Document of The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Report No: PAD2953 INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION PROJECT PAPER ON A PROPOSED ADDITIONAL GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF SDR 72.2 MILLION (US$100 MILLION EQUIVALENT) TO THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC FOR THE LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT May 15, 2019 Social, Urban, Rural And Resilience Global Practice Africa Region This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (Exchange Rate Effective Apr 30 2019) Currency Unit = CFA Francs BEAC 580 CFA Francs = US$1 US$1 = SDR 0.7216 FISCAL YEAR January 1 - December 31 Regional Vice President: Hafez M. H. Ghanem Country Director: Jean-Christophe Carret Senior Global Practice Director: Ede Jorge Ijjasz-Vasquez Practice Manager: Robin Mearns Task Team Leaders: Sophie Christelle Grumelard and Varalakshmi Vemuru ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AF Additional Financing AFD Agence Française de Développement (French Development Agency) AGETIP-CAF Agence d'Exécution des Travaux d'Intérêt Public en Centrafrique (Executing Agency of Public Interest Works in the Central African Republic) AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome CAR Central African Republic CERC Contingent Emergency Response Component CMOD Convention de Maitrise d’Ouvrage Déléguée (Service Agreement) CPF Country Partnership Framework DHS Demographic Health Survey ESMF Environmental and Social Management Framework EU European Union FCV Fragility, Conflict and Violence FM Financial Management GBV Gender-based Violence GEMS Geo-enabling initiative for Monitoring and Supervision GIL Gender Innovation Lab GRM Grievance Redress Mechanism HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus IDA International Development Agency IE Impact Evaluation IMF International Monetary Fund IOM International Organization for Migration LIPW Labor-intensive Public Work M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MEPC Ministère de l’Economie, du Plan et de la Coopération (Ministry of Economy, Planning and Cooperation) MINUSCA United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic MoU Memorandum of Understanding NGO Non-governmental Organization OCHA Office for the Coordination of Humanitarians Affairs OP Operational Policy PAD Project Appraisal Document PDO Project Development Objective PIM Project Implementation Manual PP Procurement Plan PPSD Project Procurement Strategy for Development RPBA Recovery and Peacebuilding Assessment SCD Systematic Country Diagnostic STEP Systematic Tracking and Exchanges in Procurement ToR Terms of Reference TPM Third-party Monitoring TT Task Team TTL Task Team Leader UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Program UNHAS United Nations Humanitarian Air Services WFP World Food Program The World Bank CAR: LONDO “Stand Up” Project (P166943) BASIC INFORMATION – PARENT (Central African Republic - LONDO Project - P152512) Country Product Line Team Leader(s) Central African Republic IBRD/IDA Sophie Christelle Grumelard Project ID Financing Instrument Resp CC Req CC Practice Area (Lead) P152512 Investment Project GSU07 (9363) AFCC2 (6546) Social, Urban, Rural and Financing Resilience Global Practice Implementing Agency: Agence d'Execution des Travaux d'Interet Public en Centrafrique (AGETIP-CAF) ADD_FIN_TBL1 Is this a regionally tagged project? Bank/IFC Collaboration No Original Environmental Approval Date Closing Date Current EA Category Assessment Category 30-Jul-2015 30-Sep-2019 Partial Assessment (B) Partial Assessment (B) Financing & Implementation Modalities Parent [ ] Multiphase Programmatic Approach [MPA] [ ] Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC) [ ] Series of Projects (SOP) [✓] Fragile State(s) [ ] Disbursement-Linked Indicators (DLIs) [ ] Small State(s) [ ] Financial Intermediaries (FI) [ ] Fragile within a Non-fragile Country [ ] Project-Based Guarantee [✓] Conflict [ ] Deferred Drawdown [ ] Responding to Natural or Man-made disaster [ ] Alternate Procurement Arrangements (APA) Development Objective(s) Page 1 The World Bank CAR: LONDO “Stand Up” Project (P166943) To provide temporary employment to vulnerable people throughout the entire territory of the country. Ratings (from Parent ISR) RATING_DRAFT_Y ES Implementation 21-Dec-2016 19-Jun-2017 18-Jan-2018 18-Apr-2018 08-Nov-2018 Progress towards achievement of HS HS HS HS HS PDO Overall Implementation HS S S S S Progress (IP) Overall Safeguards Rating S S S S S Overall Risk H H H H H BASIC INFORMATION – ADDITIONAL FINANCING (CAR: LONDO "Stand Up" Project - P166943) ADDFIN_TABLE Urgent Need or Capacity Project ID Project Name Additional Financing Type Constraints P166943 CAR: LONDO "Stand Up" Restructuring, Scale Up Yes Project Financing instrument Product line Approval Date Investment Project IBRD/IDA 30-May-2019 Financing Projected Date of Full Bank/IFC Collaboration Disbursement 30-Jul-2024 No Is this a regionally tagged project? No Financing & Implementation Modalities Child Page 2 The World Bank CAR: LONDO “Stand Up” Project (P166943) [ ] Series of Projects (SOP) [✓] Fragile State(s) [ ] Disbursement-Linked Indicators (DLIs) [ ] Small State(s) [ ] Financial Intermediaries (FI) [ ] Fragile within a Non-fragile Country [ ] Project-Based Guarantee [✓] Conflict [ ] Deferred Drawdown [ ] Responding to Natural or Man-made disaster [ ] Alternate Procurement Arrangements (APA) [✓] Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC) Disbursement Summary (from Parent ISR) Net Source of Funds Total Disbursed Remaining Balance Disbursed Commitments IBRD % IDA 20.00 17.52 2.42 88 % Grants % PROJECT FINANCING DATA – ADDITIONAL FINANCING (CAR: LONDO "Stand Up" Project - P166943) PROJECT FINANCING DATA (US$, Millions) SUMMARY -NewFi n1 SUMMARY (Total Financing) Proposed Additional Total Proposed Current Financing Financing Financing Total Project Cost 20.00 100.00 120.00 Total Financing 20.00 100.00 120.00 of which IBRD/IDA 20.00 100.00 120.00 Financing Gap 0.00 0.00 0.00 DETAILS - Additional Financing NewFinEnh1 World Bank Group Financing Page 3 The World Bank CAR: LONDO “Stand Up” Project (P166943) International Development Association (IDA) 100.00 IDA Grant 100.00 IDA Resources (in US$, Millions) Credit Amount Grant Amount Guarantee Amount Total Amount National PBA 0.00 100.00 0.00 100.00 Total 0.00 100.00 0.00 100.00 COMPLIANCE Policy Does the project depart from the CPF in content or in other significant respects? [ ] Yes [ ✔ ] No Does the project require any other Policy waiver(s)? [ ] Yes [ ✔ ] No INSTITUTIONAL DATA Practice Area (Lead) Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice Contributing Practice Areas Fragile, Conflict & Violence Social Protection & Labor Climate Change and Disaster Screening This operation has been screened for short and long-term climate change and disaster risks Gender Tag Does the project plan to undertake any of the following? a. Analysis to identify Project-relevant gaps between males and females, especially in light of country gaps identified through SCD and CPF Yes Page 4 The World Bank CAR: LONDO “Stand Up” Project (P166943) b. Specific action(s) to address the gender gaps identified in (a) and/or to improve women or men's empowerment Yes c. Include Indicators in results framework to monitor outcomes from actions identified in (b) Yes PROJECT TEAM Bank Staff Name Role Specialization Unit Sophie Christelle Team Leader (ADM Social Cohesion and GSP07 Grumelard Responsible) Operations Social Development and Varalakshmi Vemuru Team Leader GSU07 Operations Rose Caline Desruisseaux- Procurement Specialist (ADM Procurement GGOPF Cadet Responsible) Financial Management Lydie Madjou Financial Management GGOAC Specialist (ADM Responsible) Christophe Ngongo Environmental Specialist (ADM Environmental Safeguards GENA3 Muzyumba Responsible) Social Specialist (ADM Richard Everett Social Safeguards GSU07 Responsible) Arthur Alik Lagrange Team Member Impact Evaluation AFRGI Augustine Kudawoo Wright Team Member Operations GSU01 Bernhard Metz Team Member M&E and GEMS GTFOS Djeina Issa Kalidi Social Specialist Social safeguards GSU07 Emelyne Calimoutou Team Member Legal LEGKL Emma Clarisse Bouba- Team Member Administration AFMCF Koumatou Leppa Faly Diallo Team Member Finance and Accounting WFACS Franck Laurent Sovide Team Member Security GCSGO Ingrid Cesarine Meka Team Member Finance and Accounting WFACS Joelle Nkombela Mukungu Environmental Specialist Environmental Safeguards GENA3 Joseph-Antoine Ellong Team Member Operations GSU20 Page 5 The World Bank CAR: LONDO “Stand Up” Project (P166943) Kristyna Bishop Social Specialist Social risk management GSU01 Laura E. Bailey Peer Reviewer FCV and CDD GSUSD Laurene Ndjimanguele Team Member Administration AFMCF Biadou Social Protection and Paul G. A. Bance Team Member GSP07 Operations Siobhan McInerney- Counsel Legal LEGAM Lankford Tesfahiwot Dillnessa Team Member Operations GSU07 Zewdie Extended Team Name Title Organization Location Page 6 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) Central African Republic LONDO+ Project TABLE OF CONTENTS I. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE FOR ADDITIONAL FINANCING ........................................ 8 II. DESCRIPTION OF ADDITIONAL FINANCING .................................................................... 19 III. KEY RISKS ..................................................................................................................... 27 IV. APPRAISAL SUMMARY .................................................................................................. 28 V. WORLD BANK GRIEVANCE REDRESS .............................................................................. 38 VI. SUMMARY TABLE OF CHANGES..................................................................................... 39 VII. DETAILED CHANGE(S).................................................................................................... 39 VIII. RESULTS FRAMEWORK AND MONITORING ................................................................... 44 ANNEX 1: SCHEMATIC OF THE SCALE-UP .............................................................................. 51 ANNEX 2: IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT PLAN ...................................................................... 52 ANNEX 4: PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY ................................................................ 56 ANNEX 5: DEPLOYMENT PLAN (TENTATIVE, FOR THE FIRST YEAR OF IMPLEMENTATION) ..... 57 ANNEX 6: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR THE PPSD AND PROCUREMENT PLAN ........................ 58 Page 7 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) I. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE FOR ADDITIONAL FINANCING Introduction 1. This Project Paper seeks the approval of the Executive Directors to provide an Additional Financing (AF) in an amount of US$100 million equivalent to the LONDO Project (P152512), to be called “LONDO +”, to the Central African Republic (CAR). The original Project, referred to as LONDO or ‘parent Project’ with an IDA Credit of US$20 million was approved on July 30, 2015 and became effective on September 29, 2015. The AF was formally requested by the Government of CAR on March 2, 2018 and will finance a scale-up of activities, as well as a restructuring. The AF is fully aligned with the draft Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) and the Government’s roadmap set out in the 2017 Recovery and Peacebuilding Assessment (RPBA). 2. Project Development Objective (PDO). The PDO of the parent Project is to provide temporary employment to vulnerable people throughout the entire territory of the country. The PDO for the proposed AF is “to provide temporary employment to vulnerable people and to facilitate access to basic services throughout the entire territory of the Recipient, and to provide a response in the case of an eligible crisis or emergency”. The revised captures the expansion of activities, which will include the access to basic services through the rehabilitation/construction of small-scale/basic priority community infrastructure and chantiers-écoles1, as well as the Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC). 3. Components. The proposed AF has five components (detailed description below). Activities of the parent Project are being scaled-up to respond more broadly to community priority needs and ensure that the socio-economic impacts of the parent Project can be better sustained, thereby supporting communities to transition from a humanitarian state to a development pathway. In addition, the community maintenance system under Component 3 of the parent Project has been redesigned into a rapid response mechanism. Finally, a CERC has been added. Background and Country context 4. Positive developments. After a two-year political transition, CAR held peaceful presidential and legislative elections in 2016. Meanwhile, the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), a 12,000-troop United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission, was deployed to CAR in September 2014 and is now established throughout the territory. Over the last few years, the security situation has largely stabilized in Bangui, where a “normalization” is observed with a return to pre-crisis life. 5. Volatile situation in the provinces. Although Bangui is for the most part stable, the security situation has been deteriorating in the provinces over the last year. Multiple armed groups still control about 60 percent of the territory. Displacement continues to increase due to ongoing violence, with 20 percent of the population forcibly displaced (OCHA 2018). Nearly three million people (roughly two-thirds of the population) are still in need of humanitarian assistance – a 16 percent increase from early 2018, of which 1.9 million require acute and immediate assistance (OCHA 2019). The situation is very fluid and highly volatile. A case in point is the Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in CAR (the eighth peace agreement since 2013), which was signed on February 06, 2019 and laid the foundations for the restoration of durable peace in the country, but remains very fragile.2 6. Low social and economic indicators. CAR is an extremely poor country caught in repeated cycles of violence 1 Chantiers-école is a teaching approach that combines paid technical and on-the-job training to teach the different core skills of civil engineering, e.g. masonry, carpentry, etc. This approach was used to build 16 prefectures in Cote d’Ivoire, under the Post-Conflict Assistance Project. 2 ISS, 23 April 2019. “The AU saves the CAR deal in extremis, but it needs to do more:” https://issafrica.org/research/peace-and-security-council- report/peace-and-security-council-report-no-112. Page 8 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) and conflict. Poverty incidence is estimated to exceed 70 percent. Life expectancy fell from 49 years in 1988 to 43 years presently. In 2008, nearly two-thirds of CAR’s population lived in rural areas, which were home to about 70 percent of the country’s poor. Poverty is very high. Gross National Income per capita dropped by more than a third between 2012 and 2013 and recent estimates suggest that the poverty rate—at the international poverty line of US$1.90 per day in 2011 PPP terms—surged to more than 75 percent in 2017, according to the World Bank. The country has endured a high level of losses and damages due to the conflict and faces a sluggish economic recovery (IMF 2017). CAR was ranked almost last (188/189) in the 2017 Human Development Index (UNDP 2018). 7. Significant gender disparities. While access to services is limited, women face specific challenges in accessing resources and opportunities. While 13 percent of men have never been to school, this is three times more for women (39 percent). Maternal mortality is estimated at 882 per 100,000 live births, which, with a fertility rate of around 4.9, means that 1 in approximately 25 women dies during child birth. Labor force participation of women is estimated at 61 percent (against 80 percent for men) with most women engaged in agriculture (96 percent). Women occupy few public positions: they represent only 7 percent of members of parliament and 17 percent of all ministerial positions. Limited agency, discrimination and patriarchal beliefs, puts women at great risk of violence, including sexual violence. The risk of sexual violence is even more elevated as a result of the ongoing conflict. 8. Significant exposure to climate change risks: The proposed Project is to be implemented in the entire national territory of CAR which experiences extremes of temperature and precipitation, and frequent episodes of both floods and drought. Floods are a recurring and devastating natural hazard and are responsible for the largest share of economic and human losses due to natural disasters in the CAR. The drier northeastern region of CAR has seen a downward trend in precipitation while the south-western region has experienced a trend of increasing precipitation. Droughts are increasingly common and have serious consequences for water resources, particularly in northern CAR. Such climate- related hazards are forecast to increase in frequency and severity in the future, therefore placing Project beneficiaries at an increasing level of exposure to climate risk, given that their livelihoods are overwhelmingly dependent on natural resources and rainfed agriculture, in particular. 