Environmental risk management of a community-driven development project in Cameroon
From SEA.unu.edu/wiki
Contents |
Background
Development agencies increasingly provide support to poor rural communities through decentralised, locally managed funds for small-scale infrastructure and natural resource management projects – Community Driven Development. The development agency faces the challenge of ensuring that the fund is administered in a manner that addresses environmental risks and opportunities that complies with its own environmental safeguard policies. The potential solution is to build an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) into the design of the fund.
Objectives
The purpose of the Programme National de Développement Participatif (PNDP) is to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development in rural areas of Cameroon. The PNDP aims to support community-driven development by allowing communities and their local government (“communes”) to implement priority action plans. This is achieved through strengthening the fiscal, institutional, and administrative environment for adequate budget allocation, effective service delivery, and transparent management of financial services. A key component will co-finance (through grants) collective socio-economically beneficial micro-projects such as social infrastructure and natural resource management activities.
Tool
An Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) was developed which includes:
- A screening tool for micro-projects.
- An exclusion list.
- Guidance on compliance with safeguard policies at micro-level.
- Guidance on identifying environmental risks and opportunities.
- Implementation and reporting requirements.
Procedure
- At the provincial level, a full-time Environmental and Social Mitigation Officer (ESMO) in each Provincial Project Unit (PPU) will be appointed to provide technical backstopping on all aspects of environmental and social mitigation in line with the ESMF.
- These ESMOs will also be trained in the project’s Resettlement Policy Framework in order to support the communes in identifying and promoting sustainable practices for land management, land tenure, land acquisition and involuntary resettlement and conflict resolution.
- An annual environmental and social performance audit will be carried out by an independent consultant.
- The ESMOs will work with the Commune Decisions Committees (CDCs) and an ESMF facilitator to develop strategic approaches to environmental sustainability in their communities.
- At more practical levels, specific studies would be carried out on issues of environmental and social management assessment, and the details of the ESMF will be integrated into the micro-project cycle.
(Reproduced with permission of OECD.)
