69103 The Second Azerbaijan Rural Investment Project: Social Analysis for Better Project Design Sandra Schlossar and Dan Owen supporting the Azerbaijan government’s Rural Investment Project (AzRIP) since 2005. Key Messages  Under the first Azerbaijan Rural Investment Project (AzRIP), considerable attention was paid to assessing the socioeconomic impacts on, and participation of, marginal groups. Significant improvements in household incomes, access to services, and the participation of women in decision making were demonstrated.  The follow-up AzRIP-2 plans to expand the Mammadli Community in Barda rayon, Northwestern zone. geographic scope and more accurately capture Community voting on the prioritization of needs for the “road improvements in social capital. One of the key rehabilitation project�. changes in the new project is a number of livelihood pilots to foster rural employment and AzRIP: Bridging the Rural Infrastructure Gap offer income support services. AzRIP improves living standards by building better access to  For the preparation of AzRIP-2, a stand-alone and use of community-driven rural infrastructure. Since social assessment was commissioned to validate 2005, AzRIP has very successfully supported the rehabilita- and enhance project design, and investigate tion of critical infrastructure in poor rural communities additional indicators to track improvements in across the country. So far, the income of over 600,000 social capital. farmers has increased, and more than 150,000 rural poor  Findings from a spring 2011 social assessment now have access to safe water. The project has covered 21 were presented to a stakeholder consultation districts, targeting rural communities with high agricultural workshop in Baku in April 2011, and indicated the potential and poverty indices. need to: (i) intensify the mobilization, representation, and participation of internally The repeater displaced persons (IDPs); (ii) lower the minimum project, AzRIP- population requirement for community projects; 2, is currently (iii) foster female leadership; and (iv) integrate the under prepa- identified social capital indicators into the ration and will project’s monitoring and evaluation framework. be effective in 2012. It will Recent data from Azerbaijan suggest that poverty is an scale up AzRIP increasingly rural phenomenon. Rural areas have become geographically significantly poorer than urban areas; indeed, more than into currently half of Azerbaijan’s poor live in rural areas. This is unserviced areas Khalilli community in Babek rayon, or rayons: two Nakhchivan zone. As part of the “potable water sustained by major gaps in infrastructure, basic services, supply project,� the group is making a and livelihood opportunities. To improve the living bordering community map. standards of the rural poor, the World Bank has been conflict-affected ECA Knowledge Brief areas (Agdzhebedi and Beilagan) and five in the south rayons: Oghuz, Balakan, Masally, Lenkoran, and Beilagan. (Astara, Lenkoran, Lerik, Masally, and Yardymly), where In each village, there were focus group discussions with national minorities represent a significant proportion of about 15–30 participants (some of them women only) and the population. individual interviews with community leaders. The project first plans to finance community-identified rural infrastructure investments, and then strengthen the Recommendations of the Social Assessment capacity of communities in partnership with muni- cipalities to effectively identify, plan, and implement Ensuring Greater Participation of IDPs, Ethnic Minorities, their development priorities. One of the key changes to and Women AzRIP is a livelihood pilots’ component, which plans to build opportunities for rural employment and livelihood The social assessment recommends expanding the support services. These services will be piloted in six se- mobilization, representation, and participation of IDPs, lected communities that have already successfully imple- especially in communities where their presence is mented economic infrastructure projects under AzRIP. significant. Specific measures, such as setting a percentage The program comprises training and advice for income- target for IDP participants in community mobilization and generating activities and supports productive economic community group membership, are recommended. In infrastructure. addition, AzRIP-2 and the Bank-financed IDP project3 need to better coordinate their activities and try to synergize community infrastructure development approaches. Focusing on New Social Conditions and Potential Social Risks The assessment also recommends that the minimum population requirement for microproject support be lowered. Prior social analysis has demonstrated the important In the new project area, the relevant minority is the Talysh, social advantages to beneficiary communities engaged in who, although well integrated into wider Azeri society, live AzRIP that were gained through informed participation, mainly in small and dispersed villages, the majority of which transparent decision making at the community level, and have fewer than 1,000 inhabitants. enhanced social mobilization. As part of the project preparation for AzRIP-2, a social assessment1 was conducted, analyzing relevant social conditions in the new geographical area and for the livelihood pilots, and identifying additional indicators for social capital improvements. Given the expanded geogra- phic scope of AzRIP-2, including areas bordering conflict zones and with significant sized populations of national minorities, there are potential social risks, including the exclusion of internally displaced persons (IDPs)2 and A community group discussing its most important infrastructure ethnic minorities from decision-making processes and investment. project benefits, as well as conflict and security challenges. Efforts to foster female leadership in rural communities should also be strengthened. Women (and youth) were found Social Assessment: A Tool for Better Design to have had satisfactory levels of involvement in AzRIP, in which women actively participated in decision making and A social assessment identifies and assesses social impacts were well represented in community groups (over 30 percent and key social development thematic topics. The of community group members are women). Still, the methodology for the AzRIP-2 social assessment preparation and implementation of a female leadership contained a desk review and meetings with community strategy, as well as training on women’s constraints and groups and representatives of national and international female leadership, are recommended. institutions, with local AzRIP project facilitators serving as team members. It was conducted