs and methods, tools and techniques for stakeholder engagement The project will support a communication, mobilization, and community engagement campaign to raise public awareness and knowledge on prevention and control of COVID-19 among the general population. It will contribute to strengthening the capacities of community structures in promoting coronavirus prevention messages. The project will coordinate and monitor all communication interventions and material development at both the national and regional levels during implementation. 3.3. Proposed strategy for consultation The project will ensure that activities are inclusive and culturally sensitive, making sure the vulnerable groups outlined above also benefit from the project. Toward this effort, the project will prioritize face- to-face communication, including household-outreach, focus-group discussions, and village consultations using different languages and pictures, as necessary. The project will recognize that some groups (ex women, girls, minorities, people living with disability, etc) may have difficulties in participating in stakeholder engagement activities due to gender and social norms and therefore will plan specific and separate activities for small groups divided by gender and age and facilitated by a person of the same sex to encourage free and open exchanges. The project will inform and engage stakeholders on project environmental and social performance and implementation of the stakeholder engagement plan and grievance mechanism throughout the project. The information and engagement activities will include topics related to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA), Sexual Harassment (SH) or other types of Gender Based Violence (GBV) that could be impacted by the project or the COVID-19 pandemic; it will inform the stakeholders of the content of the code of conduct of workers, what behavior is not acceptable and what sanctions are foreseen, as well as it will include information on how to raise concerns and complaints with the project, what complaint management procedures looks like and what services are available for GBV/SEA/SH survivors. The draft ESMF, and SEP will be disclosed prior to formal consultations. 4. Resources and Responsibilities for implementing stakeholder engagement activities 4.1. Resources The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will be in charge of stakeholder engagement activities. The budget for SEP implementation will come from Component 4. 4.2. Management functions and responsibilities Project implementation will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), through a Technical Coordination Unit (TCU) currently being set up with the support of other Development Partners. The primary responsibility of the TCU will be the contracting of implementation support partners, monitoring implementation (working through MARD’s regional directorates), and reporting to the Bank. For these functions, the TCU will be staffed with a Coordinator, Agricultural 3 Specialist, Monitoring and Evaluation expert, a Communication Specialist and an Environment and Social Safeguards specialist. The latter two will be responsible for the implementation of the SEP. 5. Grievance Mechanism The main objective of a Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) is to assist to resolve complaints and grievances in a timely, effective and efficient manner that satisfies all parties involved. Specifically, it provides a transparent and credible process for fair, effective and lasting outcomes. It also builds trust and cooperation as an integral component of broader community consultation that facilitates corrective actions. The GRM that is sensitive to SEA/SH complaints is also a mitigation measure of SEA/SH as it raises awareness on the issue, offers survivor a safe way to signal abuse and to accesses services. Specifically, the GRM: • Provides affected people with avenues for making a complaint or resolving any dispute that may arise during the course of the implementation of projects; • Ensures that appropriate and mutually acceptable redress actions are identified and implemented to the satisfaction of complainants; • Provides referrals to services for SEA/SH survivors; and • Avoids the need to resort to judicial proceedings. 5.1. Description of GRM The GRM will include the following steps: Step 1: Submission of grievances Step 2: Recording of grievance and providing the initial response Step 3: Investigating the grievance Step 4: Communication of the Response Step 5: Complainant Response Step 6: Grievance closure or taking further steps if the grievance remains open Step 7: Appeals process Once all possible redress has been proposed and if the complainant is still not satisfied then they should be advised of their right to legal recourse. 5.2. Recommended Grievance Redress Time Frame Proposed GRM Time Frame Step Process Time frame 1 Receive and register grievance within 24 hours 2 Acknowledge within 24 hours 3 Assess grievance within 24 hours 4 Assign responsibility within 2 Days 5 Development of response within 7 Days 6 Implementation of response if agreement is reached within 7 Days 7 Close grievance within 2 Days 4 8 Initiate grievance review process if no agreement is within 7 Days reached at the first instance 9 Implement review recommendation and close grievance within 14 Days 10 Grievance taken to court by complainant 5.3 Venues to register Grievances - Uptake Channels A complaint can be registered directly through any of the following modes and, if necessary, anonymously or through third parties. In person with or by letter to local GRM Focal Point By telephone (toll free to be established with MARD) By e-mail to (address will be activated soon) The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is putting in place additional measures to handle sensitive and confidential complaints, including those related to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse/Harassment (SEA/H). Details will be provided in the Update to the SEP. Once a complaint has been received, it should be recorded by the local GRM Focal Points or the PIU E&S Specialist in the complaints logbook or grievance excel-sheet- grievance database. 5.4 Organizational Arrangements Grievances will be handled at the national level by MARD. The GRM will include the following steps: Step 1: Grievance raised with the local community Grievance Focal Point Step 2: Unresolved grievances brought to MARD Grievance Committee Once all possible redress has been proposed and if the complainant is still not satisfied then they should be advised of their right to legal recourse. At the national level, the GRM will be managed at the MARD PCU. The E&S specialist will be managing the GRM on a day-to-day basis including interactions wit the local GRM Focal Points, who will report periodically. 6. Monitoring and Reporting 6.1. Monitoring and Reporting back to stakeholder groups The SEP will be periodically revised and updated as necessary in the course of project implementation in order to ensure that the information presented herein is consistent and is the most recent, and that the identified methods of engagement remain appropriate and effective in relation to the project context and specific phases of the development. Any major changes to the project related activities and to its schedule will be duly reflected in the SEP. 5 Quarterly summaries and internal reports on public grievances, enquiries and related incidents, together with the status of implementation of associated corrective/preventative actions will be collated by responsible staff and referred to the senior management of the project. The quarterly summaries will provide a mechanism for assessing both the number and the nature of complaints and requests for information, along with the Project’s ability to address those in a timely and effective manner. Information on public engagement activities undertaken by the Project during the year may be conveyed to the stakeholders in two possible ways: • Publication of a standalone annual report on project’s interaction with the stakeholders. • A number of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as number of consultations/grievances per reporting period and percentage of resolved grievances (Incl. SEA/SH complaints) will also be monitored by the project on a regular basis. 6