The World Bank Jordan Youth, Technology, and Jobs Project (P170669) Concept Environmental and Social Review Summary Concept Stage (ESRS Concept Stage) Public Disclosure Date Prepared/Updated: 09/12/2019 | Report No: ESRSC00788 Sep 12, 2019 Page 1 of 8 The World Bank Jordan Youth, Technology, and Jobs Project (P170669) BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data Country Region Project ID Parent Project ID (if any) Jordan MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH P170669 AFRICA Project Name Jordan Youth, Technology, and Jobs Project Practice Area (Lead) Financing Instrument Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Finance, Competitiveness Investment Project 9/25/2019 12/17/2019 and Innovation Financing Borrower(s) Implementing Agency(ies) Ministry of Planning and Ministry of Digital Economy International Cooperation and Entrepreneurship (MOPIC) Public Disclosure Proposed Development Objective(s) Support the development of economic opportunities in technology-enabled activities for youth in Jordan. Financing (in USD Million) Amount Total Project Cost 200.00 B. Is the project being prepared in a Situation of Urgent Need of Assistance or Capacity Constraints, as per Bank IPF Policy, para. 12? No C. Summary Description of Proposed Project [including overview of Country, Sectoral & Institutional Contexts and Relationship to CPF] This project is a US$200 million Investment Project Financing with Disbursement-linked Indicators (IPF-DLI Operation) to support the creation of jobs for youth by supporting access to market for digital entrepreneurs, technology adoption in the local market, and growth in ITO/BPO activities to stimulate demand, and by supporting the supply of technology skilled youth through private sector trainers. The project will support digital skills development in specialized and basic skills, which will operationalize the Jordan segment of the regional Skilling-Up Mashreq (SUM) initiative. Sep 12, 2019 Page 2 of 8 The World Bank Jordan Youth, Technology, and Jobs Project (P170669) D. Environmental and Social Overview D.1. Project location(s) and salient characteristics relevant to the ES assessment [geographic, environmental, social] The proposed project will support Jordan’s digital economy by providing a variety of interventions to increase digital skills and jobs. The interventions are focused on: 1) increasing the supply of digitally skilled youth through targeted trainings in entry, mid, and advanced levels of digital skills. To implement these activities, the project will contract CSOs and Service Providers to deliver various activities such as designing school curriculums; rolling out results-based training; and creating tech hubs in existing vocational centres. One of the components will provide technical assistance to the Jordan Digital Skills Council to help define and implement its mandate (e.g. guidelines for accreditation). 2) increasing the demand for digitally skilled youth by supporting the growth plans of tech-enabled service businesses and social enterprises in Jordan to develop digital functions, diversify their products, expand into new markets, increase their revenues, and generate new digital jobs. To implement these activities the project will fund investment plans of tech companies and social enterprises to expand their businesses, specifically train and onboard new employees. 3) making improvements to the regulatory and institutional framework to enable digital skills development. This consists of technical assistance to amend regulations and create legal status of social enterprises. Public Disclosure Physical activities are limited to delivering training and creation of co-working spaces for freelancers that will take place in existing vocational centers (three to five centres will be selected from 45 that are scattered around the country). The vocational centers will require minor equipping (e.g. furniture, computers) and upgrading only (e.g. painting) which will be done by the private sector, once engaged. The project targets youth across the country. Different sub-components have different target sub-groups and geographic regions. For example, support to private sector SMEs will give preference to proposals from outside Amman. There are some specific interventions proposed to reduce barriers for Syrians, women and vulnerable youth. The key social risks relate to social exclusion. The barriers will be further assessed and recommendations for project design will be provided during project preparation as part of the Economic Empowerment Study. D. 2. Borrower’s Institutional Capacity The project will be implemented by The Jordan Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship (MoDEE), being the Loan recipient. MoDEE will manage the overall project activities, through a joint Project Management Unit with Ministry of Labour located at MoDEE. The Ministry will subcontract the implementation of project activities to professional private sector vendors. The MODEE are a new ministry and do not have designated capacity for environmental and social assessment although the nature and scale of impacts are low and will be mitigated primarily through overall project design and outreach strategies that will be assigned through the ESCP. The capacity of the PMU to implement the social assessment will be assessed during project preparation. A specific role for the Ministry of Labor to prepare and implement the LMP will be established during project preparation and documented in the ESCP. Sep 12, 2019 Page 3 of 8 The World Bank Jordan Youth, Technology, and Jobs Project (P170669) II. SCREENING