9. Large institutional support to peace and recovery. In 2016, the Government, with support from the Bank alongside the UN and the European Union (EU), undertook a RPBA to define the country’s priorities, align international assistance, and use this RPBA as a development roadmap. The RPBA culminated in a successful International Donor Conference in November 2016, in Brussels, where donors pledged an unparalleled US$2.2 billion. The RPBA outlines CAR’s most urgent needs and priorities for the period 2017-21 and is framed around three pillars: (i) support peace, security, and reconciliation; (ii) renew the social contract between the State and the population; and (iii) promote economic recovery and boost productive sectors. LONDO has been contributing to the field implementation and operationalization of all the RPBA’s pillars, for instance in priority cities like Bambari and Paoua. Parent Project Status and Results 10. Project description. The LONDO "Stand Up" Project is a peacebuilding Project that uses labor-intensive public works (LIPW) as a means to promote social cohesion, economic recovery and local governance. The Project aims at investing in rural areas and addressing regional inequalities, which have been at the root of many rebellions. LONDO is the largest cash-for-work program in CAR with a target of 35,500 direct beneficiaries, who manually maintain roads to reconnect their communities to essential services and markets across all 71 districts of the country (see Figure 1). The Project is sponsored by the Ministry of Economy and Planning (Ministère de l’Economie, du Plan et de la Coopération, MEPC) and executed by the Executing Agency of Public Interest Works in the Central African Republic (Agence d'Exécution des Travaux d'Intérêt Public en Centrafrique, AGETIP-CAF). A dedicated team within AGETIP, staffed with Central African experts, was set up to implement the Project. LONDO is implemented in close collaboration with Page 9 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) development, humanitarian, peace, and diplomatic actors to leverage partnerships for a more rapid and agile execution, while ensuring coherence and sustainability. 11. Implementation Status. Both the overall aggregated execution rate and the disbursement rate are about 86 percent, as of April 17, 2019. As the PDO and selected intermediate results indicators show in Table 1, progress towards meeting the development objectives of LONDO is highly satisfactory. All three PDO-level indicators and five out of six Intermediate Results Indicators are on track to reach their target by the end of the Project. In addition, the Closing Date of the parent Project will be extended to match the Closing Date of the AF, thus allowing LONDO to reach 100 percent of its PDO targets by the end of the Project. Overall implementation progress has been rated satisfactory or higher since the start of the Project. Table 1: Summary of PDO and Intermediate Results Indicators for the LONDO Project Indicator Baseline Latest Actual Target 01-Jan-2015 19-Oct-2018 30-Sep- 2019 PDO Indicators Indicator 1. Number of direct Project beneficiaries. A Project’s direct beneficiary is an individual who is duly 0 28,250 35,500 selected and registered with the Project and thereby offered temporary employment. Percentage of which are women. 0 36% 33% Indicator 2. Number of worked days. A worked day is a working day that is paid by the Project to a 0 1,096,531 1,420,000 direct beneficiary. Indicator 3. Number of benefitting districts (sous- préfectures). 0 57 71 A benefitting district is a sous-préfecture as defined by CAR’s territorial administration law. Intermediate Results Indicators Indicator 4. Number of completed rapid development assessments. A rapid development assessment is a standardized data 0 58 71 collection exercise conducted by AGETIP-CAF prior to an intervention in a new benefitting district. Indicator 5. Number of regional AGETIP-CAF teams deployed. A regional AGETIP-CAF team is a mobile team of experts 0 5 5 deployed in a geographic area outside Bangui to implement the Project. Indicator 6. Number of maintained road (in km). Road maintenance is the set of activities to improve mobility 0 1,815 2,840 on existing roads, including drainage cleaning, vegetation and debris removal, and minor surface repairs. Indicator 7. Percentage of grievances addressed. 0 100% 100% Page 10 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) Grievances are feedbacks from citizens (beneficiaries and other stakeholders) registered through the Project’s Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) and related to the delivery of the Project benefits. Indicator 8. Number of completed distribution of stipends. A distribution of stipends is the activity of paying stipends to 0 243 284 direct beneficiaries, hence at least two distributions for each cohort. Indicator 9. Number of supported community maintenance systems. A community maintenance system is the organization put in 0 46 71 place at the level of a sous-préfecture that benefits from the transfer of tools and technical assistance. Currently, the LONDO Project consists of the following four components: 12. Component 1: Local Governance (US$3.4 million equivalent). This component finances rapid development assessments at the level of sous-préfectures across the country to gather necessary data for successful development interventions: governance, security, social dynamics, economy, and logistics. Second, this component supports inclusive engagement with local stakeholders to support the selection of beneficiaries (through transparent public lottery); agreement on work sites in the sous-préfectures; and the implementation of the GRM. Finally, this component also finances the regional redeployment of the AGETIP-CAF. 13. Progress under Component 1 is highly satisfactory: Rapid development assessments are systematically conducted in each new sous-préfecture. At present, 57 rapid development assessments have been completed. These assessments allow the team to constantly assess and adjust the Project’s deployment plan according to local circumstances, including logistical and security constraints. More than 120 transparent public lotteries have been held in 59 sous-prefectures and recruited 30,500 beneficiaries with the peaceful participation of over 100,000 people. Women's participation is significant (36 percent on average) but varies by region (Figure 2). 14. In addition, all five regional AGETIP-CAF teams have been deployed. Finally, a GRM is in place in the form of a toll-free number (numéro vert), which is accessible on all phone networks and is answered in French as well as Sango.3 To date, a total of 585 calls have been received through the toll-free number, of which 5.81 percent are complaints. The majority of the calls relate to thanking the Project for its intervention (Table 2). Over the last year, the Project has noted that most complaints relate to a lack of information about the beneficiaries’ code of conduct and has thus reinforced sensitization around it (e.g. understanding of the consequences for violating the code of conduct). Meanwhile, 100 percent of grievances have been adequately logged and addressed. However, given that a hotline-based GRM is not particularly accessible to gender-based violence (GBV) survivors, especially the most vulnerable, living in remote locations, the Project will seek to strengthen other modes for receiving feedback and grievances. 3 The Project keeps a record of all calls in a binder (including how and when grievances were addressed), which is checked by the task team on every single mission. In addition, the Project team includes a summary of the calls received, grievances, etc. in its monthly M&E report, which is sent to both the Government and the World Bank’s task team. Finally, the task team regularly makes "test" calls to ensure the calls are answered and queries properly addressed. Page 11 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) Figure 1: Infographics of the LONDO Project (updated on Feb 01, 2019) Page 12 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) Figure 2: Percentage of women beneficiaries Per District (as of February 28, 2019) 15. Furthermore, the Project has developed a protocol to handle GBV-related calls, whether they are Project-related or not, drawing from protocols used by other agencies such as the UN. To identify specific access points for GBV, consultations with women and girls will be conducted by people with experience in discussing topics related to aspects like security and health with women. Over the next few months, the Project staff will be trained by the CAR GBV working group or another qualified agency on the effective implementation of this protocol, which may be fine-tuned as needed. Table 2: Typology of Calls Received General GBV- notficiations Thanks/re- Information YEAR Suggestions Complaints related Total (information- cognitions requests calls giving) 2016 0 49 18 16 49 0 132 2017 10 39 6 2 0 0 57 2018 57 144 27 8 41 0 277 2019 21 71 18 8 0 1 119 Total 88 303 69 34 90 1 585 % 15 52 12 5.8 15 0.2 100 Page 13 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) 16. Component 2: Public Infrastructure (US$8.0 million equivalent). This component finances all works-related expenses, except stipends to beneficiaries, for the preparation, execution, and supervision of the works selected under Component 1. It includes the costs of (i) the preliminary conditions surveys, environmental checklists, bills of quantities, cost calculations, and work schedules; (ii) the supply of materials, tools, and equipment; and (iii) the management of works, stores, and sites, as well as quality control. The chosen work methodology – manual LIPW – allows the Project to hire a large number of unskilled workers, thereby ensuring it can target the poor and vulnerable. 17. Progress under Component 2 is highly satisfactory: To date, 1880 kilometers of roads (pistes and voiries) have been maintained. Tools, equipment and bicycles, which are procured from local suppliers, continue to reinvigorate local economies. In addition, the excellent collaboration and synergies established between the Project and various partners and Projects (e.g. Ministry of Public Works, MINUSCA, International Organization for Migration (IOM), etc.) allows for the implementation of complementary approaches and the identification of coherent interventions on the road network. 18. Component 3: Socio-Economic Integration (US$5.0 million equivalent). This component finances labor, i.e. stipends paid to 35,500 beneficiaries, who work 40 days each and earn 1,500 CFA Francs (roughly US$3) per day. This amounts to US$1.42 million paid worked days for the entire Project. In addition, this component sponsors the development of a community maintenance system (cantonnage communal) to promote the sustainability of the investments. Under the cantonnage communal scheme, tools and equipment (signage, wheelbarrows, etc.), are transferred to local authorities (mairies) and protective equipment (gloves, boots, etc.) is kept by beneficiaries at the end of their assignment, including the bicycles provided to workers as a means of transportation to and from work sites. 19. Progress under Component 3 is satisfactory: To date, more than 1.7 billion CFA Francs (nearly US$2.9 million) in stipends have been paid to 30,500 beneficiaries during 255 on-site cash distributions (Figure 3). The community maintenance system – a combination of financing, engineering and administrative assistance provided to mairies – was successfully piloted in two municipalities but revealed that the replication and sustainability of the model would only be possible when and if municipalities have solid fiscal health. Therefore, the cantonnage communal has been adapted to assist with one-off emergency interventions at the municipal level, such as building a local peace agreement, supporting the Ministry of Public Works in the maintenance of the Sibut-Bambari road, and to reopen access to a city cut- off from the rest of the country. 20. Component 4: Project Management (US$3.0 million equivalent). This component covers all costs related to the management and coordination of the Project, in particular the maintenance of a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system. This component also finances communication at the national level with beneficiaries and all other stakeholders involved in the Project, including line ministries, international partners, and civil society organizations. 21. Progress under Component 4 is highly satisfactory: Overall management and coordination of the Project has been successful despite the extremely volatile security environment in CAR. Monitoring frameworks are submitted to the Bank on a weekly basis (179 to date) and good-quality M&E reports are submitted on a monthly basis. The M&E reports include a section on the calls received via the numéro vert, which allows to cross-check and corroborate information. A monitoring and communications cell has been set up within the MEPC, which ensures good ownership and communication flow between the Government and the implementation team. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Page 14 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) the Project and MINUSCA Civil Affairs in February 2015 has been critical to the effective implementation of the Project. In addition, LONDO is an active member of the CAR Logistics Cluster and the Early Recovery Cluster, which are respectively led by the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Figure 3: Map of Beneficiaries Per District (as of February 28, 2019)4 22. Contingency. The Project also includes a 3 percent (US$0.6 million) contingency to be allocated to components 1, 2 and 3. 23. Progress of the contingency is highly satisfactory. The fund has been used for security emergencies (e.g. when regional teams had to be evacuated and redeployed). 24. Relevant Legal and Fiduciary. There are no unresolved fiduciary issues. Financial management (FM) and procurement have been carried out in accordance with the World Bank’s FM and Procurement Guidelines. Procurement and FM ratings are Highly Satisfactory and Satisfactory, respectively. The update of the procurement plan (PP) was approved in March 2019 and Project procurement has transitioned to Systematic Tracking and Exchanges in Procurement (STEP). There are no outstanding audit reports and all audit reports were found acceptable to the World Bank. 25. Safeguards. The LONDO Project is a category-B project as per Operational Policy (OP) 4.01 (Environmental Assessment). The road works – manual maintenance of existing roads – has minimal 4 This excludes the beneficiaries reached by “repeat” operations in districts already covered by LONDO (e.g. Paoua, Bouar, Bangassou). Page 15 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) impact on the environment. An Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) was prepared and is being implemented. The Project did not trigger any social safeguards policy as (i) the Project does not involve land acquisition leading to involuntary resettlement or restrictions of access to resources or livelihoods; (ii) there are no Indigenous peoples in the Project areas; and (iii) there is no influx of labor as the workers are recruited locally and are members of the local community. Environment and social risks were rated moderate during preparation and have remained moderate throughout implementation. Overall safeguards implementation was consistently rated satisfactory and is greatly assisted by the intense engagement with the beneficiary community, which is a hallmark of this Project. A. Lessons learned from the Parent Project 26. An effective poverty reduction mechanism. LONDO is aligned with the narrative for poverty reduction proposed in the ongoing SCD, which calls for (i) achieving peace and stability; (ii) addressing inequalities; and (iii) creating economic opportunities to sustain incentives for peace. Through temporary employment, LONDO provides much needed resources to communities to recover from the crisis and build resilience including to climate risks, whether to relaunch an income-generating activity, send children to school, or simply put food on the Table – 2.1 million people are food insecure in CAR (WPF 2018). In addition, the bicycles distributed by the Project to beneficiaries (more than 25,000 bicycles – or 20 percent of the country’s stock) work as a matching grant: after the Project is finished, beneficiaries use their bicycles for other important economic purposes (e.g. transporting goods to and from markets) or for savings (e.g. selling their bicycles and using the profit as additional income). Thanks to its selection mechanism (public lottery), geographic deployment and type of works (manual unskilled labor), LONDO reaches the poorest and most vulnerable. 27. The Africa Gender Innovation Lab (GIL)’s LONDO impact evaluation (IE) is currently ongoing. However, preliminary evidence from the data collected among approximately 6,000 male and female participants suggests that LONDO significantly enhances beneficiaries’ earnings beyond the duration of the program, and increased households’ ownership of durable goods, productive assets and livestock. The gender-disaggregated analysis of these impacts seems to indicate an increase in productivity of agricultural activities for male beneficiaries, while female beneficiaries experience larger positive impacts in trading activities. The distributional impacts of the program also appear to be gendered, in which income distribution seems to be shifted upwards for all male participants, while the program appears to have a positive impact only for the top two deciles of the income distribution for female beneficiaries. The GIL team is currently analyzing the gendered determinants of these impacts, and these will be used to inform implementation modalities in the Project Implementation Manual (PIM) for the proposed AF to maximize its impact on female participants and female members of benefiting households. 28. A delivery model that bridges the gap between immediate recovery and longer-term resilience. In a protracted crisis setting where development projects may find it difficult to bridge with humanitarian interventions, LONDO has often been solicited by both the Government and the UN to fill critical gaps. Recent consultations with stakeholders have confirmed that LONDO is an example of how the Government can: (a) respond quickly to crises in remote areas; and (b) make the link between stabilization and development by laying the groundwork for other development operations in the provinces. This delivery model has been successfully tested in some of the most difficult-to-access regions of the country, Page 16 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) including in rebel-controlled areas such as Birao, Kago-Bandoro, Ndele, Obo and Paoua. 