Safeguard Policies Research Articles

Displacement, resettlement, and livelihood restoration: safeguard standards in practice

ABSTRACTThis article presents a case study of development practice based on the author’s experience of designing a livelihood restoration plan and monitoring its implementation. The plan was based on safeguard standards of a multilateral development bank that funded a private sector renewable energy project on land belonging to a vulnerable community in Central India. Illustrating the challenges faced in implementing and monitoring this plan and the reasons for its failure, the article argues that a complex set of institutional and individual relationships determine the way in which safeguard policies are translated into practice by diverse and interrelated actors.

Effectiveness of Internal Audit and Oversight at Central Banks: Safeguards Findings - Trends and Observations

Experience under the safeguards policy has shown that central banks continued to strengthen their safeguards frameworks, but that vulnerabilities prevailed in the areas of internal audit and oversight by the audit committee (AC). This paper takes steps to help unravel why this was the case, based on analysis of safeguards findings in these areas during the period April 2010 to December 2017 (covering 111 assessments at 64 central banks). Based on this analysis, it presents the key attributes that determine the effectiveness of internal audit and the AC. It also argues that, an effective internal audit function, coupled with strong oversight by a high-performing AC are key enablers of good governance.

Effectiveness of Internal Audit and Oversight at Central Banks: Safeguards Findings - Trends and Observations

Experience under the safeguards policy has shown that central banks continued to strengthen their safeguards frameworks, but that vulnerabilities prevailed in the areas of internal audit and oversight by the audit committee (AC). This paper takes steps to help unravel why this was the case, based on analysis of safeguards findings in these areas during the period April 2010 to December 2017 (covering 111 assessments at 64 central banks). Based on this analysis, it presents the key attributes that determine the effectiveness of internal audit and the AC. It also argues that, an effective internal audit function, coupled with strong oversight by a high-performing AC are key enablers of good governance.

Induced Resettlement and Livelihoods of Communities: A Case Study of the Bui Dam Jama Resettlement Community, Ghana

NOTE: THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED WITH THE INFORMING SCIENCE INSTITUTE. Aim/Purpose................................................................................................................................................................................................. Study aimed to examine the impacts of the Bui-Dam Hydroelectric Power (BHP) project resettlement on communities’ livelihoods. The purpose was to understand how the resettlement affected livelihood assets, activities, and capabilities of communities and households. Background................................................................................................................................................................................................. Induced displacements and livelihoods of households and communities have received enormous scholarly attention in many academic disciplines. In this paper, we add to the contributions in this issue area, employing a case study, to examine the livelihood effects to communities involved in the Phase A of the Bui Resettlement Program in Jama, Ghana. Methodology................................................................................................................................................................................................. In-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and observations were used to closely understand, from the perspective of stakeholders, including affected households, community leaders, and resettlement authorities, the impact of the project on livelihood capabilities, assets and activities. Contribution................................................................................................................................................................................................. The study has shown that resettlement presents communities with both challenges and opportunities. This conclusion is important in planning future projects, because, it will allow practitioners to carefully plan with both dimensions at sight. Findings ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... The study revealed that livelihood assets, including agricultural lands and fishing lake, were affected. However, farmlands were replaced while the lake remained accessible to households, posing little change in general livelihood activities. The quality and adequacy of the new resources were however in question, and some households were forced to change activities. Capabilities of resettled people were not affected; however, some were rendered useless in the new location while social ties and sense of belongingness were negatively affected. Recommendations for Practitioners........................................................................................................................................................... Considering the findings of this research, for future induced resettlement, we recommend that proactive measure be taken to understand the potential impacts of projects to be incorporated into planning. In addition, livelihood supports should be planned on long-term basis, to ensure that all potential impacts are predetermined. Broadly, context-specific safeguard policies should be pursued at the local level. Recommendation for Researchers............................................................................................................................................................ It is important to consider both the positive and negative impacts of induced resettlement to provide a holistic picture of how it affects households and communities. Researchers studying resettlement must therefore expand their scope of consideration to inform holistic policy actions. Impact on Society........................................................................................................................................................................................ The study provides findings that can enhance the sustainability of community livelihoods in the face of infrastructural development activities in pursuit of economic growth. Future Research........................................................................................................................................................................................... From the research perspective, future studies could well focus on understanding both dimensions of the impacts of various projects. Such an approach will provide valuable inputs to development planners and practitioners on how to effectively optimize project outcomes. The findings will also serve as a benchmark for people studying the same project long after all the phases are completed.

