The World Bank The Gambia Social Safety Net Project (P167260) REPORT NO.: RES42702 RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF THE GAMBIA SOCIAL SAFETY NET PROJECT APPROVED ON MAY 24, 2019 TO THE REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA SOCIAL PROTECTION & JOBS AFRICA Regional Vice President: Hafez M. H. Ghanem Country Director: Nathan M. Belete Regional Director: Amit Dar Practice Manager/Manager: Jehan Arulpragasam Task Team Leader(s): Penelope Jane Aske Williams The World Bank The Gambia Social Safety Net Project (P167260) ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS The World Bank The Gambia Social Safety Net Project (P167260) BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID Financing Instrument P167260 Investment Project Financing Original EA Category Current EA Category Not Required (C) Not Required (C) Approval Date Current Closing Date 24-May-2019 29-Mar-2024 Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency The Republic of The Gambia National Nutrition Agency Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO To improve the coordination of social assistance activities and increase inclusion of the extreme poor in the Nafa program. Current PDO To improve the coordination of social assistance activities, provide temporary social assistance support to rural households in the wake of COVID-19, and increase inclusion of the extreme poor in the Nafa program. OPS_TABLE_PDO_CURRENTPDO Summary Status of Financing Net Ln/Cr/Tf Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed IDA-D4740 24-May-2019 11-Jun-2019 09-Sep-2019 29-Mar-2024 30.00 2.45 27.30 The World Bank The Gambia Social Safety Net Project (P167260) Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No I. PROJECT STATUS AND RATIONALE FOR RESTRUCTURING A. Project Status 1. Overall implementation of the Project is satisfactory, since the Government has made progress on a number of activities and brought on board key project staff required for implementation. The Project was declared effective on September 9, 2019 and a first disbursement of US$ 2.45 million (8 percent) was made. The intra-governmental contracts needed for implementation have all been signed and the four manuals required for implementation (for Social Registry; Nafa Program; Grievance and Redress Mechanism; and Administration and Finance) have been completed and approved. Key positions have been filled, including Procurement Officer and Accounts Assistant and other critical staff have been brought on board. 2. Progress on the implementation of Component 1: Development of Coordination Mechanisms for the Social Assistance Sector, which mainly focuses on setting up a Social Registry and ensuring an efficient coordination mechanism for social protection is satisfactory. Two key positions for the Social Protection Secretariat have been filled by the Government with qualified staff, namely the Social Protection Secretariat Coordinator and Monitoring and Evaluation Officer. A Social Registry Manager has however not yet been brought on board. It has been difficult to identify a qualified candidate, but as a short-term measure, the Government is seeking to engage a lower-level staff to be a Database Manager. The National Social Protection Steering Committee is meeting quarterly. The listing and data collection for the Social Registry has recently resumed following a hiatus due to COVID-19 safe distancing requirements. The Government is shortlisting firms for the development of the Social Registry system. 3. Progress on the implementation of Component 2: Nafa Program of Cash Transfers to the Eligible Extreme Poor and Social and Behavioral Change Communication, which focuses on supporting the implementation of the Nafa Program, is also satisfactory. The Program has been adapted through a recent restructuring to include a Nafa Quick temporary cash transfer program for the majority of rural households that have been affected by the COVID-19 prevention measures. The Government has made important progress on the design and implementation mechanisms: the Management Information System, Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy, Social and Behavioural Change modules and a Grievance Redress Mechanism are in place. B. Rationale for Restructuring 4. The Disbursement Condition for Cash Transfers reads as follows: “no withdrawal shall be made for payments made under Category (3), until and unless (i) the Recipient has hired and entered into a contract with a Payment The World Bank The Gambia Social Safety Net Project (P167260) Service Provider as set forth in Section I.D.4 of this Schedule; and (ii) the payments are made in accordance with the procedures and eligibility criteria set forth in the Project Operations Manual and the contracts with the Payment Service Provider.” 5. The Payment Service Provider is being contracted, but the payments cannot be made until the resources governed by this Disbursement Condition have been made available. Therefore it is impossible for the client to show that ‘the payments are made in accordance with the procedures and eligibility criteria set forth in the Project Operations manual and the contracts with the Payment Service Provider.’ II. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED CHANGES 6. The Disbursement Condition will be revised to read as follows: “no withdrawal shall be made for payments made under Category (3), until and unless (i) the Recipient has hired and entered into a contract with a Payment Service Provider as set forth in Section I.D.4 of this Schedule; and (ii) the Project Operations Manual with selection and eligibility criteria and procedures for Cash Transfers has been approved by the Association.” 7. In a letter dated May 4, 2020 the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs requested the use of project financing to support rural households with cash transfers as a complement to its food transfer to ease the economic burden of COVID-19 prevention measures. The letter did not specifically reference the need to amend the Disbursement Condition, but given the COVID-19 environment and the Government’s request to use cash transfers to respond quickly, this amendment is being proposed in the absence of a specific formal Government request but based on discussions with the Government. The Implementing Agency has already revised the Operations Manual to reflect the procedures and eligibility criteria for the Nafa Quick in the expectation that this would be sufficient to fulfil the Disbursement Condition. III. SUMMARY OF CHANGES Changed Not Changed Disbursements Arrangements ✔ Implementing Agency ✔ DDO Status ✔ Project's Development Objectives ✔ Results Framework ✔ Components and Cost ✔ Loan Closing Date(s) ✔ Cancellations Proposed ✔ The World Bank The Gambia Social Safety Net Project (P167260) Reallocation between Disbursement Categories ✔ Disbursement Estimates ✔ Overall Risk Rating ✔ Safeguard Policies Triggered ✔ EA category ✔ Legal Covenants ✔ Institutional Arrangements ✔ Financial Management ✔ Procurement ✔ Implementation Schedule ✔ Other Change(s) ✔ Economic and Financial Analysis ✔ Technical Analysis ✔ Social Analysis ✔ Environmental Analysis ✔ IV. DETAILED CHANGE(S) .