29. A project that promotes transparency, fairness, and inclusiveness. The ability of the Project to safely operate in sensitive areas depends to a large extent on the good reputation it has built and the trust it has generated, as well as the deep local knowledge of the LONDO team. The Project team has made all efforts to deliver on its commitments, to maintain the trust of the communities; i.e. the Project only commits to what it knows it can do and does what it commits to. The Project team carefully considers the volatile security situation to help manage the deployment of Project activities. In addition, the public lottery selection system has been critical in promoting a transparent, fair and equal chance for all citizens to benefit from the Project. In a context where trust in the Government is low and social capital almost entirely eroded, public lotteries are considered the most efficient selection system, whereby no one gets a passe-droit (free pass). Lotteries give an equal chance to all participants to be selected, irrespective of their characteristics (e.g. lotteries have resulted in a rather high (and growing) share of female participants). LONDO was the first Project to use public lotteries in CAR. Today, this selection system is regarded as a good practice and has been adopted by other humanitarian and development actors. 30. A design that is simple and flexible to adapt to the evolving operating context. Keeping the design of the Project as simple as possible – one main activity (manual road maintenance), has allowed a much greater flexibility for the Project to deploy, adapt, and deliver visible results quickly in an executing environment that changes quickly and often. For instance, LONDO could quickly respond to the Government’s request for a quick start of the Project in Bambari, pilot city for the redeployment of the State, months before it was originally planned. The method (LIPW) has also enabled the Project to target the most poor and vulnerable people, while showing that a large unskilled labor force can accomplish a lot and that local communities can quickly and efficiently mobilize for many types of basic, but critical, works (e.g. sanitation during a cholera epidemic). The scale-up of activities under LONDO “Stand Up” will not compromise or jeopardize the Project’s simple, flexible and adaptable modus operandum (see Annex 1 for details on the deployment strategy and sequencing of activities). 31. Partnerships are key. The successful implementation of the Project is in large part possible thanks to the effective partnerships that have been fostered with humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding actors. They include the French Development Agency (Agence Française de Développement, AFD), the US Embassy, medical International Nongovernmental Organizations (INGOs), EU’s Ecofaune Project, United Nations Mine Action Service, and the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), among others. The MoU between the Project and MINUSCA’s Civil Affairs Department has been critical and continues to be effective for: information-sharing; coordination and synergies around public works; support to the redeployment of the State and public services; and security and logistics. This was exemplified in many instances, such as in Birao with the combination of heavy machinery from MINUSCA and the Project's workforce to maintain roads in town; and most recently with the joint deployment of LONDO, the State authorities, and MINUSCA in Ouanda Djalle, a remote sous-préfecure that had been underserved by previous governments for decades. LONDO has also been collaborating closely with UNHAS on the maintenance of airport access roads and fields (24 to date), which are essential for humanitarian interventions, the redeployment of State services, and access for development actors. These partnerships have further been crucial for the IE team to have access to and collect data in very fragile areas, thus enabling the team to produce a unique dataset. Page 17 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) B. Rationale and Justification for Additional Financing 32. Operationalizing the World Bank’s Strategy for Fragility Conflict and Violence (FCV). The LONDO Project and proposed LONDO “Stand Up” are aligned with the World Bank’s 2020-2025 FCV Strategy,5 which calls for “a more tailored engagement in different situations of fragility including by, among others, engaging in situations of active conflict, and supporting transitions from conflict to peace,” as well as “a fundamentally different approach to development than in non-FCV settings,” whereby “significant resources must be harnessed to maximize impact on-the-ground.” LONDO has shown very positive results and impacts on the most vulnerable because, as recommended in the FCV Strategy, it is tailored to the context, innovative, and focuses on the drivers of fragility (e.g. multi-layered exclusion, unemployment, lack of access to services, and absence of the State), and factors of resilience (e.g. income, connectivity, community engagement, transparency, equity). LONDO was designed to operate effectively in a context of ongoing conflict, which unfortunately is still today’s reality. In fact, the LONDO project was cited in the April 2019 issue of Africa’s Pulse as an exemplary country-specific Project that stabilizes the (Africa) Region.6 33. Leveraging LONDO’s effective delivery model for greater impact. The country context calls for the need to increase the Government’s capacity and agility (both logistically and technically) to respond to crises in the provinces where the population is still extremely poor and vulnerable. LIPW gives credibility to the return of State authorities by demonstrating they can provide income-support and early- recovery services to population, such as ensuring continued access to remote areas, responding to public health emergencies, maintaining community basic infrastructures, and preparing for and responding to disasters. The key to such response capacity is the ability to deploy anywhere in the country, respond fast with tangible outputs and support, build on local resources, through community mobilization, and develop strong partnerships within the Humanitarian-Development-Peace nexus. Building on LONDO’s principles, proven delivery mechanism, and field experience, the proposed LONDO “Stand Up” will draw on elements of the Project that work well, while intensifying and expanding activities that maximize development impact. LONDO “Stand Up” will also incrementally encourage a bottom-up approach to development, whereby communities can formulate demands to the central level via local authorities that can advocate on their behalf. 34. Ensuring continuity to leverage resources. The implementation team in place, including its extensive network in the provinces, performs very well. Thanks to the Project’s local knowledge and the trust it has established with the populations, the Project can rapidly deploy to virtually any district of the country. In addition, in each district that has already benefited from LONDO, the Project can quickly (re)mobilize the community and the local authorities around community works. While LONDO can benefit each district only once, an AF would allow LONDO “Stand Up” to “re-deploy” to districts, while continuing the deployment of LONDO in the 11 remaining districts. Therefore, an AF to the LONDO Project is preferred over the development of a new project for reasons of efficiency and effectiveness. In addition, LONDO has become a flagship project, whose modus operandi is known to everyone. Starting a new project would risk losing the trust capital LONDO has built with the population. In fact, several requests for a “return” of LONDO have been formally submitted by local authorities to the MEPC and expectations 5 At concept stage. 6 Africa’s Pulse, April 2019, Volume 19. Page 18 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) are very high. 35. Filling a gap for job creation and service provision. The Peace Agreement signed in Bangui on February 6, 2019 calls for the implementation of development projects that provide socio-economic basic infrastructures and jobs, as well as labor-intensive programs throughout the country. However, the private sector, especially formal, is nearly absent in CAR outside of Bangui. According to the 2018 Doing Business Report, CAR remains at the bottom rung of the global ranking for the ease of doing business (183/190) and starting a business (181/190). Therefore, it will take time for the private sector to create jobs in most provinces. In that context, LONDO fills an important gap by providing temporary employment throughout the country. In addition, LONDO is often the only actor in remote districts, where neither humanitarian nor development actors are present, and thus the sole implementation actor. In fact, local communities and authorities alike often present many different kinds of grievances to LONDO because the Project is their only interlocutor. The proposed LONDO “Stand Up” will continue to fill this important gap. II. DESCRIPTION OF ADDITIONAL FINANCING 36. Scale-up. The proposed AF will finance: (i) a three-fold increase in the number of LIPW beneficiaries, thus further boosting socio-economic recovery; (ii) a scale-up of activities to expand community works in the provinces beyond manual road maintenance, thus increasing the Project’s development effectiveness; (iii) the construction/rehabilitation of small-scale local infrastructure by private firms, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or UN agencies; and (iv) a pilot of chantiers-écoles, in order to sustain the Project’s development impact. 37. Restructuring. To increase its flexibility and impact, the parent Project will also be restructured. The PDO will be slightly revised as the Project will support a larger range of public works, while the community maintenance system will be updated to increase support to the return of public services and investment, including other bank-financed operations, in remote areas. Components will be revised to fit the PDO and a CERC will be added (Table 3). The restructuring will further extend the closing date by 58 months to align with the AF closing date, reallocate funds between disbursement categories, and revise the Results Framework as appropriate. 38. Alignment with sector and institutional context. The AF is fully aligned with the SCD and the Government’s roadmap set out in the RPBA. More concretely, the AF directly addresses the SCD’s: (i) Binding constraint 1: Low levels of security, by supporting the redeployment of the State and providing economic opportunities for Central Africans irrespective of their age, gender, status, vulnerability, etc., including those who joined or might join armed groups; (ii) Binding constraint 2: Grievances and inadequate services, by financing the construction or rehabilitation of basic community infrastructures that respond to the priority needs of local populations; and (iii) Binding constraint 3: Inadequate growth and job creation, by reconnecting communities to markets, using LIPW and chantiers-écoles, and revitalizing the local private sector (artisans and firms). Page 19 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) Table 3: Summary of Substantive Proposed Changes Proposed Parent Project Additional Financing Change Social cohesion, through Strategic economic recovery and Idem = objectives local governance Project Temporary employment + development Temporary employment + improved access to basic services objective Beneficiaries Poor and vulnerable Idem = 80 districts (all including Bangui; Geographic 71 districts (all except each arrondissement of Bangui + scope Bangui) counts as one district) Community works (roads + other Manual road public works), small community Activities + maintenance infrastructures (and equipment/goods) LIPW + community development Method LIPW + + chantiers-écoles Rapid response mechanism to Community maintenance Flexibility shocks and support to public + system investments Sponsorship MEPC Idem = AGETIP-CAF (amendment to Executing AGETIP-CAF service agreement with AGETIP- + agency CAF) + firms/NGOs/UN, etc. Humanitarian- Partnerships Idem = Development-Peace 39. Higher-level Objective. The proposed AF is aligned with the proposed Country Partnership Framework for FY19‐FY23 to be delivered in FY 20. The higher-level objective will remain unchanged but emphasize resilience. The strategic outcome is to promote social cohesion while improving local governance and supporting economic recovery through wage jobs, community engagement, and public infrastructure. 40. Project Development Objective. The PDO will be slightly revised as follows: “To provide temporary employment to vulnerable people and to facilitate access to basic services throughout the entire territory of the Recipient, and to provide a response in the case of an eligible crisis or emergency.” 41. Beneficiaries. LONDO “Stand Up” will target 1,500 poor and vulnerable people to execute LIPW Page 20 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) in each of the districts (sous-préfectures) of CAR, including Bangui; therefore, 80,000 additional beneficiaries (for a total of 120,000 beneficiaries) will benefit from wage jobs with the AF. For undertaking community works, 320 local teams of 375 individuals will be setup for maintenance of roads and other public infrastructures, over a period of ten months in each district. In addition, LONDO “Stand Up” will finance the rehabilitation or small-scale construction of basic priority infrastructures (e.g. a school, a water point, a health post) in each district, to respond to communities’ most pressing needs. By relying on local artisans and local materials for the community works, as well as on local firms for the rehabilitation of infrastructures, LONDO “Stand Up” will also revitalize the local private sector. Finally, the chantiers-écoles will target mainly the unemployed youth and will allow to (re)create a local network of skilled workers, while discouraging the migration of youth from rural provinces to the capital. Indirect beneficiaries remain the same as under the parent Project, that is: (a) the Government, whose legitimacy in the provinces the program will help to strengthen; (b) the overall rural population that will benefit from improved access to markets and basic social services; and (c) the international community, whose efforts to support state redeployment will be complemented by the Project (Figure 4 has project schematic). Figure 4: Project Schematic/Theory of Change Page 21 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) 42. Emphasis on women’s empowerment and access to services and economic opportunities. Capitalizing on lessons learned through the parent Project and drawing from the results of the GIL’s IE, as they become available, the proposed AF will seek to increase the overall participation of women in Project activities, while paying particular attention to the way certain activities may have a positive or negative impact on them. The AF will continue and emphasize the activities that have had particularly positive impacts on women, while adjusting the design of those that have been or are likely to be more unfavorable to them. For instance, while the Project will increase its efforts to encourage the participation of women in the LIPW, LONDO “Stand Up” could also envisage doing separate lotteries for men and women. The Project could also seek innovative ways to ensure that women beneficiaries reap as many benefits as men from receiving the bicycle (e.g. by teaching them how to ride it or helping them negotiating a better sales price). A workshop to disseminate the results of the IE will be organized by the end of June 2019 and will directly inform the design of the new activities, while suggesting some adaptations to the current activities, which will be reflected in the PIM. In addition, the Project will continue to encourage the promotion of its own female staff into leadership positions. 43. Changes in Results Framework. The Results Framework has been expanded to reflect the scaled- up and new activities. The main changes in the Results Framework are therefore the addition of a few new indicators and the revision of the yearly and end target values and date to match with the newly established closing date. In addition, the indicator linked to the community maintenance system will be dropped, since this activity will be discontinued and revised under the AF. Table 4 provides the PDO-level and intermediate indicators along with targets for the proposed AF and final targets for LONDO “Stand Up” Project. Table 4: Revised Indicators and Targets Original End Target (parent Status of Indicator Indicator Name AF Target Target Project + AF) No change Direct project beneficiaries (Number) 35,500 122,000 157,500 No change Female beneficiaries (Percentage) 33 40 40 New Number of LIPW beneficiaries 35,500 120,000 155,500 No change Benefitting districts (sous-préfectures) 71 80 151 (Number) No change Worked days (men-days) (Days) 1,420,000 4,800,000 6,220,000 No change Rapid development assessments 71 80 151 (Number) No change Grievances registered related to 100 100 100 delivery of project benefits addressed (Percentage) No change Regional AGETIP-CAF teams (Number) 5 5 5 No change Road maintenance (Kilometers) 2,840 6,040 8,880 New New or rehabilitated community 0 240 240 infrastructures (Number) Page 22 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) No change Distribution of stipends (Number) 255 640 895 Dropped Community maintenance systems 71 0 0 (Number) New Direct beneficiairies (individuals) of 0 2,000 2,000 chantiers-écoles (Number, disggregated by gender) New Number of infrastructures built with 0 32 32 the chantier-école approach New Local private firms or NGOs contracted 0 80 80 to build/rehabilitate community infrastructures (Number) 44. Principles of engagement. The design of the parent Project was developed taking into consideration the difficult operational environment of the country and its rapidly changing circumstances. In so doing, principles of engagement – rather than a prescriptive blueprint – have been adopted. Today, the country environment remains as challenging. Therefore, LONDO’s principles of engagement, which remain valid, will be enhanced under the AF, as follows: (a) National coverage: The intent of the Project is to cover the entire territory to make it a truly national development intervention. By investing in lagging areas, the Project addresses regional inequalities, which have been at the root of many rebellions, especially in the northeast. The Project deploys to the provinces sequentially, as security permits. In addition, for LONDO to reach isolated and remote communities outside city centers at the request of the Government, LONDO “Stand Up” will deploy beyond the chefs-lieux7 and execute works in different communes within a district. (b) Indirect approach to development impact: The Project focuses on tangible outputs – rural roads or other local infrastructures – to lead to the Project outcome – social cohesion and socio- economic resilience – using LIPW and chantiers-écoles as a methodology to link the former to the latter (see Figure 4 above for an illustration of the theory of change). Therefore, roads indirectly lead to social cohesion and socio-economic resilience thanks to the LIPW approach. Indeed, LIPW go beyond infrastructure-building; they promote economic inclusion of the poor and vulnerable, collective decision-making, collaborative behaviors, and community ownership. Chantiers-écoles will further help recreate a local skilled labor force. Altogether, the LIPW and chantiers-écoles will complement each other to improve human capital outcomes and sustain development impact. (c) Operational flexibility: The Project design allows for rapid adaptation, because of: (i) largely unknown local capacities and opportunities; (ii) a volatile environment and significant regional disparities; and (iii) limited data for most parts of the territory. Project implementation is thus modular, iterative, and incremental, learning from successes and failures as the Project moves to new sites and faces new challenges (action-research). 