Positive Impact Investing

Integrating environmental, social and governance impacts into investment and financial decision making and especially focussing on the upside of ESG (positive) impact investing is a nascent field of research. At the moment, it is mostly practitioners that are driving the impact assessment process and its integration into investment and finance. This has various reasons from managing risks effectively to protecting reputation and addressing stakeholder requirements. The process is most obvious on the lending side where collaborations between the Worldbank, International Finance Corporations, other multilaterals and the private banking sector have contributed to the development of relatively consistent ESG standards which are often referred to as Global Administrative Law. It has become increasingly the norm for international development banking institutions, including multilateral development banks (MDBs), and many private sector lenders, to adopt comprehensive environmental, social and governance (ESG) safeguard policies and standards to circumscribe the projects and activities they finance. This is particularly the case in the financing of major infrastructure projects in developing countries or economies in transition. For Internationals Banks it is today good practice to integrate environmental, social and governance considerations into the lending process. For project and structure finance, the Equator Principles offer a financial industry benchmark for determining, assessing and managing environmental and social risk in international finance activities. For lenders such as the EBRD or IFC that focus on private sector lending, the performance standards of environmental and social governance are imposed upon private corporate entities, against which most requirements of international law could never be formally applied. The Equator Principles Association website recognises growing 'convergence around common environmental and social standards', as well as the 'development of other responsible environmental and social management practices in the financial sector and banking industry', such as the Carbon Principles or the Cross-Sector Biodiversity Initiative. Also the export credit agencies, through the 2012 OECD Common Approaches, are increasingly drawing on the same standards as the EPs'.

Media diversity in Portugal: political framework and current challenges

This article addresses the current “state of the art” in Portuguese media diversity policy, focusing on the social inclusiveness domain within public service media. The indicators assess regulatory and policy safeguards for community media, access to media by minorities, local and regional communities, women and people with disabilities, as well as the country’s media literacy environment. Although the majority of these in dicators have legal safeguards or benefit from specific policies, we concluded there is still considerable work to be done, particularly in the realms of media literacy and the representation of minority groups and women in the media. This article results from an on-going research, gathering data and literature review from the following projects: Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) project, implemented by the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) at the European University Institute and funded by the European Commission; and DIVinTV - Public Television and Cultural Diversity in Portugal, funded by FCT.

Intra-Unit Minorities in the Context of Ethno-National Federation in Ethiopia

After years of centralized rule emphasizing unity and territorial integrity, Ethiopia in 1991 adopted a federal system that aimed at accommodating its diversity. The system is designed to empower hitherto marginalized ethno-national groups by ensuring self-government in nine constituent units and redrawing boundaries to match with ethno-national boundaries. By designing constituent units, and, in some cases, local governments that ensure self-rule to major ethno-national groups, the constitution transforms these groups into majorities within the territories they control at constituent and local level. This article argues that while conferring territorial autonomy and self-rule to mobilized, territorially grouped ethno-national groups may be a step in the right direction to address the age-old ‘nationality question’, the design establishes a titular ethno-national group that claims exclusive control over territory, dominates public institutions, perpetuates majority rule and replicates the problems of the ‘nation-state’ at constituent-unit level. The combination of majority rule by titular ethno-national group and exclusive control over territory at constituent-unit level in a context of heterogeneous constituent units and increased inter-regional state mobility has therefore had grave consequences for intra-unit minorities. What the design provides is autonomy for a particular titular ethno-national group, not autonomy for all inhabitants in the constituent unit. Hence, the question arises: What institutional and policy options do we have to address the rights of intra-unit minorities in the states? It is argued that the process of empowering ethno-nationalist group at regional-state level was conducted without putting relevant institutional and policy mechanisms in place to minimize the marginalization of intra-unit minorities. The article therefore examines the institutional, political, legal and policy safeguards that exist for intra-unit minorities. It proposes four mechanisms that aim to address the concerns of intra-unit minorities: power-sharing as well as non-territorial autonomy; external checks by the federal government to monitor constituent units’ compliance with intra-unit minorities; and strict enforcement of human rights throughout the country. Enforcement of these packages of supplementary measures would mitigate the situation of intra-unit minorities and recast the conception of political power and territory in such a way that they are understood not as the exclusive property of a particular ethno-national group but a shared common good for all inhabitants of the constituent units.

