[Title] Environmental and Social Framework
Environmental and Social Standard 2: Involuntary Resettlement
1. Objectives: To avoid Involuntary Resettlement wherever possible; to minimize Involuntary Resettlement by exploring Project alternatives; where avoidance of Involuntary Resettlement is not feasible, to enhance, or at least restore, the livelihoods of all displaced persons in real terms relative to pre-Project levels; to improve the overall socioeconomic status of the displaced poor and other vulnerable groups; and to conceive and implement resettlement activities as sustainable development programs, providing sufficient resources to enable the persons displaced by the Project to share in Project benefits.
2.Scope and Application: ESS 2 applies if the Project’s screening process reveals that the Project would involve Involuntary Resettlement (including Involuntary Resettlement of the recent past or foreseeable future that is directly linked to the Project). Involuntary Resettlement covers physical displacement (relocation, loss of residential land or loss of shelter) and economic displacement (loss of land or access to land and natural resources; loss of assets or access to assets, income sources or means of livelihood) as a result of: (a) involuntary acquisition of land; or (b) involuntary restrictions on land use or on access to legally designated parks and protected areas. It covers such displacement whether such losses and involuntary restrictions are full or partial, permanent or temporary.
3. If adverse environmental, social or economic impacts from Project activities involving loss of access to assets or resources or restrictions on land use that do not fall within the definition of Involuntary Resettlement are identified, such impacts are avoided, or when avoidance is not feasible, they are at least minimized, mitigated, or compensated for, through the environmental and social assessment under ESS 1. If these impacts are found to be adverse at any stage of the Project, the Client is required to develop and implement a management plan to restore the livelihoods of affected persons to at least pre-Project level or better.
4. Requirements: The Client is required to undertake the following actions in relation to the Project:
Planning. Determine the required scope of Involuntary Resettlement planning, through a survey of land and assets, a full census of persons to be displaced, and an evaluation of socioeconomic conditions specifically related to Involuntary Resettlement risks and impacts. This establishes baseline information on assets, productive resources and status of livelihoods. Include consideration of customary rights, collective or communal forms of land tenure. Take gender into account in conducting the above. If Indigenous Peoples are affected, follow the requirements of ESS 3.
Resettlement Plan. Prepare a resettlement plan elaborating on displaced persons’ entitlements, income and livelihood restoration strategy, institutional arrangements, monitoring and reporting framework, budget and time-bound implementation schedule. Involve affected persons in consultation on the resettlement plan and disclose the draft resettlement documentation in accordance with the Information Disclosure bullet below. The resettlement plan complements the broader coverage of social risks and impacts in the environmental and social assessment and provides specialized guidance to address the specific issues associated with Involuntary Resettlement, including land acquisition, changes in land use rights, including customary rights, physical and economic displacement, and potential design adjustments that may reduce resettlement requirements. In some cases, with the Bank’s prior approval, resettlement actions may be part of an overall community development plan, where the Client takes special efforts to ensure people who are displaced receive appropriate benefits through such a plan. When displacement is only economic, prepare a livelihood restoration plan. Provide measures to be taken in case of disputes over compensation.
Abbreviated Resettlement Plan. Where impacts on the entire displaced population are minor, or fewer than 200 people are displaced, the Client may, with the prior approval of the Bank, prepare an abbreviated resettlement plan, covering such elements as the Bank may specify. Impacts are considered “minor” if the affected people are not physically displaced and less than 10 percent of their productive assets are lost.
Resettlement Planning Framework. If (a) the Project is likely to involve Involuntary Resettlement but consists of a program or series of activities whose details are not yet identified at the time the Project is approved by the Bank,
prepare an RPF. Prepare the resettlement plan or abbreviated resettlement plan, as described in the preceding bullets, as early as possible during development of the activities, in conformity with the RPF approved by the Bank.
Proportionality. Ensure that the resettlement plan or RPF is proportional to the extent and degree of the impacts. The degree of impacts is determined by: (a) the scope of physical and economic displacement; and (b) the vulnerability of the persons to be displaced by the Project.
Consultations. Carry out meaningful consultations with persons to be displaced by the Project, host communities and nongovernmental organizations, and facilitate their informed participation in the consultations. Consult with all persons to be displaced on their rights within the resettlement process, entitlements and resettlement options, and further participation process. Ensure their involvement in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the resettlement plan. Pay particular attention to the needs of vulnerable groups, especially those below the poverty line, the landless, the elderly, women and children, Indigenous Peoples and those without legal title to land, and ensure their participation in consultations.