7 A Chef-lieu is the administrative center of a district. Page 23 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) (d) Simple implementation process: The Project design is simple, both technically and institutionally. The risk of failures and delays in delivery increase with operational sophistication in CAR’s volatile and complex context. Under the parent Project, a unique type of works (manual maintenance of roads) with a single delivery framework ensured readiness, quality standards, cost-effectiveness, and economies of scale. The community works proposed under LONDO “Stand Up” are also a straightforward and sustainable public investment, which triggers many positive socio-economic externalities. The implementation modalities for community infrastructures under the AF have been designed with the same mindset to ensure that their execution does not slow down or compromise the Project’s operational efficiency. (e) Do no harm: Given the contested areas in which the Project operates, the team has been ensuring that the Project does not inadvertently exacerbate tensions. To this end, the Project will continue to engage inclusively with local power-brokers, existing institutions, including informal ones, and communities. It will also continue to promote a non-threatening return of State presence and services, thanks to its focus on jobs and infrastructures with a technical public agency, rather than classic state-building with an administrative authority. Selection for LIPW will continue through public lotteries, while the selection of community infrastructures will be done through a bottom- up approach, to ensure they address the communities’ priority needs. C. Components of the Additional Financing 45. The AF will have the following components. Table 5 provides a summary of the changes. Table 5: Summary of Proposed Changes in Components Components LONDO (parent) LONDO + (AF) C1: Local Governance SC1: rapid development SC1: rapid development assessments, including assessments identification of community priority needs and SC2: community engagement identification of local artisans and materials SC2: community engagement C2: Public Infrastructure SC1: road maintenance SC1: road maintenance SC2: supervision of works SC2: supervision of works SC3: community works SC4: community infrastructures SC5: pilot of chantiers-écoles C3: Socio-economic SC1: labor management SC1: labor management Integration SC2: community maintenance SC2 (revised): rapid response mechanism C4: Project Management Administration and coordination; Monitoring and evaluation Contingency (3%): to be allocated to C1, C2, and C3 C5 (new): CERC Note: New Subcomponents in bold 46. Component 1: Local Governance (US$14.8 equivalent). This component will continue to finance all the activities included in Component 1 – Local Governance of the parent Project (see above for detailed component description) but will expand the scope of the rapid assessments to determine the type of Page 24 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) community works and community infrastructures that can be undertaken in each district. Among others, the rapid assessment will gather information on the availability of local materials, the presence and capacity of local entrepreneurs and private firms, and the feasibility to complete works within the allotted timeframe (ten months). The rapid assessments will also include the environment and social screening form and take into consideration other risks related to GBV in the SEA in order to put in place the relevant mitigation measures. In addition, the rapid assessments will include attention to potential climate risks to ensure that climate resilience is an integral part of the planning process, thereby safeguarding the sustainability of infrastructure investments. These assessments will continue to be conducted by the LONDO implementation team including qualified individuals to explore and take into consideration risks of GBV issues, in close collaboration with the local authorities, who will be responsible for engaging the local community on the selection and prioritization of the types of infrastructures to be rehabilitated/built. This will ensure sustained capacity-building for local authorities including on understanding and addressing climate risks. 47. Component 2: Public Infrastructure (US$55.8 equivalent). This component will continue to finance maintenance works done under the parent Project, but will also finance community works, which will go beyond road maintenance, while continuing to rely on works that can be performed by unskilled labor and require labor-intensive methods (e.g. building school benches). These community works will use local materials (e.g. wood, bamboo) and rely on local artisans to train laborers, thereby increasing the range of possible activities, while promoting economic recovery, skills development, and community resilience. LIWP/community works will be executed through force account (en régie). This component will further finance the small-scale construction or rehabilitation of priority community infrastructure (e.g. a school, a water point, the rehabilitation of a health center) along with the purchase of goods/equipment, as needed, in districts where the rapid assessments (financed under Component 1) have confirmed it is feasible. The infrastructures will be designed to be overall responsive to climate risks, especially when the infrastructures being rehabilitated are affected by climate impacts; this could include, where appropriate, measures like elevated plinths, flood-proof construction, wind-resistant walls and roofs (use of appropriate materials and finishes); and structural systems/building envelopes that can withstand heavy precipitation. A fixed and same investment “envelope” for infrastructures will be allocated to each district. Based on the experience from similar projects in CAR, it is estimated that each district will benefit on average from three community infrastructures. However, the exact type and number of infrastructures to be rehabilitated/constructed in any given district will ultimately depend on the results of the rapid assessment and associated costs. Meanwhile, the Project will have a negative list of investments whose implementation is already deemed unfeasible, including poor resilience to climate risks, and this will be included in the PIM. 48. Given the technical and specialized expertise required to properly execute the construction/rehabilitation of infrastructures, the LONDO implementation team will contract the works out to third parties, i.e. local firms, NGOs or UN agencies. Preference will be given to local firms or local NGOs (with an emphasis on recruiting labor being sourced from among the local communities, to a maximum extent), as it will contribute to the revitalization of the local private sector and capacity-building of local capacities. Where neither firms nor local NGOs are present/operational and have the capacity to execute such works, the option of contracting works out to international NGOs or UN agencies, will be explored; however, this option should be a last resort, as it would undermine the efforts to support the Page 25 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) State in redeploying public services. The LONDO team will also retain the possibility to execute the infrastructure works via force account. In districts where the rapid assessment has determined that the construction or rehabilitation of infrastructure is not possible, alternative options to respond to other types of local, priority needs will be explored. Equity will remain a foundational principle wherein all districts would get equal benefits, even if there is no feasible way to build infrastructure (i.e. no resources or capacity). In such cases, the allocated funds would then be available for the districts to use for other investments and benefits (e.g. more LIPW beneficiaries) to communities. Finally, this component will finance the piloting of a few chantiers-écoles, which will allow to recreate a network of local skilled workers in core construction jobs (e.g. carpentry) by providing a combination of technical and on-the-job trainings. 49. Component 3: Socio-economic Integration (US$16.8 equivalent). The number of paid worked days will be tripled: 120,000 contracts of 40 working days each. 4,800 brigades of 25 beneficiaries across the country will be set up, managed, and paid for performing community works. The people of CAR have been putting a lot of pressure on the Government to create more jobs in the provinces. The threefold increase in the number of LIPW/community works beneficiaries is therefore a direct response to the Government’s request to increase the number of jobs created by LONDO and will contribute to restoring the social contract. Meanwhile, the community maintenance system will be discontinued and, based on the different adaptations piloted under the parent Project, transformed into a rapid response mechanism, which will allow the Government (at both the central and local levels) to quickly mobilize local teams to respond to shocks or support priority public investments (e.g. maintenance of access roads to airfields to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid; assistance with a response to a cholera epidemic). The combination of providing temporary income (via LIPW), skills (via chantiers-écoles), and community infrastructures will have a multiplier effect on the socio-economic recovery and resilience of local populations, including to climate risks, and the improvement of their living conditions. 50. Component 4: Project management (US$9.60 equivalent). While this component will remain unchanged (see above for component description), the M&E activities will be improved through the digitization and geocoding of the different M&E tools. It will allow for the remote supervision of the Project, as well as greater options for information-sharing and coordinated planning with partners. The Project team has benefitted from the training on the World Bank’s Geo-enabling Initiative for Monitoring and Supervision (GEMS) and will thus ensure its M&E system is fully compatible with it (see Annex 2 on Implementation Support Plan for more details). In addition, this Component will include the administration of perception surveys, which can help capture results of the Project on intangible outcomes (e.g. social cohesion). 51. Component 5: Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC). This zero-fund component will allow the Government to quickly mobilize funds in the event of an emergency that would require immediate recovery and reconstruction needs, which cannot be covered under the LONDO “Stand Up”; for instance, an epidemic outbreak, a new IDP crisis or a climate-related shock such as flooding or drought. This component thus embodies the intent of supporting the resilience of Project beneficiaries’ lives and livelihoods in emergency situations, for which the investments will be made under components 2 and 3. The detailed design of this component will be developed during the first few months of implementation and a CERC Annex will be prepared and attached to the PIM. Page 26 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) D. Finance 52. Loan Closing Date. To permit the full implementation of the scaled-up activities under the AF, the overall Project will be extended to close on July 30, 2024. 53. Change in Disbursement Arrangements. The disbursement arrangements will remain the same as in the original Project. 54. Change in Disbursement Estimates. The expected disbursements include all sources of financing and have been updated to reflect the AF. New implementation arrangements 55. Implementation arrangements structure. The implementation arrangements of the parent Project have been successful in delivering the Project and the team in place, including its extensive network in the provinces, performs very well. Like LONDO, LONDO “Stand Up” will be sponsored by the MEPC, which will sign a new service agreement (Convention de Maîtrise d’Ouvrage Déléguée, CMOD) with AGETIP-CAF, and a dedicated team, the LONDO Project Coordination Team, within AGETIP-CAF, will be responsible for implementing the Project, including the supervision of the five regional teams. Meanwhile, the LONDO Project Coordination Team is being reinforced (safeguards, procurement, FM, engineering) to adequately implement the new and scaled-up activities of LONDO “Stand up”. 56. Mixed delivery framework. The implementation arrangements of the parent Project – a force account, under which the LONDO Project Coordination Team within AGETIP-CAF executes road works itself – has proven to be a successful delivery framework and will therefore remain in place. However, given the technical and specialized expertise required to properly execute certain activities of the AF (e.g. the rehabilitation/construction of community infrastructures), the LONDO implementation unit of AGETIP will contract some of the works out to third parties, i.e. local firms, NGOs or UN agencies. 57. Results Monitoring and Evaluation. The results M&E arrangement for the proposed AF will remain the same as in the parent Project. The M&E unit will thus continue to gather, analyze, and transfer information on the execution of the Project to MEPC and the Bank. Moreover, a GIS specialist will be recruited by the implementation team to digitize and geocode the M&E system of the Project. III. KEY RISKS 58. High risk operation. The overall risk rating of the Project will remain High. 59. The following risks are rated as substantial or high prior to mitigation, and will be mitigated as described below: a) Political and governance risks: Given the contested areas wherein the Project will operate, the Project team must continue to ensure that the Project does not inadvertently exacerbate tensions. To this end, the Project will ensure operational flexibility and regular consultations with local stakeholders, existing institutions – including informal ones, and communities. In addition, the upcoming 2020 presidential elections could incite politicians to use the Project as a vehicle to Page 27 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) attract votes. b) Technical design of project or program: This risk is related to weak community and local- government experience and capacity of many sous-prefectures, especially regarding the implementation of Bank-supported development interventions. To ensure the sustainability of capacity investments, the proposed AF will continue supporting the building-up of local expertise (e.g. through the recruitment of local team leaders). c) Institutional capacity for implementation and sustainability: The administrative capacities at the sub-national and local levels in the proposed Project areas are weak given the limited developmental interventions in these areas (due to insecurity). The risk will be mitigated by augmenting capacities for Project implementation with the recruitment of additional staff at different levels. d) Fiduciary: Capacities for FM and for Procurement are low. Capacity enhancement, regular oversight and periodic audits will therefore continue to be conducted to enhance the efficiency of Project implementation and transparency. IV. APPRAISAL SUMMARY A. Economic Analysis 60. Cost-effectiveness. As the lack of data for most parts of CAR’s territory and data collection remain important challenges, LONDO “Stand Up” builds on lessons from the parent Project and other Bank- financed community development projects on cost-effectiveness.8 Preliminary results from the LONDO IE suggest a significant impact on individual monthly earnings: between 6 and 21 months after they have participated in LONDO, male beneficiaries earn on average an additional 3,937 CFA Francs (or US$6.8)/month and female beneficiaries earn on average an additional 2,577 CFA Francs (or US$4.5)/month. The extra earnings were calculated based on the average item costs under the parent Project and listed in Table 6. Assuming further constant impact on monthly earnings, Table 7 presents the different cost and return ratios of LONDO. Meanwhile, a cost analysis of community infrastructures financed by other Bank projects showed that schools9 are the most expensive type of community infrastructure (in comparison to health centers, water points, etc.) and that construction by a private firm is the most expensive execution modality (in comparison to NGO or force account). It is therefore estimated that a 90-million CFA Francs envelope corresponds to the construction by a private firm of three community schools. The Project is currently piloting the construction of one community school in two different districts, using in one district the execution by a private firm and in the other district execution via force account. The final cost comparison of the two pilots will allow the Project to have more accurate and up-to-date cost estimates. Finally, LONDO “Stand Up” will build into its M&E system ways to collect data on the Project’s strategic outcomes, which remain largely intangible, through for instance the regular administration of perception surveys using KoBo toolbox10 or similar technologies. 