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Sectors and Themes Water Dams and Development E-paper
Guidelines for Incorporating Social Dimensions into Bank OperationsRecognizing that people are at the center if development, ADB provided guidance on the incorporation of social dimensions for staff and borrowing countries in the form of Guidelines for Incorporation of Social Dimension into Bank Operations in 1993. This was supplemented with a Handbook for Incorporation of Social Dimensions in Projects. Need to get and to introduce the framework under Guidelines The approach to participatory processes within ADB operations has continuously evolved over the past decade with lessons learned. A summary of experience and recommendations is provided in the Poverty and Social Development series of publications prepared under regional technical assistance, Capacity Building and Participation Activities II. ADB Handbook for Incorporation of Social Dimensions in Projects, 1994The Handbook outlines the major aspects to examine to be considered during preparation of a Social Analysis as part of a project feasibility study. They include:
Project designs need to include targeting of beneficiaries; opportunities for participatory development strategies; mechanisms to provide services commensurate with clientele's absorptive capacity; and monitoring and evaluation of project benefits. An Initial Social Assessment is required as part of the fact-finding mission to define the scope of the SA following consultations with stakeholders including project beneficiaries and potentially adversely affected people. For selected extracts from the 1994 Handbook related to social analysis click here. The Handbook also contains a number of sector specific checklists relevant to dam projects including Irrigation, Flood Control and Drainage, Forestry and Watershed Management, Urban Water Supply and Sanitation, Rural Water Supply and sanitation, and Power. Extracts from Handbook for Incorporation of Social Dimensions in Projects, 1994Stakeholder analysis'The first step in a SA [Social Analysis] is to identify the client population which will be served by a component or subproject area…' (para 18). 'The second step is to identify the subgroups within the population whose needs, demands and absorptive capacities may differ;… (para 19). ' Third, prepare a socioeconomic profile for each population in a way which identifies differences in needs, demands and absorptive capacity of each group.' (para 20). '..to design a project it is necessary to identify some of the underlying causes of the perceived needs of the anticipated clients…The SA seeks to understand the priority a particular need has among the many needs of the poor, and whether it is realistic to for a project to address this need in isolation from other priority problems in the target community.' (para 21)Participatory processes 'Lessons learned from projects which have been post-evaluated show that projects where there has been active participation by clients have been more successful than projects without participation. Participation is a process by which people, especially the disadvantaged, influence policy formulation and control design alternatives… '. (para 40). 'In the broadest sense, participation may be seen as an instrument for empowering weaker groups in society to initiate actions and influence the processes and outcomes of development'. (para 41(a)) 'Several factors will influence he objectives, intensity and instruments which are used to facilitate participation….To achieve meaningful participation, the project documents need to describe explicitly the type of participation expected, and the arrangements through which this will be participation is expected to be forthcoming.' (para 42) '..If the legal framework and implementation procedures have not been developed or are relatively new, it may be necessary to formulate the project on a modest scale as a pilot activity so that the processes can be tested and the capabilities of the implementing agency be developed to implement them.' (para 44)
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