OF POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL (ES) RISKS AND IMPACTS A. Environmental and Social Risk Classification (ESRC) Moderate Environmental Risk Rating Low Interventions to be supported under this project are expected to have minimal to no environmental impacts on the environment. The project will not support any civil works or constructions, only "soft" interventions will be supported to increase digital skills and jobs. Physical activities are limited to delivering training and potential provision of operational support for existing vocational centers such as desks and computers and creation of co-working spaces for freelancers that will take place in 45 existing vocational centers that are scattered around the country. Minor, limited and site-specific impacts might result from the potential support to vocational centers such centers which might require minor remodeling -e.g. painting- which will be done by the private sector, once engaged. Such activities are commonly implemented and minor impacts which might result could be avoided or managed without requiring special or complicated measures. Adequate management of potential impacts of such activity should be ensured, mainly by including clauses in the contracts of the contractor(s) on the provision of required PPEs, as appropriate, as well as safe disposal of waste that might be generated. Social Risk Rating Moderate The social risks associated with the project are considered moderate. There are limited direct adverse social impacts resulting from project activities since there no civil works. There are no land-related impacts. The social risks are limited in nature and scale, and can be summarized as follows: 1) risks related to social exclusion in its various forms Public Disclosure that would need to be mitigated through ensuring that project benefits, such as access to training and job opportunities in the high tech sector, can be accessed and optimized for vulnerable youth, including those from poor communities and Syrian refugees, and women 2) risks related to labor and working conditions for project workers who consist of the PMU, and contracted workers delivering training programs to youth 3) risk of exposure of youth, including vulnerable youth and women to sexual harassment or exploitation, or poor working conditions, indirectly, through project activities such as training and jobs. B. Environment and Social Standards (ESSs) that Apply to the Activities Being Considered B.1. General Assessment ESS1 Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts Overview of the relevance of the Standard for the Project: ESS1 has limited relevance to the project. The project comprises various qualitative activities such as training for graduates, and financial support to private sector enterprises that are aimed at increasing skills and jobs across the full range of tech-enabled services from entry level (e.g. accounting; IT helpdesk; call centres; survey/poll taking), mid-level (e.g. language services; software development); cybersecurity) to advanced level (e.g. artificial intelligence; process automation; big data analytics). Technical assistance is being provide to the Jordan Skills Council and to help build a regulatory framework for Social Entreprises, both of which are considered low risk from a social and environmental perspective. Sep 12, 2019 Page 4 of 8 The World Bank Jordan Youth, Technology, and Jobs Project (P170669) Through project design and implementation there is a risk that certain individuals or groups may be more limited in their ability to take advantage of the project’s benefits. The project is specifically aimed at providing economic opportunities for Jordanian and Syrian youth, and also has targets for women. An Economic Empowerment study will be prepared and disclosed prior to appraisal. This study will comprise a social assessment of the digital economy providing available baseline information on the demographics such as gender, ethnicity and geographic distribution of the target groups. It will also examine the different project components and interventions and assess their impact, and make project design recommendations to reduce barriers for vulnerable youth, Syrians and women to access project benefits. The outcomes of the Economic Empowerment Study will be reflected in the Project Operations Manual to reinforce project design features related to including vulnerable groups, transparency, eligibility, etc The project has objectives related to job creation in tech-enabled sectors which may expose project beneficiaries, indirectly, to adverse labor and working conditions, particularly vulnerable workers such as Syrian refugees or women. Adverse working conditions in the tech sector globally are mainly associated with manufacturing environments, which will be limited in this project. Warehouses, laboratories, call centres may have risks related to mental or physical stress, overtime and other terms and conditions, and discriminatory practices. On environmental risks and impacts, very minor and limited impacts might result from equipping and upgrading - such as painting- of 3 to 5 existing vocational training centers. Nonetheless, such activities are commonly implemented and any impacts could be avoided or managed through contract clauses and without requiring elaborated plans. Public Disclosure The documentation reviewed to prepare this ESRS was limited to the Project Concept Note. Areas where “Use of Borrower Framework” is being considered: The use of Borrower Framework is not being considered. ESS10 Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure ESS10 is relevant to the project. The project has various stakeholders corresponding to the different sub-components including the private sector, Syrian, Jordanian, male and female youth, NGOs and social enterprises, educational institutions, implementing agencies; and other government agencies. The Borrower will prepare a Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) for the project, as part of the Economic Empowerment Strategy, as early as possible, and before appraisal. The SEP outlines a) who the key stakeholders are; b) how they are to be engaged; c) how often the engagement will occur throughout the project; d) how feedback will be solicited, recorded and monitored over the project; e) who will be charged/responsible with this engagement; f) timeline for this engagement. The process of stakeholder engagement will begin during preparation and continue into implementation will be prepared. The SEP will include outline (i) ) stakeholder identification and analysis (ii) stakeholder engagement activities on the project design and social assessment (iii) outreach efforts customized for the various sub-components to ensure the potential project benefits are adequately communicated and barriers to access are minimized (iv) disclosure of information (iv) project grievance mechanisms. Sep 12, 2019 Page 5 of 8 The World Bank Jordan Youth, Technology, and Jobs Project (P170669) B.2. Specific Risks and Impacts A brief description of the potential environmental and social risks and impacts relevant to the Project. ESS2 Labor and Working Conditions ESS2 has some relevance for the project. ESS2 may apply to members of the PMU that are hired for the project, depending on the resource arrangements (i.e. civil servants versus consultants). Contracted workers include trainers and other consultants that are hired to deliver the various sub-components. An LMP will be prepared prior to appraisal, covering project workers. The labor risks for project beneficiaries (e.g. workers who get jobs at tech-enabled companies as a result of investment grants provided by the project) will also be evaluated in the LMP. ESS3 Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention and Management This standard has limited relevance to project activities which will not result in the generation of pollutants or require substantial use of resources. ESS4 Community Health and Safety Public Disclosure This standard is relevant. The concept of universal access will be applied to the existing vocational centres, where financially and technically feasible. The Economic Empowerment Study (which includes social assessment and stakeholder engagement strategy) will consider differentiated measures to include persons with disabilities, so that persons with disabilities have opportunities to participate in training activities. ESS5 Land Acquisition, Restrictions on Land Use and Involuntary Resettlement Project activities are highly unlikely to induce land acquisition. ESS6 Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources ESS6 is not considered relevant for the project. ESS7 Indigenous Peoples/Sub-Saharan African Historically Underserved Traditional Local Communities ESS7 is not considered relevant for the project. ESS8 Cultural Heritage There are no physical activities that would lead to impacts on cultural heritage. Sep 12, 2019 Page 6 of 8 The World Bank Jordan Youth, Technology, and Jobs Project (P170669) ESS9 Financial Intermediaries There are no financial intermediaries for project activities. B.3 Other Relevant Project Risks There are no other relevant Project Risks C. Legal Operational Policies that Apply OP 7.50 Projects on International Waterways No OP 7.60 Projects in Disputed Areas No III. WORLD BANK ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL DUE DILIGENCE A. Is a common approach being considered? No Financing Partners There are no proposed financing partners Public Disclosure B. Proposed Measures, Actions and Timing (Borrower’s commitments) Actions to be completed prior to Bank Board Approval: - Prepare and Disclose Economic Empowerment (includes Social Assessment and Stakeholder Engagement Plan) Study before appraisal. - Prepare LMP - Prepare Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP) Possible issues to be addressed in the Borrower Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP): - Implementation of Stakeholder Engagement Plan - Implementation and monitoring of LMP - Requiring the inclusion of clauses on safeguards in the contracts for the 'remodeling' of existing vocational centers. C. Timing Tentative target date for preparing the Appraisal Stage ESRS 30-Sep-2019 IV. CONTACT POINTS World Bank Sep 12, 2019 Page 7 of 8 The World Bank Jordan Youth, Technology, and Jobs Project (P170669) Contact: Ali H. Abukumail Title: Senior Private Sector Specialist Telephone No: 5380+3773 / Email: aabukumail@worldbank.org Contact: Khalid Ahmed Ali Moheyddeen Title: Social Protection Specialist Telephone No: 5380+3787 / Email: kmoheyddeen@worldbank.org Borrower/Client/Recipient Borrower: Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOPIC) Implementing Agency(ies) Implementing Agency: Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship V. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 473-1000 Web: http://www.worldbank.org/projects Public Disclosure VI. APPROVAL Task Team Leader(s): Ali H. Abukumail, Khalid Ahmed Ali Moheyddeen Practice Manager (ENR/Social) Pia Peeters Recommended on 02-Sep-2019 at 20:52:58 EDT Safeguards Advisor ESSA Nina Chee (SAESSA) Cleared on 12-Sep-2019 at 14:12:47 EDT Sep 12, 2019 Page 8 of 8