Grievance Mechanism. Establish a suitable grievance redress mechanism to receive and facilitate resolution of the concerns of persons displaced by the Project and inform them of its availability. Scale the grievance mechanism to the risks and impacts of the Involuntary Resettlement. The grievance mechanism may utilize existing formal or informal grievance mechanisms, provided that they are properly designed and implemented, and determined by the Bank to be suitable for the Project; these may be supplemented, as needed, with Project-specific arrangements. Design the mechanism to address displaced persons’ concerns and complaints promptly, using an understandable and transparent process that is gender-sensitive, culturally appropriate and readily accessible to all affected people. Include provisions to protect complainants from retaliation and to remain anonymous, if requested. Disclose reports on grievance redress and outcomes in accordance with the Information Disclosure bullet below.
Social Support. Support the social and cultural institutions of persons displaced by the Project and their host population to address resettlement. Where Involuntary Resettlement risks and impacts are highly complex and sensitive, consider implementation of a social preparation phase to build the capacity of vulnerable groups to address resettlement issues, consisting of consultation with affected people and the host population before key compensation and resettlement decisions are made. The cost of social preparation is included in the resettlement budget.
Livelihood Restoration. Improve, or at least restore, the livelihoods of all persons displaced by the Project through: (a) where possible, land-based*1* resettlement strategies when affected livelihoods are land-based or where land is collectively owned; or cash compensation at replacement value for land, including transitional costs, when the loss of land does not undermine livelihoods; (b) prompt replacement of assets with assets of equal or higher value; (c) prompt compensation at full replacement cost for assets that cannot be restored; and (d) capacity building programs to support improved use of livelihood resources and enhance access to alternative sources of livelihood. Include transaction costs in determining compensation. Examine the opportunities for provision of additional revenues and services through benefit-sharing, as the nature and objectives of the Project may allow.
Resettlement Assistance. Provide persons displaced by the Project with needed assistance, including the following: (a) if there is relocation, security of tenure (with tenure rights that are as strong as the rights the displaced persons had to the land or assets from which they have been displaced) of relocation land (and assets, as applicable), proper housing at resettlement sites with comparable access to employment and production opportunities, integration of resettled persons economically and socially into their host communities and extension of Project benefits to host communities to facilitate the resettlement process; (b) transitional support and development assistance, such as land development, credit facilities, training or employment opportunities; and (c) civic infrastructure and community services, as required.
Standards of Living. Improve the standards of living of the poor and other vulnerable groups displaced by the Project, including women, children and persons with disabilities, to at least national minimum standards, including access to social protection systems. In rural areas provide them with legal and affordable access to land and resources, and in urban areas provide them with appropriate income sources and legal and affordable access to adequate housing.
Persons without Title or Legal Rights. Ensure that persons displaced by the Project who are without title to land or any recognizable legal rights to land, are eligible for, and receive, resettlement assistance and compensation for loss of non-land assets, in accordance with cut-off dates established in the resettlement plan. Include them in the resettlement consultation process. Do not include compensation to these people for the illegally settled land. Conduct land survey and census as early as possible in Project preparation to establish clear cut-off dates for eligibility and to prevent encroachment. If claims have been made by these displaced persons that are currently under administrative or legal review, develop procedures to address these situations.
Negotiated Settlement. Develop procedures in a transparent, consistent and equitable manner if land acquisition or changes in land use rights are acquired through negotiated settlement under the Project, to ensure that those people who enter into negotiated settlements maintain the same or better income and livelihood status.
Information Disclosure. Disclose the draft resettlement plan, including documentation of the consultation process, in the Project area, in a timely manner in accordance with paragraph 57 of the ESP, in an accessible place, and in a form and language(s) understandable to persons displaced by the Project and other stakeholders. Disclose the final resettlement plan, and any updates to affected persons and other stakeholders in the same manner. Disclose any RPF in the same manner. Regularly disclose updated environmental and social information, along with information on any relevant material changes in the Project.
Implementation. Design and execute Involuntary Resettlement as part of the Project. Include the full costs of resettlement in the presentation of the Project’s costs and benefits. For a Project with significant Involuntary Resettlement impacts, consider implementing the Involuntary Resettlement component of the Project as a stand-alone Project.
Compensation and Entitlements. Pay compensation and provide other resettlement entitlements before any physical or economic displacement under the Project.
Supervision. Closely supervise implementation of the resettlement plan throughout Project implementation.
Monitoring. Using suitably qualified and experienced experts, monitor and assess resettlement outcomes under the Project, their impacts on the standards of living of displaced persons and whether the objectives of the resettlement plan have been achieved, by taking into account the baseline conditions and the results of resettlement monitoring. Disclose monitoring reports in accordance with the Information Disclosure bullet above. Consider the use of suitably qualified and experienced third parties to support monitoring programs.
{*1* The term “land-based” includes livelihood activities such as rotational cropping and grazing of livestock as well as the harvesting of natural resources.}