Regional : Improving Safeguard Policy Applications in South Asia Developing Member Countries

Energy / Electricity transmission and distribution - Large hydropower generation

Transport / Road transport (non-urban) - Urban roads and traffic management

Water and other urban infrastructure and services / Urban sanitation - Urban sewerage - Urban solid waste management - Urban water supply

Development results and effectiveness are quite often interrupted or delayed due to unsatisfactory or flawed implementation of safeguard mitigation measures. Often time implementation results are intertwined with planning and design of safeguard measures. There have been concerns over the quality of safeguard planning documents and ADB staff skills in managing implementation issues. The need to understand these implementation issues have been prioritized by SARD and therefore SARD is currently supporting a S-CDTA to assess the status of institutional capacity for implementation of environmental and social safeguards in ADB-funded infrastructure projects in India, Nepal, and Bhutan. The S-CDTA has identified a set of issues that are interrelated between environmental and social safeguard planning and implementation phases and has recommended an action plan which highlights on various level of capacity development needs in each of the 3 selected DMCs and SARD. The aim of the proposed R-CDTA is to deliver on this action plan and extend similar investigation on current status and safeguard capacity development for rest of the SARD DMCs.

The regional aspect of the proposed R-CDTA will allow to avail the opportunities for South-South co-operation and sharing of best practices across SARD DMCs. It is in line with the ADB Safeguard Policy Statement 2009 that emphasizes the need for effective implementation of the safeguard measures together with the borrower. The R-CDTA also reflects the strategy encouraged by the Regional Cooperation Strategy for South Asia 2011-2015, where it supports (i) project implementation, and (ii) capacity development initiatives. As a first time for SARD, the S-CDTA has engaged SARD's clients in a dialogue on rationalizing safeguards implementation practices and the R-CDTA will deliver the improvement.

Better safeguard implementation practices in ADB-funded projects in DMCs in South Asia

Stronger capacity of both ADB and key government agencies to systematically design, implement, and monitor environment and social safeguard aspects of ADB projects

1. Safeguard implementation manuals, including guidelines, procedures, and training materials developed

2. Training programs implemented

3. Web-based automated safeguard system for tracking safeguard performance developed

4. Social and environmental safeguards assessments enhanced

Output 1: The Environmental Management Specialist and Social Safeguard Specialist who have been recruited since 2014 continues to be engaged to finalize the training manuals. The draft environment and social safeguards training manuals have been initially reviewed by SDSS and will be revised based actual use of core national trainers.

Output 2: Training workshops have been conducted for EAs and IAs as follows:

(a) Environment and social safeguards training workshops have been conducted in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka;

(b) Training on handling environmental contracts conducted in Sri Lanka and Nepal; and

(c) Training on grievance redress mechanism and problem solving conducted in India and Nepal.

The TA supported training for 3 POWERGRID safeguards staff on Resettlement and Livelihood Restoration in Manila, Philippines.

Safeguards Training-of-Trainers (TOT) has been conducted in India for trainees to eventually be engaged to carry-out safeguards training to executing agencies and implementing agencies in their respective countries. A TOT was also held in Bhutan with trainees from Bhutan and Nepal.

An Environmental and Social Safeguards Training was held on 9-13 July 2018 in Nepal for the core national trainers. Several core national trainers have been engaged and deployed in Bhutan, India and Nepal in November 2019 to conduct safeguards training.

Output 3: The Information Technology Consultant and Safeguards Database Management Specialist continues to be engaged to fine-tune SARD's Safeguards Tracking System. The system was pilot-tested in the last quarter of 2016 and its full implementation was launched during SARD''s Safeguards Network Meeting in June 2017. Further refinements are being done to improve the web-based tracking system based on feedback from SARD sector divisions, resident missions, and SDSS.

Output 4: Recruited 14 international consultants and 31 national consultants to perform social and environmental assessment work. One of the 14 international consultants worked on the country safeguards system for POWERGRID in India.

Further consultant recruitment for short-term assignments ongoing.