The African Development Bank ran a capacity-building workshop for its stakeholders in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania from November 4-8, on environmental and social safeguard requirements for the projects it is funding across the country.
Following the update of the Integrated Safeguards System (ISS) on 31 May, the Bank developed a capacity-building programme for staff in regional member countries who are directly involved in the preparation and implementation of the projects and programmes it finances. The aim is to improve their understanding and knowledge of the requirements and provisions of the updated ISS.
Just short of 70 participants from the implementation units of Bank-funded projects in Mauritania, project monitoring missions, ministries responsible for the environment and sectoral ministries, and consultants attended the workshop. The Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment also took part in the training session, the aim of which was to equip participants with the knowledge needed to develop environmental and social safeguard instruments and to efficiently and more effectively implement the prevention, mitigation and compensation measures provided for in environmental and social studies.
Opening the workshop, Hercule Yamuremye, Principal Country Programme Officer for the African Development Bank Group in Mauritania, called on participants to make the most of their interactions and discussions so as to be better prepared to properly implement the Bank's projects within the country. He reiterated the Bank's commitment to support Mauritania in its efforts to comply with environmental and social requirements and standards in the implementation of projects.
The workshop was overseen by experts from the Bank, in cooperation with those from government agencies, and it covered a variety of topics: the main improvements and clarifications made to the updated 2023 iteration of the Integrated Safeguards System compared with that of 2013, national provisions and the African Development Bank's requirements in terms of environmental and social safeguards during project development and implementation, the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in the development and implementation of safeguard instruments, the requirements of financing agreements, and the procedures involved in rolling out the related measures.
Discussions also covered the principal contractual obligations of key stakeholders during project implementation, the composition of the on-site environmental and social management plan, incident reporting and root cause analysis, monitoring and reporting, the complaints management mechanism, and the Bank's Independent Recourse Mechanism.
The Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment delivered a presentation on the importance of the Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment tool and its links with the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment tool.
The tools shared during the workshop, on which the 2023 ISS is based, aim to reduce the multi-dimensional risks of projects backed by the African Development Bank. The Bank took the opportunity to discuss the ongoing assessment of the requirements of the country system in Mauritania and those of its ISS.
"The success or failure of a development project primarily depends on the level of commitment of the project initiator, with the support of the financial backer," said Modeste Kinané, Lead Environmental Specialist at the African Development Bank and head of the Bank's delegation at the workshop. "The African Development Bank will always be there to support Mauritania in the preparation and implementation of its projects so that it can better achieve its development objectives."
The participants praised the organisation of this in-person training session and the content of the presentations, which was tailored to their precise needs. They also thanked the trainers for responding to their concerns and called for further such sessions to be held for other stakeholders.
The African Development Bank's updated Integrated Safeguards System was approved by the Board of Directors on 12 April 2023. It came into effect on 31 May 2024. The Borrower Guidance Note is available on the institution's website.