8 For instance, the Support to Vulnerable Groups Community Development Project (P111679) and Service Delivery and Support to Communities Affected by Displacement Project (P161595) 9 A community school is a building that includes 3 classrooms and 1 office. 10KoBo toolbox is a free open-source tool for mobile data collection. Page 28 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) Table 6: Average item costs under the parent Project Cash (stipend) transferred to beneficiaries 60,000 CFA Francs/beneficiary Bicycle transferred to beneficiaries 68,000 CFA Francs/beneficiary Transport of the bicycle to the districts 5,000 CFA Francs/beneficiary Tools 25,000 CFA Francs/beneficiary Team leaders’ remuneration 19,200 CFA Francs/beneficiary Table 7: Main cost and return ratios of the parent Project Ratio of transfers = (60000+68000)/(60,000+68,000+5,000+25,000+19,200) =72% (cash + bicycles) to total costs Returns on annualized = 12*3,937/(60,000+68,000+5,000+25,000+19,200) =26% earnings for male beneficiaries Returns on annualized = 12*2,577/(60,000+68,000+5,000+25,000+19,200) =17% earnings for female beneficiaries 61. At 72 percent, the ratio of the transfers to total costs is in the upper range of existing public works interventions. Under these assumptions, the annualized returns are sizable, with a number of years after the program to break-even at around 4 years for men and 6 years for women. It is important to keep in mind that this cost-effectiveness analysis assumes constant impacts on monthly earnings and is based on preliminary estimates. Moreover, the costs listed in Tables 6 and 7 exclude indirect management costs. Finally, earnings are typically measured with significant information noise and, as a consequence, the estimates used to calculate these ratios have large confidence intervals. The magnitude of the returns presented here should thus be considered with caution. 62. Gendered impacts. The returns documented through the IE are higher for male beneficiaries. Available preliminary evidence suggests that this gender heterogeneity might be driven by the poorer segment of the female population of beneficiaries, who seem unable to leverage on the LONDO benefits to increase their productivity. The LONDO “Stand Up” Project and GIL teams will work together to better understand the drivers behind this low-impact trap and identify adjustments that can be made to the AF, in order to unlock the potential increase in productivity for poor female beneficiaries. 63. Sustainability. The AF will provide, as does the parent Project, income to Project beneficiaries through short-term employment opportunities. As highlighted in Table 6 but also through testimonies collected during various field visits, the stipends allow beneficiaries to save enough to invest in income- generating activities (e.g. buy a cassava mill and sell cassava flour on the local market) and/or improve their access to social services (e.g. pay for medicines or children’s education). It also helps poor and vulnerable beneficiaries increase resilience to climate change-related livelihood insecurity. 64. Multiplier effect. Anecdotal evidence collected through interviews with former beneficiaries and Page 29 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) various field visits points to the broader socio-economic impacts of the Project, which go beyond the individual beneficiaries, but also stimulate recovery of the communities as whole. A telling example is the creation of bike repair shops on the local market. The Task Team (TT) is working with the GIL to collect more solid evidence on the gendered socio-economic impacts of the distribution of bicycles, including mobility. 65. Transition from humanitarian to development assistance. The AF of LONDO will continue to support the transition from humanitarian to development assistance in CAR by building upon the successes of the parent Project and scaling up its impact by supporting the capacity-building of local institutions and communities, and by constructing or rehabilitating priority community infrastructure. These activities continue to lay the ground for more ‘classic’ development projects to follow in areas of the country that have been underserved in the past. B. Technical 66. Reconnecting communities. LONDO “Stand Up” will continue to play a role in reconnecting people throughout the country. The Project will focus on the maintenance of the primary (national) and secondary (regional) road networks (routes nationales and pistes d’interface); the Bank-funded transport Project (P079736) is working on the (international) “main supply road” (corridor). These networks are about 10,000 kilometers long combined, only two percent of which was deemed of good or fair condition before the crisis. The Project may improve traffic conditions on over a quarter of the combined networks. In response to the Government’s request to reach isolated communities, LONDO “Stand Up” will deploy beyond administrative centers (chefs-lieux) and will execute works in the different communes of each district. The parent Project is currently piloting an approach, whereby LIPW beneficiaries are recruited in “batches” along an axis (rather than one batch in the chef-lieu), thus reaching several remote villages along a secondary axis. LONDO “Stand Up” will also execute the community infrastructure works in different communes, rather than (only) in the chef-lieu. The AF will therefore continue to ease the access of communities to administrative centers (chefs-lieux), economic poles and markets, and basic social services (health facilities, schools, etc.). 67. Definition of maintenance works. The basic objective of road maintenance (Sub-component 1 of Component 2, i.e. LIPW activities) is to ensure that the respective roads are kept in or restored to their original condition to the extent possible, and that they are thus fully serviceable. Maintenance requirements for roads depend upon a number of external factors such as traffic, terrain, soil types, and climate, as well as the original technical designs applied during the construction of the road and the quality of the works carried out during construction. Throughout CAR, the original road quality is low and road conditions have significantly suffered from weather, while maintenance has been practically inexistent since the beginning of the current crisis. The maintenance of the roads therefore should take into consideration the climate risks to maximize their chance of sustainability. 68. Types of maintenance activities. There will be two distinct types of maintenance activities: (a) ditch works will focus on maintaining the drainage system and halting any damage to the road components outside the road surface; (b) road surface repairs will mainly consist in restoring a good running surface on the targeted roads, freeing them from any obstructions and repairing damage caused Page 30 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) by traffic or weather forces. All works will be manually executed. There will be neither road extension nor new road construction. 69. Definition and type of community works. LONDO “Stand Up” will expand the LIPW beyond road maintenance to execute other types of public works, which can be performed using labor-intensive techniques and rely entirely on local resources. This new activity will involve recruiting local artisans, who will be responsible for training the LIPW beneficiaries in different techniques/craftsmanship. The identification of specific works will be determined by the LONDO implementing team, in consultation with the local authorities and communities, during the pre-deployment assessment of a district. The decision will also be guided by different feasibility criteria, which will be collected through the rapid assessment. Typical community works will include the construction of school benches with wood or bamboo gates around public buildings. 70. Rehabilitation and/or construction of community infrastructures. LONDO “Stand Up” will finance the rehabilitation or small-scale construction of basic, community infrastructures (schools, health centers, drying fields, water points). In line with the Project’s equity principle, each district will benefit from an even financial allocation of 90,000,000 CFA Francs (about US$180,000). It is estimated that such envelope can finance the equivalent of three community schools. However, the number of infrastructures rehabilitated or built in each district will ultimately depend on actual unit costs, which themselves will depend on the type of infrastructure and implementation modality. With the aim to revitalize the local private sector, AGETIP-CAF will whenever feasible, contract works out to private firms/micro-enterprises. However, AGETIP-CAF will also have the flexibility to contract works out to NGOs (with a preference for local NGOs) or UN agencies, or to execute via force account. The choice of execution modalities and type of infrastructure in each given district will be based on the outcomes of community consultations and the results of the rapid assessment, which will assess among other factors, the presence and capacity of local implementation actors, the complexity and duration of works, the screening of environmental and social impacts, and the Government’s commitment to ensure functionality (e.g. by appointing teachers and health workers). In districts where the rapid assessment reveals that it is unfeasible to rehabilitate or build community infrastructures, the financial envelope will be allocated other types of community investments (e.g. additional rounds of LIPW). 71. Gender: The entrenched norms and practices that perpetuate uneven power dynamics between men and women further exacerbate the conditions of women and girls in the Project areas. Such norms and practices get further accentuated by the limited access to basic social services, few livelihoods opportunities and ongoing conflict. The participation of women in the LIPW would significantly enhance their earnings, and increase their households’ ownership of durable goods, productive assets and livestock. This would also enable women to diversify their income sources and build climate resilience. At the same time, by providing access to financial resources, LIPW may also result in a shift of power dynamics at the household and community level, potentially resulting in an increased risk of violence and backlash for women beneficiaries. Post-distribution monitoring of stipends will mitigate this risk and allow the Project to regularly assess risks related to sexual exploitation and abuse and GBV linked to the distribution of cash. Additionally, the proximity of female and male beneficiaries on LIPW sites may expose female beneficiaries to risks of sexual harassment. This risk will continue to be carefully addressed through a set of existing measures, which will be reinforced ad needed – including codes of conduct, supervision Page 31 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) modalities, community and Project-based GRM accessible to GBV survivors, training, etc. In addition, the support for basic services including water points, will reduce time spent and distances traversed by women for collecting water; and potentially facilitate access to education and health services, thereby reducing exposure and therefore risks. 72. Coordination. To maximize the impact of the investment on the fluidity of the road network and community infrastructures, the Project will continue to coordinate works with public agencies (Ministry of Public Works and Road Maintenance; Health and Education ministries) and other international partners (e.g. MINUSCA, Humanitarian Logistics Cluster, UNHAS), which concentrate their efforts on the rehabilitation and (re)construction of critical infrastructure, e.g. bridges destroyed during the conflict. Both intervention types will hence be complementary and mutually-supportive. The Project will also coordinate closely with relevant sectoral ministries (e.g. health and education), as well as other development projects to ensure that no infrastructure is rehabilitated or built without the assurance it will become functional – properly staffed and equipped, and to identify synergies for greater impact. 73. Best industry practices. The Project technical design follows best practices for post-conflict reconstruction interventions using labor-intensive methods. In particular, the lessons learned from the LIPW multi-donor program in Bangui, which were incorporated into the design of the parent Project to calibrate the execution of works to the specific circumstances of the country, remain relevant in today’s CAR. It is also aligned with common guidelines used in CAR. For instance, it follows the main principles outlined in the LIPW guide, which was developed with the contribution of all major actors involved in LIPW in CAR and validated by the MEPC. Furthermore, the Project has drawn lessons learned from previous or ongoing community development projects that finance community infrastructure C. Financial Management 74. Financial management assessment. The current FM arrangements for the parent Project will be maintained. AGETIF-CAF will sign a new service agreement (CMOD) with the MEPC. The current dedicated LONDO implementing team, the Project Coordination Team within AGETIF-CAF, will be maintained. A supervision mission for the LONDO Project was carried out in April 2019, during which a review of the FM arrangements in place within the Project Coordination Team revealed the adequacy of FM arrangements. The FM risk was Substantial and the FM performance rating for the last ISR was Satisfactory. 75. Financial management responsibilities. The dedicated LONDO team within AGETIP-CAF will implement the proposed AF using its existing fiduciary platform and will be in charge of: (i) Budgeting; (ii) accounting; (iii) internal control; (iv) flow of funds; (v) financial reporting; and (vi) auditing. The LONDO team will also prepare the Withdrawal Applications to be submitted to the Bank by the MEPC. The LONDO FM team has made some adjustments to its composition and organization, in order to manage the fiduciary aspects of LONDO most efficiently, and will be further reinforced, as needed, to properly handle the scale-up of activities. The main FM challenge continues to be the management and control of fund flows to make sure stipends are timely paid to beneficiaries, which has been mitigated by an IDA-approved strict payment protocol. 76. Disbursement. The proposed AF will continue to use the transaction-based disbursement Page 32 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) procedures. The four disbursement methods will be available to the AF: advance, direct payment, reimbursement, and special commitment. Funds will flow from the IDA Account through a Designated Account (DA) to be opened in a commercial bank in Bangui acceptable to IDA. Since AGETIP-CAF has had a very positive experience with CBCA for the implementation of LONDO, including its availability of antennas in the two provinces of Berberati and Bouar, the DA for the AF will be opened at CBCA as well. Table 8 provides details on the eligible expenditures. No withdrawal under the AF will be made for payments under either category 1, 2, or 3 unless and until all of the financing under the respective category 1, 2 or 3 of the Original Financing has been fully committed or disbursed. Table 8. Eligible Expenditures Category Amount of the Percentage of Financing Allocated Expenditures to be (expressed in SDR) Financed (inclusive of Taxes) (1) Goods, works, non-consulting services, consulting services, 49,700,000 100% Operating Costs and (2) Training for Parts 1, 2 and 3 of the Project (3) Stipends to Eligible Beneficiaries under Part 3.1 of the 13,500,000 100% Project (4) Goods, works, non-consulting services, consulting services 7,000,000 100% and Operating Costs for Part 4 of the Project (5) Unallocated 2,000,000 100% (6) CER 0 TOTAL AMOUNT 72,200,000 77. Conclusion of the FM assessment. The FM residual risk rating of the Project is considered “Substantial.” However, the conclusion of the assessment is that the proposed FM arrangements for the Project, which are in place within the Project Coordination Team, meet the World Bank’s minimum requirements for FM under World Bank Policy/Directive Investment Project Financing. D. Procurement 78. Applicable procurement rules and procedures. Procurement for the proposed Project will be carried out in accordance with the ‘World Bank Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers, dated July 2016, revised November 2017 and August 2018, hereafter referred to as “Procurement Regulations”. The project is subject to the World Bank’s Anticorruption Guidelines, revised in July 1, 2016. A short form of Project Procurement Strategy for Development (PPSD) was prepared by the LONDO implementation team. It identified the scope, nature of the critical activities, the market research and analysis undertaken, proposed procurement arrangements and packaging, appropriate selection methods and type of review by the World Bank Group that will be executed during the implementation of the additional financing. It also describes the overall Project’s operational context, implementing agency’s capacity, and possible procurement risks. The PP sets out the selection methods as well as prior and post review thresholds to be followed by the Borrower in the procurement of goods, works, non‐consulting and consulting services. The PIM will be updated and will include, among other things, the unified administrative and financial Page 33 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) manual and procurement manual, which defines procedures for procurement during the implementation of Project to help the Project Implementation team carry-out the Project procurement in accordance with the Procurement Regulations. 