Participation and Social Assessments: How Do They Enhance Bank-Client Relationships?

1. Fostering partnerships in the development effort Sharing information about the needs and priorities of beneficiaries Mobilizing popular support for economic and social reform Building a foundation or continued dialogue to serve the poor Participation and Social Assessments: How Do They Enhance Bank-Client Relationships?

2. Initiate a participatory process for assessing the ECA/MNA Region’s experience in social assessment and participation. Create an initial baseline of the region’s social assessment and participatory activities to establish a foundation for structured learning. Identify achievements and best practices to facilitate the interactive learning process that the ECA and MNA Participation Action Plans are intended to achieve. Analyze major social concerns addressed in the Region’s projects and sector work. Identify major constraints to mainstreaming social assessment and participation in the region’s operational work. Recommend actions to enhance the regions response to the needs and priorities of project beneficiaries, particularly the poor. Objectives of the Review

3. Participatory initiative + stocktaking exercise Four sources of information: ECA/MNA staff interviews Desk reviews of IMs, IEPS, FEPS, etc. Participation group discussions and reviews documentation from management reviews Review Methodology

4. Conducting social analyses to design the participatory framework provides the richest and most relevant information for projects. Social/beneficiary assessments and social impact analysis are more widely known and accepted. Some conceptual and definitional confusion still exists regarding participation. Overall Findings

5. Social analyses/assessment have greater visibility in natural resources, agriculture, municipal services, water supply and sanitation projects than in social sector projects. Municipal Services Agriculture Natural Resources Water Supply and Sanitation Findings

6. Social analyses have greater visibility in projects than in country, sector or stategy work Country, Sector, and Strategy Work Projects Findings

7. Social Assessments focus on selected social groups, those which have received the most attention are: Social Assessment Findings • Ethnic groups • Migrants • Indigenous • Populations • Poverty groups • Women • Elderly • Children • Broad-based social assessments have only • recently become a part of the Bank’s Portfolio.

8. Social assessments focus on critical social issues, those which have received the most attention are: Social Assessment Findings • Poverty Alleviation • Social Costs of Economic Transition • - Social Consequences of Divestiture • - Needs Created by Land Privatization • - Unemployment and Worker Dislocation • Ensuring Public Ownership of Reforms • Building Community Institutions

9. Broad based Project specific Mixing range of resource tools (Quan./Qual.) Focus Group of service users and providers Using Survey outputs as a tool for dialogue for participation Using results as indicators Tangible inputs to project Defining Implementation Arrangements CAM demand 60 staff weeks in FY95 and 140 staff weeks in FY96 Social Assessment Findings

10. Social Assessment Findings • Benefits derived from social assessments • and participation are evident in the early • identification and formulation of water • supply and sanitation projects in Central • Asia (Ex. Baku)

11. ECA/MNA Comparison • ECA Region TMs invited social change agents, but the working environment infamiliar to them, thus more focus is needed on understanding socio-political relationships • MNA Region appears to be operating within given constraints in a given social environment. Social Assessments are not a strong future in the region, but a few outstanding acheivements exist.

12. Broad based • Project specific • Mixing range of resource tools (Quan./Qual.) • Focus Group of service users and providers • Using Survey outputs as a tool for dialogue for participation • Using results as indicators • Tangible inputs to project • Acheivements in • CAM demand 60 staff weeks in FY95 and 140 staff weeks in FY96

13. Unclear Definition and Lack of Guidance Lack of Resources Procurement Procedures Low Priority in Project Cycle Low Reward in Staff Performance Criteria Perceived Insensitivity of Macro Economic Approaches Perceived Marginality of Social Sciences Constraints to Mainstreaming Participation

14. Implement Participation Action Plans Institutionalize Participation in the Project Cycle Provide Staff Incentives Provide Staff Training Recruit New Staff Monitor Impacts Recommendations for Mainstreaming Participation