in 13 villages in five 1 This social assessment was conducted in early 2011 with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Cooperative 3 Partnership Program. The World Bank supported “IDP Economic Development 2 The 1988–1992 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Support Project� in Azerbaijan, which helps to improve the region of Nagorno-Karabakh created more than one million IDPs living conditions of IDPs and enhance their economic and refugees. opportunities and prospects for social integration. ECA Knowledge Brief Table 1: Proposed AzRIP-2 Social Capital Indicators Social Capital Time Horizon Expected Social Capital Strengthening Effects Dimension of Effects Indicators Community Group (CG) functioning to manage AzRIP  Number of meetings CG voluntarily organized after Immediate completion of Community Project (CP) Groups and  Number of well-maintained CPs networks CG acts as the representative body for other collective actions  Number of communities where new projects have been implemented with internal resources Long-Term Strengthened relationship with the municipality  Number of communities where new projects have been implemented in cooperation with municipality Community members’ trust in CG  Change in degree of people’s trust in CG Immediate Community members’ willingness to contribute to AzRIP Trust and  Change in people’s willingness to contribute to CP cost solidarity Community members’ trust in CG  Change in degree of people’s trust in the municipality Community members’ willingness to contribute to public Long-Term projects  Change in people’s willingness to contribute to other public projects Community members’ participation in community mobilization  Number of participants in the community mobilization Immediate  Project Assistance Team’s evaluation of community Collective action mobilization and cooperation Increase in initiatives for collective action in the community Long-Term  (Changes in) number of community-wide meetings to discuss public matters Inclusion of women in CG  percent of women in CG Participation of women, IDPs, and youth in community Immediate mobilization  percent of women, IDPs, and youth in mobilization Social cohesion participants and inclusion Community’s acceptance/encouragement of participation of previously excluded groups in decision-making process Long-Term  percent of people who believe women’s participation in public decision making is important Good flow of project information and understanding by the community members Immediate Information and  percent of people who correctly understand AzRIP-related communication information Better flow/understanding of public information Long-Term  Change in percent of people who correctly understand important public information ECA Knowledge Brief communities, and pay adequate attention to IDP youth and children. Another project staff workshop focused on the operational implications of the assessment, including validation of the suggested social capital indicators and revisions to the Project Operational Manual. Implementing the Recommendations During the appraisal of AzRIP-2, the project team continued Vaykhir community in Sherur rayon, Nakhchivan zone. A representative of the men’s group is making a presentation for the to discuss the recommendations and their implications for “irrigation water supply project.� the design and operational manual of the project. The inclusion of IDPs in community mobilization and community project groups remains a persistent challenge, and the project team will continue to track IDP engagement at all stages of the community project cycle. Also in response to the recommendations, a gender-empowerment strategy will be developed during project implementation in order to further encourage women to assume leadership roles in the project. With regard to the livelihood pilots, the project will hire a Gukhuroba community in Gouba rayon, Northern zone. Community livelihood advisor to provide guidance and advisory support Project Council in training as part of the “road rehabilitation project.� to communities and assess the quality of the microproject proposals prepared by the various communities. Integrating Social Capital Indicators AzRIP has a sound and strong performance system in place Finally, the social assessment identified a set of social for monitoring and evaluation, including an intensive effort capital indicators, such as increased initiatives for collective to physically verify the works and technical aspects of action or enhanced participation in community subproject implementation conducted at project, rayon, and mobilization, through which AzRIP-2 will attempt to community levels. Reports from the field are generated rigorously capture social outcomes (table 1). The indicators regularly to monitor results and produce monthly, quarterly, should be integrated into the overall project monitoring and and annual progress reports. It was agreed to sharpen the evaluation framework of AzRIP-2, and synergies with other existing indicators and include new ones that track progress indicators, as well as the appropriateness of each indicator, and measure impact, in particular, to assess women’s need to be determined. participation and empowerment, economic changes, and social capital impacts. An annual external process- monitoring exercise will also be carried out by communities Validating the Findings in a Stakeholder Consultation and regional staff to broaden and strengthen the ongoing Workshop monitoring of project implementation processes. Lastly, a randomized impact evaluation is being designed for AzRIP- Before finalizing the report, the main findings of the social 2 to analyze the project’s impact on poverty reduction, and assessment were presented and validated at a stakeholder to evaluate the effect of facilitated participation and consultation workshop on April 15, 2011. The workshop increased social capital on accountable and effective local was attended by external agencies (international governance. organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), About the Author national organizations, and academic institutions), as well Sandra Schlossar is a Junior Professional Officer and Dan as project and World Bank staff. Feedback indicated the Owen a Senior Social Development Specialist for the Social need to make greater efforts to treat minority communities Development Unit of the Europe and Central Asia Region equally, acknowledge the diversity among IDP of the World Bank. “ECA Knowledge Brief� is a regular series of notes highlighting recent analyses, good practices, and lessons learned from the development work program of the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia Region http://www.worldbank.org/eca