79. Procurement implementation arrangements. Procurement arrangements will remain unchanged for the implementation of the proposed AF. Therefore, procurement under this AF will be carried out by the LONDO dedicated team within AGETIP-CAF, in accordance with the CMOD between the MEPC and AGETIP-CAF. The existing Project Implementation Team is well staffed and has acquired hands-on procurement experience while managing the Parent project, which is caped as a success story for the Government. However, for the implementation of both projects (parent Project and AF), the procurement unit will be reinforced by a junior expert appointed to support the unit in handling the supplemental workload, taking care of the filing and STEP activities. The Project Implementation Team will also continue to benefit from the World Bank’s support to bring flexibility, efficiency and agility in the procurement of the contracts. 80. Profile of the Contracts for the proposed AF. The dedicated team within AGETIP-CAF in charge of LONDO will remain in charge of the LIPW works for the construction/rehabilitation of community infrastructures through a force account scheme. The procurement profile of the Project is a mix of critical and tactical contracts grouped into 3 main packages that will be carried out through National Competition: (i) LIPW; and (ii) rehabilitation or construction of community infrastructures in districts. These packages are representing 53 percent of the total amount of the project. The larger share of the Project’s funds is meant to finance the LIPW throughout the entire country, which includes the provision of bicycles for the transportation of beneficiaries and tools for the works. This will contribute to improve the living conditions of the population in different districts of the country. The rest of the activities consist of small- value consulting contracts representing about five percent of total amount of the project. The thresholds of the procurement activities are set in the Procurement table. Procurement arrangements for the CERC will be described in the PIM. For International and National Competition, the Project Implementing Team shall use World Bank Standard and Sample Bidding Documents in their most recent versions. 81. Risk mitigation measures. Given that the proposed AF will implement more structured activities with consequent budgets, the Project Implementation Team shall (i) learn lessons from the parent Project and rely on its current dedicated and well-experienced staff to improve the acquisition cycle and stock to conduct the LIPW, the construction/rehabilitation of community infrastructures and related procurement; and (ii) recruit an additional procurement specialist to reinforce the Project Implementing Team and support it in handling the overload of the proposed AF’s new activities. Bank supervision will continue to monitor the proposed AF’s procurement activities and any major changes will be updated in the PPSD. In addition, the PP will be updated at least annually and as required to reflect the actual Project’s implementation needs in the attainment of the PDO. E. Environmental and Social Safeguards 82. Category B project. LONDO “Stand Up” is a category B project as defined in OP 4.01 (Environmental Assessment). The road rehabilitation and small-scale community infrastructure will have minimal impact on the environment. The ESMF that was approved for the parent Project has been Page 34 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) updated and now includes sections on training and sensitization regarding GBV, the operational protocol for managing security risks and an updated screening form to verify compliance with the provisions of the ESMF. The updated version was consulted upon at two community meetings in July 2018 and validated by the World Bank in January 2019. The ESMF was disclosed in-country on April 12, 2019 and on the World Bank’s External Website on April 13, 2019. 83. Social Screening. No social safeguards policies were triggered for the parent Project and will not be triggered for the AF, as the scale and scope of the Project remains the same. In particular: (i) no land acquisition leading to involuntary resettlement or restrictions of access to resources or livelihoods is required; (ii) there are no Indigenous peoples in the Project area; and (iii) there is no influx of labor as the workers will be recruited locally and are members of the local community. As with the parent Project, while LONDO “Stand Up” is nationwide in scope and Indigenous People (Ba’Aka) are present in the country, they are not found in the project areas (primary and secondary roads network and peri-urban areas). Therefore, as with the parent Project, OP 4.12 remains untriggered for the new project. Some Indigenous People who have moved to the cities and became sedenterized participated of their own free in the lotteries and work programs under the parent Project. There were no reports of tensions between them and other groups, or other complaints from or about them regarding their participation in the project. Social risks relating to insecurity and community expectations regarding project eligibility and benefits are being managed by mitigation measures in the ESMF and the GRM, which is driven by a successful telephone hotline service. It has been functioning very well for three years under the parent Project and will continue to be used for LONDO “Stand Up”. The GRM has been fully funded under the parent Project and will continue to be so under the new project. 84. Social Risks. LONDO “Stand Up” will be implemented in areas that are considered highly volatile and insecure. Decades of conflict have resulted in a highly traumatized population, minimal access to basic services, highly degraded infrastructure and extreme poverty. The parent Project, LONDO, uses a methodology that relies on a high level of engagement with the local beneficiaries, support from the local authorities and a flexible deployment model that allows quick suspension of activities if the security situation deteriorates (and restarting once things are calm). The ESMF that was approved for the parent Project has been updated to provide guidance regarding how to adequately screen for negative social impacts as well as sections on training and sensitization regarding GBV, the operational protocol for managing security risks and an updated screening form to verify compliance with the provisions of the ESMF. The GBV risks for the Project are substantial based on the GBV risk assessment tool. However, an assessment of GBV risks for the key Project interventions will be undertaken during implementation and mitigation measures designed and implemented. 85. Dealing with security actors. Given the prevalence of over a dozen armed groups, who control about 60 percent of the territory, the presence of over 10,000 peacekeepers throughout the territory, the progressive (re)deployment of the Central African Armed Forces and the recent arrival of Russian forces, the Project operates within an intricated web of security actors, who often concurrently operate in the same areas. These same security actors can be “allies” in some places and constitute a threat in others. The security landscape is too heterogeneous for the Project to develop a formal unique protocol for dealing with security actors. However, over time, the Project has developed strategies for operating in such a complex context. The Project’s strategy for dealing with security actors is adapted to the specific Page 35 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) context of each district, based on the outcomes of the rapid assessment. A few tactics that have consistently protected the Project and beneficiaries from threatening security actors include its open and transparent communication strategy, its credibility and its strict enforcement of the code of conduct. Meanwhile, in no circumstance will the execution of the works carried out by the Project be contracted out or delegated to security forces. 86. Gender-informed Project and Gender Based Violence. As under the parent Project, the type of works involved under LONDO “Stand Up” will not be gender-discriminatory and the Project’s communication strategy will continue to ensure that women are encouraged to sign-up for the lotteries. Meanwhile, the National Strategy to Combat Sexual Violence for 2018-2022 indicates that the level of violence experienced by women and girls in CAR is very high. Extremely brutal sexual violence has been exacerbated by the on-going conflict, and violence is used as a weapon of war and is currently one of the most serious threats to the security of women and girls. However, reliable data on specific numbers and prevalence do not currently exist. The main source of data on the prevalence of sexual violence worldwide is the Demographic Health Survey (DHS), which includes questions relating to fertility, family planning, maternal and child health, gender, HIV/AIDS, malaria and nutrition. Unfortunately, the only DHS study conducted in the CAR was in 1994-1995 and did not include any questions about the prevalence of GBV. In addition, the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey that was carried out in CAR in 2010 only covered certain GBV issues. As a result, there is no reliable data on the prevalence of GBV, but the UN and other multilateral actors generally agree that the prevalence is extremely high and the types of GBV experienced by women, men, girls and boys is diverse. 87. In CAR, the perpetrators are linked to a diverse range of groups, including armed herders from Peuls-Mbarara communities and members of the 14 armed groups currently operating in CAR (including ex-Séléka, Anti-Balaka, Revolution and Justice, and Democratic Front of the Central African People). UN peacekeepers supporting MINUSCA and French soldiers sent to CAR to fight rebel groups have also been accused of committing GBV acts. It should be noted that there is a profound stigma associated with sexual violence and victimization, which is why it is generally assumed that the full impact of GBV in CAR has not yet been fully recognized. In addition, medical and psychosocial services for victims are very limited and accessing the ones that do exist poses further risks as the rural areas are highly insecure, so victims are generally left to fend for themselves. 88. Mitigation of GBV risks. The updated ESMF contains a chapter on mitigating the possible GBV risks associated with the implementation of the activities financed by the proposed AF. As with the parent Project, LONDO “Stand Up” will continue to use and strictly apply the Project’s Code of Conduct for the LIPW, which prohibits and sanctions any form of GBV and harassment during the execution of LIPW activities, but also across all Project interventions and activities and all contractors. The ESMF also outlines the policies and procedures to be followed by the NGOs or local contractors, which include a Code of Conduct and sanctions for violations. In addition, public infrastructure, which is intended to improve access to essential services for women (e.g. reduced distances to water points), will be prioritized. In addition, the Project will map quality GBV prevention and response services in Project area of influence to put in place a referral mechanism and will work consult and inform affected communities about GBV risks related to the Project, standards of conducted and mitigation measures foreseen by the Project. Page 36 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) 89. A social development specialist is part of LONDO’s national coordination in Bangui and each regional LONDO base has a local community liaison who regularly monitors the Project implementation and completes a checklist before works are carried out at each Project site. Given the substantial nature of GBV risks associated to the Project, the Project staff (at the central and regional level) will be trained by a GBV specialist, who will ensure among other things, that the GBV response mechanism presented in Figure 3 is appropriate and functional. In addition, the implementation team will seek to coordinate with GBV services providers that are present and operational in the Project areas of implementation to facilitate access to timely, safe and confidential services for victims. 90. Environmental screening. Activities under the proposed AF will be similar to those under the parent Project. Hence, LONDO “Stand Up” activities trigger the same environmental safeguard policy (OP 4.01/Environmental Assessment) and is a category B project. It is not envisaged that LONDO “Stand Up” activities will pose additional safeguard risks or effects, require a change in Environmental Assessment Risk Category or trigger new policies. Component 2 of the Project will finance the maintenance of existing roads, community works, and small-scale community infrastructures, using labor-intensive methods, as well as local materials and labor. The works could lead to minor adverse impacts but will not have any impacts on natural habitats and, significant and/or irreversible impacts. The ESMF that was approved for parent Project has been updated to guide the management of environmental and social safeguard risks. The updated ESMF has been disclosed in-country on April 12, 2019 and on the World Bank’s External Website on April 13, 2019. ESIAs and their associated ESMPs or stand-alone ESMPs, depending on the activities, will be prepared in accordance with the ESMF’s requirements. AGETIP-CAF has an in-house environmental specialist and decentralized structures with five regional teams to ensure proper implantation, monitoring, documentation, and reporting on the mitigation measures. 91. Climate change and disaster risk screening. The screening revealed that the Project target areas are exposed to high temperatures, droughts, and/or floods because of intense rainfall during the main rainy season. Floods are a recurring and devastating natural disaster in the CAR which is likely to worsen given that rainfall is projected to become more erratic and intense. Droughts are also common in the northern part of CAR, accentuating the susceptibilities of the population residing in this region. Climate change risks will be mitigated through the Project by: (a) careful attention to climate impacts – floods and droughts as relevant, on the local infrastructure identified and designed under Component 2; (b) ensuring infrastructure is constructed in an energy-efficient manner; (c) careful consultations are held with communities to ensure that the water for construction of infrastructure is sourced in such a way that it does not impact access and availability for local communities ; (d) providing access to water using climate- friendly technology, e.g. solar panels for water pumping; (e) informing communities about climate-smart agricultural practices when they invest their earning and savings in livelihood activities; and (f) encouraging women to take up non-farm livelihood options that reduce dependence on natural resources. 92. The project will support measures to reduce the energy consumption of education and health infrastructures financed by the Project, through for instance (i) thermal insulation of walls/ceilings, (ii) efficiently-designed openings (windows and access doors), which allow better natural ventilation and reduce the need for artificial lighting, (iii) energy-efficient lighting (e.g. use of LED bulbs), and (iv) energy- efficient appliances and equipment. Overall, the proposed Project will contribute to reducing greenhouse gas through the distribution of bikes to Project beneficiaries. The use of bikes replaces the use of large Page 37 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) trucks that are traditionally used to transport beneficiaries to and from work sites daily. The switch in the transportation inputs used for the Project results in a smaller carbon footprint with – 649.545 MtCO2eq emissions will have been avoided by the end of the parent Project (see Figure 5). This reduction in emissions is equivalent to avoiding emission from the burning of 322,351 kg of coal or emissions from the consumption of 1,504 barrels of oil. Project-supported activities under the AF, such as roads and community infrastructure may be affected by climate trends, but the team will try to develop measures to mitigate the potential negative impacts of climate trends on such investments. Figure 5: Climate profile of the LONDO Project V. WORLD BANK GRIEVANCE REDRESS 93. Communities and individuals who believe that they are adversely affected by a World Bank (WB) supported project may submit complaints to existing project-level grievance redress mechanisms or the WB’s Grievance Redress Service (GRS). The GRS ensures that complaints received are promptly reviewed to address project-related concerns. Project-affected communities and individuals may submit their complaint to the WB’s independent Inspection Panel which determines whether harm occurred, or could occur, due to non-compliance with WB policies and procedures. Complaints may be submitted at any time after concerns have been brought directly to the World Bank's attention, and Bank Management has been given an opportunity to respond. For information on how to submit complaints to the World Bank’s corporate Grievance Redress Service (GRS), please visit http://www.worldbank.org/en/projects- operations/products-and-services/grievance-redress-service. For information on how to submit complaints to the World Bank Inspection Panel, please visit www.inspectionpanel.org Page 38 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) VI SUMMARY TABLE OF CHANGES Changed Not Changed Project's Development Objectives ✔ Results Framework ✔ Components and Cost ✔ Loan Closing Date(s) ✔ Reallocation between Disbursement Categories ✔ Safeguard Policies Triggered ✔ Implementing Agency ✔ Cancellations Proposed ✔ Disbursements Arrangements ✔ EA category ✔ Legal Covenants ✔ Institutional Arrangements ✔ Financial Management ✔ Procurement ✔ Other Change(s) ✔ VII DETAILED CHANGE(S) PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE Current PDO To provide temporary employment to vulnerable people throughout the entire territory of the country. Proposed New PDO To