Standardizing Sustainable Development

There is a sense of urgency in emerging market and developing countries in general, and Latin America in particular, for international development banks to generate a pipeline of infrastructure projects in order to reboot lagging economies and to meet broader sustainable development goals. In meeting those goals, it is important to also ensure that such efforts are socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable. To draw lessons for this new wave of development finance, this article conducts a comparative analysis of social and environmental safeguards across international development banks. We find a significant divergence in safeguard policy across development banks operating in the region, with Western-backed development banks requiring that borrowers harmonize to developed country standards to others such as China's and Brazil’s banks deferring to host country standards. On the basis of this research, we develop a framework that allows analysts to better empirically examine the impact of different safeguard regimes on environment, social, and development outcomes.

One Belt, One Road: Many Routes for Transnational Crime and Its Suppression in China

Among the many objectives of China’s “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) initiative, the creation of new opportunities for trade and investment and thereby boosting economic development in the region must be considered the central pillar. Although OBOR will probably be a stimulus to the economy in the region, there may be some unintended consequences. In a recent study the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) pointed towards OBOR, among other inter-regional projects of economic integration, as a typical facilitator of severe transnational crimes such as drug smuggling and human trafficking. The UNODC study clearly shows the necessity and explicitly recommends the incorporation of risk assessment, developing safeguard policies and strengthening cross-border cooperation of law enforcement. Hence, the OBOR initiative should address the issue of cross-border crime along with its prevention and suppression. This paper considers how China is meeting these recommendations. For this purpose, it briefly introduces the concept of transnational crime in contrast to international crime in its strictest sense and then explores the relationship between cross-border crime and economic integration. Furthermore, it elaborates on China’s approach to and involvement in substantial and procedural issues of transnational criminal law in the geographical context of OBOR. Finally, it offers a tentative evaluation of China’s efforts to suppress cross-border crime.

Project-induced displacement and resettlement: from impoverishment risks to an opportunity for development?

While the World Bank safeguard policies and International Finance Corporation Performance Standards specify the requirements to be observed when project-induced displacement and resettlement occurs, these international standards are not always followed. Governments often invoke the power of eminent domain and implement expropriation procedures instead of building support for a public or private project by negotiating with project-affected peoples. Evaluations of projects reveal that people are usually made worse off by being resettled. This paper provides a general introduction to the topic of project-induced displacement and resettlement, raising the key issues facing resettlement practice: under what conditions should projects and associated resettlements proceed; what constitutes appropriate compensation; can livelihoods be restored or improved; what is the role of benefit sharing and shared value; and how resettlement practice can be improved. Although there is ongoing improvement in the discourse and practice of project-induced resettlement, being resettled is still likely to be an impoverishment risk and have an emotional toll. Hopefully, however, under the right conditions, resettlement has the potential to be an opportunity for development.