provide temporary employment to vulnerable people and to facilitate access to basic services throughout the Page 39 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) entire territory of the Recepient, and to provide a response in the case of an eligible crisis or emergency. COMPONENTS Current Component Name Current Cost Action Proposed Component Proposed Cost (US$, (US$, millions) Name millions) Local Governance 3.40 Revised Local Governance 18.20 Public Infrastructure 8.00 Revised Public Infrastructure 63.80 Socio-Economic Integration 5.00 Revised Socio-Economic 21.80 Integration Project Management 3.00 Revised Project Management 12.60 Contingency (3%): to be 0.60 Revised Contingency (3%): to be 3.60 allocated to Components 1, allocated to 2, and 3 Components 1, 2, and 3 0.00 New CERC 0.00 TOTAL 20.00 120.00 LOAN CLOSING DATE(S) Ln/Cr/Tf Status Original Closing Current Proposed Proposed Deadline Closing(s) Closing for Withdrawal Applications IDA-D0800 Effective 31-Dec-2018 30-Sep-2019 30-Jul-2024 30-Nov-2024 REALLOCATION BETWEEN DISBURSEMENT CATEGORIES Financing % Current Allocation Actuals + Committed Proposed Allocation (Type Total) Current Proposed REALLOCATION NEW IDA-D0800-001 | Currency: XDR iLap Category Sequence No: 1 Current Expenditure Category: GD,WK,NCS,CS,OC Pt 1,2,3 7,082,450.29 5,766,955.02 6,749,692.29 100.00 100.00 iLap Category Sequence No: 2 Current Expenditure Category: Stipends for Elig. Benef. Pt 3(a) 3,060,000.00 2,008,709.78 3,060,000.00 100.00 100.00 Page 40 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) iLap Category Sequence No: 3 Current Expenditure Category: GD,WK,NCS,CS,OC Pt 4 3,140,000.00 2,834,986.99 3,472,758.00 100.00 100.00 iLap Category Sequence No: 4 Current Expenditure Category: PPF REFINANCING 1,017,549.71 1,017,549.71 1,017,549.71 Total 14,300,000.00 11,895,719.88 14,300,000.00 Expected Disbursements (in US$) DISBURSTBL Fiscal Year Annual Cumulative 0000 0.00 0.00 2016 1,722,500.00 1,722,500.00 2017 3,866,500.00 5,589,000.00 2018 4,884,000.00 10,473,000.00 2019 6,724,700.00 17,197,700.00 2020 8,850,900.00 26,048,600.00 2021 14,006,300.00 40,054,900.00 2022 17,011,700.00 57,066,600.00 2023 21,522,100.00 78,588,700.00 2024 21,411,300.00 100,000,000.00 SYSTEMATIC OPERATIONS RISK-RATING TOOL (SORT) Risk Category Latest ISR Rating Current Rating Political and Governance ⚫ High ⚫ High Macroeconomic ⚫ Substantial ⚫ Moderate Sector Strategies and Policies ⚫ Moderate ⚫ Moderate Technical Design of Project or Program ⚫ Substantial ⚫ Substantial Institutional Capacity for Implementation and ⚫ High ⚫ High Page 41 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) Sustainability Fiduciary ⚫ High ⚫ High Environment and Social ⚫ Moderate ⚫ Moderate Stakeholders ⚫ Substantial ⚫ Moderate Other Overall ⚫ High ⚫ High Safguard_Table COMPLIANCE Change in Safeguard Policies Triggered Yes Safeguard Policies Triggered Current Proposed Environmental Assessment OP/BP Yes Yes 4.01 Performance Standards for Private No No Sector Activities OP/BP 4.03 Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 No No Forests OP/BP 4.36 No No Pest Management OP 4.09 No No Physical Cultural Resources OP/BP No No 4.11 Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 No No Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP 4.12 No No Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 No No Projects on International Waterways No No OP/BP 7.50 Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP 7.60 No No Page 42 CAR: LONDO “STAND UP” PROJECT (P166943) LEGAL COVENANTS2 LEGAL COVENANTS – CAR: LONDO "Stand Up" Project (P166943) Sections and Description Finance Agreement: Prior to deploying any military or security personnel to protect the Project, the Recipient shall ensure that said personnel are: (i) duly screened to confirm that they have not engaged in past unlawful or abusive behavior, including but not limited gender-based violence or excessive use of force; (ii) adequately instructed and trained, namely on the use of force and appropriate behavior/conduct, all in a manner acceptable to the Association and as further detailed in the PIM; and (iii) deployed in a manner consistent with the national law related to the security of persons and their belongings, including those connected with the Project. Finance Agreement: The Recipient shall promptly review all allegations of unlawful or abusive acts of any military or security personnel deployed to protect Project personnel and property, take action (or urge appropriate parties to take action) to prevent recurrence and, where necessary, report unlawful and abusive acts to the relevant authorities. Finance Agreement: Each year the Recipient shall prepare a draft annual work plan and budget for the Project (including Training and Operating Costs) for each subsequent year of Project implementation, of such scope and detail as the Association shall have reasonably requested (Schedule 2, Section I) Financing Agreement: The Recipient shall furnish to the Association, not later than November 30 of each year, the annual work plans and budgets approved by the monitoring and evaluation unit for the Association’s review and approval; except for the annual work plan and budget for the Project for the first year of Project implementation, which shall be furnished no later than one (1) month after the Effective Date (Schedule 2, Section 2) Conditions Type Description Effectiveness The PIM has been updated in form and substance satisfactory to the Association. Type Description Effectiveness The Service Agreement has been concluded between the Recipient and the Service Provider and is binding according to its terms. Type Description Disbursement Disbursements shall not be made under the CERC, unless it is for an Eligible Crisis or Emergency, such as a natural disaster involving a formal declaration of a national or regional state of emergency, or a formal request from the Recipient in the wake of a disaster. Type Description Disbursement Disbursements will not be made under either category 1, 2, or 3 unless and until all of the financing under the respective category 1, 2 or 3 of the Original Financing has been fully committed or disbursed. Page 43 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) VIII. RESULTS FRAMEWORK AND MONITORING Results Framework COUNTRY: Central African Republic RESULT_NO_PDO CAR: LONDO "Stand Up" Project Project Development Objective(s) To provide temporary employment to vulnerable people and to facilitate access to basic services throughout the entire territory of the Recepient, and to provide a response in the case of an eligible crisis or emergency. Project Development Objective Indicators by Objectives/ Outcomes RESULT_FRAME_T BL_ PD O Indicator Name DLI Baseline End Target Improve access Direct project beneficiaries (Number) 0.00 157,500.00 Action: This indicator has been Revised Female beneficiaries (Percentage) 0.00 40.00 Action: This indicator has been Revised Expand public services Benefitting districts (sous-prefectures) (Number) 0.00 151.00 Action: This indicator has been Revised Page 44 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) RESULT_FRAME_T BL_ PD O Indicator Name DLI Baseline End Target Promote resilience Worked days (men-days) (Days) 0.00 6,220,000.00 Action: This indicator has been Revised PDO Table SPACE Intermediate Results Indicators by Components RESULT_FRAME_T BL_ IO Indicator Name DLI Baseline End Target Local Governance Rapid development assessments (Number) 0.00 151.00 Action: This indicator has been Revised Grievances registered related to delivery of project benefits addressed (%) (Percentage) 0.00 100.00 Action: This indicator has been Revised Regional AGETIP-CAF teams (Number) 0.00 5.00 Action: This indicator has been Revised Public Infrastructure Page 45 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) RESULT_FRAME_T BL_ IO Indicator Name DLI Baseline End Target Road maintenance (Kilometers) 0.00 8,880.00 Action: This indicator has been Revised New or rehabilitated community infrastructures (Number) 0.00 240.00 Action: This indicator is New Infrastructures built via the chantier-école method (Number) 0.00 32.00 Action: This indicator is New Socio-Economic Integration Distribution of stipends (Number) 0.00 895.00 Action: This indicator has been Revised Community maintenance systems (Number) 0.00 71.00 Action: This indicator has been Marked for Deletion Local private firms or NGOs contracted to train beneficiaries on 0.00 80.00 community works (Number) Action: This indicator is New Direct beneficiaries of LIPW (Number) 30,500.00 120,000.00 Action: This indicator is New Page 46 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) RESULT_FRAME_T BL_ IO Indicator Name DLI Baseline End Target Direct beneficiairies of chantiers-écoles (Number) 0.00 2,000.00 Action: This indicator is New IO Table SPACE Monitoring & Evaluation Plan: PDO Indicators Mapped Methodology for Data Responsibility for Data Indicator Name Definition/Description Frequency Datasource Collection Collection Direct beneficiaries are the Signed codes beneficiaries of LIPW Monthly of conduct / Project MIS Project's M&E cell Direct project beneficiaries (120,000) and the contracts beneficiairies of chantiers- écoles (2,000). Based on the assessment and definition of direct project beneficiaries, Female beneficiaries specify what percentage of the beneficiaries are female. A benefitting district is a Every six Lottery sous-préfecture as defined Project MIS MEPC Benefitting districts (sous-prefectures) months records by CAR’s territorial administration law. A worked day is a working Signed day that is paid by the Weekly Project MIS MEPC Worked days (men-days) attendance project to a direct records beneficiary, i.e. the Page 47 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) beneficiary has indeed worked on that day. ME PDO Table SPACE Monitoring & Evaluation Plan: Intermediate Results Indicators Mapped Methodology for Data Responsibility for Data Indicator Name Definition/Description Frequency Datasource Collection Collection A rapid development assessment is a Development standardized data Every six assessment Project MIS MEPC Rapid development assessments collection exercise months database conducted by AGETIP-CAF prior to an intervention in a new benefitting district. This indicator measures the transparency and accountability mechanisms established by the project so the target beneficiaries have trust in the process and are willing to Activity Grievances registered related to delivery Monthly Project MIS MEPC participate, and feel that reports of project benefits addressed (%) their grievances are attended to promptly. It is understood that local sensitivities and tensions will not allow grievance or redress mechanisms to be established in all projects. Regional AGETIP-CAF teams Page 48 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) Road maintenance is the set of activities to improve mobility on existing roads, Monthly Worksite logs Project MIS MEPC Road maintenance including drainage cleaning, vegetation and debris removal, and minor surface repairs. A community infrastructure is an infrastructure eligible for financing under New or rehabilitated community Monthly M&E reports Project MIS M&E cell Component 2 of the infrastructures Project and actually rehabilitated/built by the Project. Every three Infrastructures built via the chantier-école M&E reports Project MIS M&E cell months method A distribution of stipends is the activity of paying Interim stipends to direct Quaterly Financial Project MIS MEPC Distribution of stipends beneficiaries, hence at Reports least two distributions for each cohort. A community maintenance system is the organization put in place at the level of a Activity Community maintenance systems sous-préfecture that MEPCI reports/field Every six months benefits from the transfer visits of tools and technical assistance. Local private firms or NGOs contracted to train beneficiaries on community works Page 49 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) Signed codes Monthly Project MIS Project M&E cell Direct beneficiaries of LIPW of conduct Signed codes of Monthly Project MIS Project M&E Cell Direct beneficiairies of chantiers-écoles conduct/contr acts ME IO Table SPACE Page 50 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) Annex 1: Schematic of the Scale-up CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: LONDO “STAND UP” Project Page 51 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) Annex 2: Implementation Support Plan CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: LONDO “STAND UP” Project Strategy and Approach for Implementation Support 1. Challenges. Implementation support in CAR faces three major challenges: (i) very weak capacity of institutional partners; (ii) a very constrained access to beneficiary population in the hinterlands because of the geography and the infrastructure network; and (iii) an improving but highly volatile security situation. Implementation support must take these three constraints into account and adjust accordingly. 2. Frequent missions. A minimum of four missions per year are required for an effective supervision of this Project. Should in-country missions be suspended during implementation, the TT will organize reverse supervision missions (as was the case in 2013), whereby counterparts and the TT will meet in a location outside CAR, e.g. in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo or Yaounde, Cameroon. In-between missions, monthly progress reports will be submitted to the Bank and systematically followed-up upon with AGETIP-CAF via audio- and video-conference. Ideally, the task team leader (TTL) or an operational team member who can act as back-up or co-TTL, should be based in the field, so that supervision missions can be undertaken frequently and cost-efficiently. 3. Field supervision. The Project’s strong performance depends to a large extent on the task team’s ability to travel to the field and do close implementation support. According to United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS), CAR’s security risk is rated 4 (Substantial) on a scale from 1 to 6 (1 being the lowest risk). This means that most areas require the use of armed escorts, lodging on the MINUSCA base and the use of UN civil (sometimes armored) vehicles. In addition, the timing of missions is almost always dependent on the UNHAS and/or MINUSCA flight schedule and the need to request special or ad hoc flight is frequent. Under the parent Project, the task team was able to undertake missions in fifteen districts, including “hotspots” like Kaga-Bandoro, Bangassou and Birao. Therefore, the TT is now well acquainted with the required procedures and costs associated with such missions (see sample of a field mission in Table 1 below).11 It is further important to note that field missions require adequate preparation time (e.g. 7-day advance notice to request an escort from MINUSCA) and close coordination with the World Bank’s Security Specialist. Table 2.1: Sample Costs of a Field Supervision Mission Type of expense Cost UNHAS regular flight US$150/one way/person Ad hoc UNHAS flight US$300/one way/person UNHAS Special Flight (cost recovery basis) App. US$6700 for a 3hour flight with a Caravan Cesna MINUSCA regular flight US$245/one way/person MINUSCA special flight Full cost recovery Rental of a UN civil car (soft-skin) + driver US$100/day (100km; US$0.79/extra km) Rental of a UN civil car (armored) + driver US$125/day (100km; US$0.79/extra km) 11 E.g. A one-day mission to Bouar (special flight) for a four-World Bank staff delegation undertaken in April 2019 cost around US$8,000. Meanwhile, a three-day mission to Bria for 1 Bank staff costs about US$800. Page 52 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) 4. Corporate Security. The World Bank’s Security Specialist in charge of CAR is a team member and is consulted for each field mission. In addition, modus operandi and regular exchanges between the TT and Corporate Security (in Bangui as well as in Washington, DC) have been developed throughout the implementation of the parent Project to ensure the security and safety of Project team members in Bangui and in the provinces. Corporate Security staff also had an opportunity to travel with the World Bank and Project teams to Kouango, in May 2018, a district that exemplified the very complex environment for World Bank supervision (e.g. no UN vehicle is present in the area, so security protocols must be adapted). 5. MINUSCA support. MINUSCA has a mandate to ensure the safety and security of UN staff and properties, including the World Bank’s as a UN specialized agency. As such, the team has benefited from the services of the UNDSS and the MINUSCA Force. In addition, MINUSCA’s Civil Affairs department and the World Bank signed a dedicated MoU (February 4, 2015) to support the LONDO project. This document, which has no legal or fiduciary implications, signals the willingness of the two institutions to collaborate and support each other for this particular Project. The MoU has been successfully used during the implementation of the parent Project for data-sharing, technical assistance (engineering), transportation, logistics and security support, among others. 6. Collaboration with partners. In addition to the strong collaboration with MINUSCA, the Project team, as well as the World Bank TT have developed strong partnerships with various humanitarian and development actors. In a context where State presence is very limited and NGOs or other development and humanitarian partners are stretched, building partnerships and finding synergies is essential. One particularly successful example is the partnership with UNHAS. Whenever an airstrip exists in the Project’s areas of interventions, LONDO maintains it along with its access roads, thus contributing to facilitating humanitarian access and the redeployment of the State in remote and underserved areas. To date, the LONDO Project has maintained 24 airport access roads and fields and its contribution are accounted for in the UNHAS Annual Report. In turn, the Project is a registered user of UNHAS and regularly uses its flights to conduct rapid assessments and supervision missions. 