Compliance with Environmental Safeguard Policy — Comparative Analysis of Projects Financed by Asian Development Bank

Compliance with Environmental Safeguard Policy — Comparative Analysis of Projects Financed by Asian Development Bank

The Impact of Contingency Fees on Collective Antitrust Actions: Experiments from Lithuania and Poland

Contingency-fee agreements are one—if not the only—tool that can be used to ensure that small-stakes collective antitrust actions are heard, yet they are subject to strong resistance from the European Union. There is a concern that contingency fees could lead to abuses of the system or conflicts of interest, as has been seen in the United States. Contrary to eu policy, two proactive member states—Lithuania and Poland—have introduced the possibility of using contingency fees in group litigation in order to facilitate group actions. Despite having a lot of potential, this paper will demonstrate that the introduction alone of contingency fees will not facilitate the compensation objective that is embedded in the Directive on damages actions. In addition, it will show that the safeguard policy against frivolous litigation is sufficient to limit the possibilities for litigation abuses, but it is ineffective for monitoring the individual behavior of group representatives.

Can planning safeguard against mining and resettlement risks?

This article explores whether a more responsible form of planning can be applied to resettlement in mining. The authors focus initially on existing international safeguard policies and performance standards. Embedded in these institutional mechanisms is an assumption that when key elements of a displacement are known, the timing, nature and intensity of the resettlement event can be forecast and planned for. The assumption that mining companies can and will effect a planned resettlement has carried over into the corporate policy statements of many mining companies and peak industry bodies. A key issue that is often overlooked is the difficulty that mining companies face in determining their land requirements for life-of-mine. The authors conclude that planning mechanisms for mining resettlements hold potential for safeguarding against major displacement risks. They also argue that this potential is challenged by an industrial context that is inherently volatile, where future land acquisition is difficult to predict, and where the degree to which planning is able to serve as a protective mechanism for project-affected people is a critical outstanding question.

Environmental Assessment of Cross-Border Development : China and the Third Pole

This paper examines China’s role in the regulatory framework for environmental assessment in the ‘Third Pole’ sub-region of South Asia: the Tibetan Plateau and related mountain ranges, in particular the Himalayas. To date development has been limited, partly as a result of poverty, conflict and relative inaccessibility. However, recent collaboration between China and Pakistan, improved communication between India and China, Chinese development of Tibet, and the export of Chinese development to other countries in the sub-region financed by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, is likely to change things dramatically. Major infrastructure development, such as railways and hydroelectric dams, will place the environment under considerable pressure in the future. Given the cross-border focus of this development, the paper examines transboundary solutions to environmental protection, in particular transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) under international law and the development of a new environmental safeguards policy.

Implementing Environmental Treaty Obligations in Project Finance Activities through an Accountability Mechanism: An Analysis of the World Bank Inspection Panel

The establishment of the World Bank Inspection Panel is a crucial development in handling the negative social and environmental impacts of Bank-financed projects. It allows affected people to seek redress for the harms resulting from projects, by questioning the legitimacy of the Bank's lending decisions. The Panel has the mandate to examine whether the Bank has complied with its own safeguard policies in specific projects. Even though the substantive rules applicable in the Panel's investigation process (ie, the World Bank's Operational Policies and Bank Procedures) refer to multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs); the Panel has considered the borrowers' environmental treaty commitments extensively in its investigations on a few occasions. This paper examines the extent to which the World Bank Inspection Panel—as an accountability mechanism—has employed different MEAs to address environmental issues resulting from Bank-funded projects, thereby ensuring compliance with environmental treaty obligations in project finance activities.

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project: Dams, Development, and the World Bank

Between 1989 and 2007 the World Bank was one of the funders of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project in southern Africa. This project, which included two large dams (Katse and Mohale), had significant impacts on local people, including loss of grazing, arable land, and resettlement of 71 households in Phase 1A and 325 households in Phase 1B, with a total of 573 people being affected directly, and another 20,000 people affected indirectly (e.g. through loss of natural resources, disruption of travel routes).. Conflicts between LHDA and the World Bank revolved around compensation, resettlement, development, in-stream flow requirements, downstream impacts, the use of project royalties, and the safeguard policies of the World Bank. The impacts of Phase 1 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project are examined, and an assessment of the LHWP relative to other large-scale infrastructure and resettlement projects in Africa and Asia sponsored by the World Bank and other funding agencies is provided.

The role of women in early REDD+ implementation: lessons for future engagement

SUMMARY Researchers and practitioners have amply discussed the potential of REDD+ to help or harm forest-based communities, but less attention has been paid to its gender dimensions. Safeguard policies are aimed at ensuring that REDD+ does not harm women, but interventions that do not seek to address imbalances at the outset may be doomed to perpetuate them. Based on research by the Center for International Forestry Research in 77 villages in 20 REDD+ sites across six countries, this article finds that women — even where they use forests as much or more — have been less involved in REDD+ initiative design decisions and processes than men, a situation with potentially significant implications for implementation and future outcomes. This article uses the research findings to argue that “participation”, while a central demand of indigenous and other local communities more generally, is only a partial solution to addressing women's strategic needs in ways that could strengthen their position in REDD+. Rather,...

An empirical study of staff compliance to information security policy in a South African municipality

Despite increasing investment in information security and its strategic role in today’s business success, effective implementation of information security strategies still remains one of the top challenges facing global organizations. This study investigated Information Security Policy compliance of staff members of a municipality in South Africa. Factors such as information security policy, security policy strategic planning, policy implementation and compliance were considered. A questionnaire was distributed to 80 staff members from different sections in this municipality and a response rate of 100% was achieved. The study findings showed that the majority of employees are largely in support of the municipality’s efforts to develop and implement a security policy framework. They also concur that compliance to security policy safeguards and prevents intrusion information, theft and "denial of service". Among other issues, it is recommended that more training and awareness campaigns should be done to all employees in order to improve security of information in this municipality. The study results can be limited by the small number of the population as indicated that the sample was equal to the population (N=n).

Multi-Level Policy Dialogues, Processes, and Actions: Challenges and Opportunities for National REDD+ Safeguards Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV)

REDD+ social safeguards have gained increasing attention in numerous forums. This paper reviews the evolution of multi-level policy dialogues, processes, and actions related to REDD+ social safeguards (e.g., Cancun Safeguards 1–5) among policy makers, civil society organizations, and within the media in Brazil, Indonesia and Tanzania, three countries with well advanced REDD+ programs. We find that progress on core aspects of social safeguards is uneven across the three countries. Brazil is by far the most advanced having drafted a REDD+ social safeguards policy. Both Brazil and Indonesia have benefited from progress made by strong sub-national entities in the operationalization of REDD+ safeguards including free prior and informed consent (FPIC), participation, and benefit sharing. Tanzania has weakly articulated how social safeguards will be operationalized and has a more top-down approach. We conclude that in all three countries, measuring, reporting and verifying progress on social safeguards is likely to be a complex issue. Stakeholders with vested interests in REDD+ social safeguards operate in polycentric rather than nested systems, suggesting that aggregation of information from local to national-scale will be a challenge. However, polycentric systems are also likely to support more transparent and comprehensive safeguards systems. Clear direction from the international community and financing for REDD+ safeguard MRV is essential if REDD+ social safeguards are to be meaningfully integrated into forest-based climate mitigation strategies.

Social and Environmental Impacts of REDD+ Strategy: An Exploratory Analysis of Nepalese Case

This study explores the issues related to social and environmental impacts that would be generated from REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, and enhancing carbon storage in the forest ecosystem) intervention in Nepal. Data and other relevant information for the study have been gathered from relevant literature, stakeholder meetings, expert consultation and various websites. A SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) analysis of REDD+ mechanism was carried out to evaluate its features. First, we reviewed and synthesized the relevant policies, plans, laws, acts, rules and regulations along with the World Bank’s Safeguard Policies relevant to REDD+. The details of Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA) have been described. We present a first stage exploratory SESA framework by considering different sectors, components and institutions related to REDD+ in a holistic way. This will, in turn, form a sound basis for the detailed SESA studies in the final phase of REDD+ implementation, which later develops a comprehensive Environmental and Social Management Framework. Our analysis shows that some of the potential social and environmental impacts are overlapping, and there are gaps in terms of existing policies and institutions in order to effectively implement the REDD+ strategy in Nepal.