7. Remote supervision. When circumstances make it impossible for TTs to undertake field supervision in certain areas, other World Bank projects have contracted out a third party to monitor the project. However, third-party monitoring (TPM) is prohibitively expensive (it would cost at least US$5 million for a project like LONDO “Stand Up”, which has many remote sites) and is not appropriate for this Project, since there are many Project areas where it would be just as – if not more – difficult for TPM actors to negotiate access. Therefore, the TT plans instead to use the full potential of GEMS, by integrating its remote supervision capacities into the M&E system of the Project. Members of the central and regional Project teams have already been trained by the World Bank on the use of GEMS. The Project has also piloted the use of Kobo to conduct rapid qualitative surveys in remote areas like Birao. The Project will recruit a GIS technical assistant to help the team digitize the M&E system, so that the weekly results frameworks can be submitted via GEMS and be accompanied with geocoded pictures (e.g. of the community infrastructures). Such system will be complemented by the use of an application like GPS Tracks, which will allow the Project to trace all the roads maintained by the Project. The entire M&E system will therefore allow the accurate and regular remote supervision of the Project as well as the mapping of all interventions. It is important to highlight that the digitized M&E system is not meant to and should not replace but complement physical supervision. Finally, the TT will work with the FCV Group Page 53 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) as well as the Stability, Peace, and Security Global Solutions Group, to design perception surveys that can be incorporated into the M&E system of the Project. Implementation Support Plan 8. To ensure an appropriate level of implementation support to this frontier operation, the TT is composed of World Bank staff who have experience working in fragile environments with elevated security risks, possess solid expertise on the country, and have developed a strong network of partners. Table 2.2: Skills Mix Required for Implementation Support Skills Needed Number of Staff Number of Trips Comments Weeks Task Team 12 per year At least 4 per Overall supervision, coordination with Leader year partners, and focus on results Operations 12 per year At least 4 per Day-to-day problem-solving and Specialist year coordination with the World Bank’s portfolio Procurement 6 per year 2 per year Procurement review and capacity-building Specialist of the Client FM Specialist 6 per year 2 per year Financial management review and capacity-building of the Client ACS Assistant 6 per year As needed to Administrative and operational support in support field country office missions Security Adviser 2 per year As needed to Intelligence, coordination with UNDSS and support field MINUSCA, and oversight of field trips missions M&E Specialist 6 per year 2 per year Technical assistance on GEMS and the overall M&E system, including perception surveys Environmental 6 per year 2 per year Review of safeguards implementation; Safeguards Review of development assessments; Specialist citizen engagement (GRM); and capacity- building of the Client Social 6 per year 2 per year Review of safeguards implementation; Safeguards Review of development assessments; Specialist citizen engagement (GRM); and capacity- building of the Client GBV specialist 6 per year 2 per year Review of the GBV mitigation measures in place and capacity-building of the Client Page 54 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) Annex 3: Implementation Arrangements CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: LONDO “STAND UP” Project Page 55 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) Annex 4: Project Implementation Strategy CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: LONDO “STAND UP” Project Phased implementation Implementation schedule for the LIPW/community works and community infrastructures Implementation schedule for the LIPW/community works and community infrastructures in each district Page 56 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) Annex 5: Deployment Plan (tentative, for the first year of implementation) CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: LONDO “STAND UP” Project Page 57 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) Annex 6: Executive Summary for the PPSD and Procurement Plan Country: Central African Republic LONDO “STAND UP” Project (P166943) 1. Applicable procurement rules and procedures. Procurement of goods, works, and non-consulting and consulting services for the proposed Project will be carried out in accordance with the procedures specified in the Procurement Regulations, dated July 2016 and revised in November 2017 and August 2018; the World Bank’s Guidelines on Preventing and Combating Fraud and Corruption in Projects Financed by IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants (Anti-Corruption Guidelines) revised as of July 1, 2016; and the provisions stipulated in the Financing Agreement. All goods, works, and non-consulting services will be procured in accordance with the requirements set forth or referred to in the Procurement Regulations Section VI, ‘Approved Selection Methods: Goods, Works and Non-Consulting Services’. Consulting Services will be procured in accordance with the requirements set forth or referred to in Section VII, ‘Approved Selection Methods: Consulting Services’ of the Procurement Regulations. Procurement will also be guided by the borrower’s PPSD and simplified PP, approved by the World Bank. 2. Procurement capacity assessment. A procurement capacity assessment has been carried out by the World Bank and recognizes that the national Agency AGETIP-CAF is familiar with the World Bank’s guidelines, procedures, and procurement documents, and has gained enough capacity to be responsible for the procurement for the Project, on behalf of the MEPC. The agency is well staffed, and a new procurement specialist will be recruited to support the dedicated senior expert to carry out procurement for the proposed AF. The LONDO implementing team has acquired hands-on procurement experience managing the Parent project, while AGETIP-CAF currently manages other World Bank-financed projects. The LONDO Project Coordination Team within AGETIP-CAF comprises of five (5) mobile regional coordination teams with experienced technical experts who are under the supervision of the LONDO National Coordination and deployed into districts according to the deployment plan of the Project. In addition, considering the critical priority to provide greater impact on the ground for this AF, AGETIP-CAF will benefit from Hands-on-Expanded Implementation Support, as well as World Bank procurement training and guidance on the NPF flexibility, contract management, and STEP, to ensure clean procurement transactions and timely project implementation. 3. PIM. The PIM for the AF will be an updated version of the parent Project’s PIM. It will continue to define the Project’s internal organization and its implementation procedures and will include (a) the internal organizational and institutional arrangements for the proposed AF; (b) the unified administrative and financial manual, which defines procedures for procurement, FM, and disbursement operational guidelines; and (c) the internal organization for supervision, control, monitoring, and safeguards procedures. 4. STEP. The project will use STEP, the World Bank’s planning and tracking system, which will provide data on procurement activities, establish benchmarks, monitor delays, and measure procurement performance. The first 18 months PP shall be reviewed and cleared by the World Bank through STEP. This PP shall be updated at least annually. All procurement to be carried out under the Project shall be included in the PP, with previous World Bank clearance. Page 58 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) 5. Record-keeping. All records pertaining to award of tenders, including bid notification; register pertaining to sale and receipt of bids; bid opening minutes; bid evaluation reports; and all correspondence pertaining to bid evaluation, communication sent to/with the World Bank in the process, bid securities, and approval of invitation/evaluation of bids will be retained by the respective agencies and uploaded in STEP. For contracts awarded by post review mode, a review shall be carried out independently on a sample basis or included as part of the Terms of Reference (TOR) for internal audits (which will include the physical verification of community infrastructure/goods procured, process followed, record keeping, and appropriate sign off, as per the process laid down for the beneficiaries). 6. Disclosure of procurement information. The following documents shall be disclosed on the Project’s website: (a) PP and updates; (b) invitation for initial selection application/proposals/bids for goods and works and non-consulting services for all contracts; (c) Request for Expression of Interest for selection/hiring of consulting services; and (d) contract awards of goods, works, and non‐consulting and consulting services. 7. Complaints handling. For procurement‐related complaints, the project will follow the procedure prescribed in the Procurement Regulations (paragraphs 3.26 and 3.31). The Project’s existing GRM will be used to address complaints from bidders, contractors, suppliers, consultants, and the public at large. 8. Fiduciary oversight and procurement review by the World Bank. The World Bank shall do a prior review of contracts according to prior review thresholds set in the PP. All contracts not covered under prior review by the World Bank shall be subject to post review during implementation support missions and/or special post-review missions, including missions by consultants hired by the World Bank. The Project Coordination Team shall be responsible for providing the consolidated list of contracts for carrying out the annual procurement post review. Procurement post-review shall be carried out by the World Bank’s Procurement Specialist or a World Bank-appointed consultant. The sample size shall be specified in the Terms of Reference (ToR). The World Bank may conduct, at any time, independent procurement reviews of all the contracts financed under the Grant. 9. Frequency of procurement supervision. In addition to the prior review to be carried out by the World Bank, supervision missions will be undertaken at least once per year. One in five procurement packages not subject to World Bank prior review will be examined ex-post on an annual basis. 10. Contract management capability. The major consultancy contracts are awarded by the LONDO Project Coordination Team. Being the nodal agency, the LONDO Project Coordination Team is overall responsible for the compliance to the agreed procurement procedures and processes, and shall monitor the contractual performance including contract management issues, if any. 11. PPSD executive summary. The PPSD for the project has been prepared by the LONDO team within AGETIP-CAF during project preparation and is summarized in the following paragraphs. 12. Market analysis. Owing to the economic conditions and general instability of the country, the possibility of attracting large reputable international companies to bid is limited. However, communicating and consulting with reputable bidders, suppliers, and consultants will be important in attracting foreign competition. National advertisement will be the preferred approach for the tactical and Page 59 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) critical contracts to achieve fit-for-purpose results. The LIPW will continue to be performed by a force account approach to take advantage of AGETIP-CAF’s experience and lessons learned from the parent Project. The supply positioning will be aimed at determining the three main programs that will be developed through components of the proposed AF. 13. Key procurement under the project. The total financing of the proposed project is US$100 million, of which tactical and critical activities are estimated at US$53 million representing 53 percent of the total financing. These contracts comprise procurement of (a) goods (bicycles, and tools) (US$6 million), (b) small basic infrastructures (US$1 million); (d) Public Infrastructure Works rehabilitation and/or construction (public schools, administrative buildings, public parcs etc.) (US14 million). Table 6.1 is the key procurement contract table. Table 6.1. Key procurement under the Project Tactical and critical Type of Procurement Contracts (US$, millions) LIPW works (US 14 million) cash for work program consisting in cleaning 14 of gutters, dredging, fixing of potholes etc. for 120 000 beneficiairies Goods (bicycles, and tools large stocks of small goods (picks, 6 wheelbarrows, hoes, mattocks, rakes, safety materials, etc..) acquisition (packages to support the implementation of the LIPW program) Public Infrastructure Works rehabilitation and/or construction (public 14 schools, administrative buildings, public parcs Execution priority program in local communities (small basic 1 infrastructure rehabilitation or construction with local materials and executing by small local artisans) Total 55 14. Procurement risks analysis and mitigation measures. The PPSD identified major inherent risks and recommended mitigating measures and actions to correct procurement deficiencies that may affect the implementation of the Project. This table is shown and highlighted in the PPSD document. 15. PP for the project. Based on the analysis of the PPSD, a comprehensive draft of the PP had been prepared to take in account all major activities and packaging related to the proposed AF. In accordance with paragraph 5.9 of the Procurement Regulations, the World Bank’s STEP system will be used to prepare, clear, and update PPs and conduct all procurement transactions for the proposed Project. 16. This textual part and the procurement tables in STEP constitute the PP for the proposed project. The following conditions apply to all procurement activities in the PP. The other elements of the PP, as required under paragraph 4.4 of the Procurement Regulations, are set forth in STEP. 17. The World Bank’s standard procurement documents. For each procurement arrangement subject to international competitive procurement, the LONDO Project team shall be use the applicable World Bank’s standard documents in their latest version, as specified in the PP tables in STEP. 18. National procurement arrangements. In accordance with paragraph 5.3 of the Procurement Regulations, when approaching the national market (as specified in the PP tables in STEP), CAR’s own procurement procedures may be used. Page 60 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) • When the borrower uses its own national open competitive procurement arrangements as set forth in ‘Code des Marchés Publics’, such arrangements shall be subject to paragraph 5.4 of the Procurement Regulations. • When national procurement arrangements other than national open competitive procurement arrangements are applied by the borrowers, such arrangements shall be subject to paragraph 5.5 of the Procurement Regulations. 19. Procurement prior review thresholds. The PP shall set forth contracts, which shall be subject to the World Bank’s prior review for high-risk environment as shown in Table 6.2. Table 6.2. Thresholds for Prior Procurement Review High Risk (US$, Type of Procurement millions) Works (turnkey, supply and installation of plant 5 and equipment, and PPP) Goods, information technology, and non- 1.5 consulting services Consultants: Firms 0.5 Consultants: Individuals 0.2 20. PP Table. The PP includes for each contract (a) a brief description of the activities/contracts, (b) the selection methods to be applied, (c) the cost estimates, (d) time schedule. The PP will be updated by the LONDO Project Team at least on an annual or on a as-needed basis to reflect actual project implementation needs and will be submitted to the World Bank’s no-objection, and the PPSD will be updated accordingly. The PP for the Project’s main activities that are derived from the PPSD is set as listed in Table 6.3. Table 6.3. Procurement activities planned under the Project Cost Estimate Starting Label Activity Description Method (US$, millions) Date 1 Works 28.6 1.1 LIPW program consisting in small works 14 Force account 08/2019 (cleaning of gutters, dredging, fixing of /Cash for work potholes) to benefit from 120 000 with Manpower manpowers in the whole country in the active population 1.2 Suppliers/small contractors/Local NGO/ 14 RFB/FRQ/UN 09/2019 UN agencies selection for the agencies rehabilitation of public infrastructures in different districts 1.3 Execution of the repairing, rehabilitation 0.6 01/2020 or construction of basic Infrastructures in very small localities with local materials and Artisan Page 61 The World Bank CAR: LONDO + (P166943) Cost Estimate Starting Label Activity Description Method (US$, millions) Date 2 Goods and non-consulting Services 6.76 2.1 Equipment (Tools Health safety set, 18 RFQ/AON 09/2019 transport (bicycle) acquisition for the LIPW works for manpower’s and for the execution of LIPW program (multiple packages) 2.2 Vehicles (Pick-up, trucks, motor bicycles 6 RFQ/AON 06/2019 etc.) devoted to regional supervisors for the management and supervision of the LPW program (multiple packages) 2.3 Goods, local materials acquisitions for 0.4 RFQ 08/2019 the execution of basic infrastructures work in small communities (Group of small contracts) 2.4 Accessories and equipment (Computers 0.36 RFQ 06/2019 acquisition to renew and replace outdated ones) 3 Consulting services 0.34 3.1 Consultancy for training assistance 0.08 QC 06/2019 concerning the SUCCESS Software management (SUCCESS) and distribution supervision and control 3.2 Consultancy for the financial audit of 0.06 SFQC 10/2019 the project 3.3 Selection of various expert Consultants 0.2 SCI 06/2019 to reinforce the AGETIP-CAF coordination team Total (PP) 53.7 Operating Cost 2.3 (Salary, Internet, communication, workshops, various operational spending cost, and so on) Total Budget (PP + Operating Cost) 56 Note: DS: Direct Selection; RFB: Request for Bids; SCI: Selection of Individual Consultants; CQS: Selection Based on Consultants Qualifications. 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