The World Bank Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project - Additional Financing (P177674) Additional Financing Appraisal Environmental and Social Review Summary Appraisal Stage (AF ESRS Appraisal Stage) Public Disclosure Date Prepared/Updated: 01/14/2022 | Report No: ESRSAFA250 Jan 20, 2022 Page 1 of 14 The World Bank Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project - Additional Financing (P177674) BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data Country Region Borrower(s) Implementing Agency(ies) Fiji EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC Republic of Fiji Ministry of Economy Project ID Project Name P177674 Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project - Additional Financing Parent Project ID (if any) Parent Project Name P175206 Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project Practice Area (Lead) Financing Instrument Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Social Protection & Jobs Investment Project 1/26/2022 4/5/2022 Financing Public Disclosure Proposed Development Objective To mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the income of the unemployed and underemployed, and to increase efficiency and adaptability of the social protection system. Financing (in USD Million) Amount Current Financing 50.00 Proposed Additional Financing 50.00 Total Proposed Financing 100.00 B. Is the project being prepared in a Situation of Urgent Need of Assistance or Capacity Constraints, as per Bank IPF Policy, para. 12? Yes C. Summary Description of Proposed Project [including overview of Country, Sectoral & Institutional Contexts and Relationship to CPF] The proposed AF in the amount of US$50 million equivalent will expand the parent project’s scope from the formal to the informal sector in Fiji and complement the benefit provision with activation and employment support measures. Jan 20, 2022 Page 2 of 14 The World Bank Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project - Additional Financing (P177674) The AF will support (a) cash transfers to individuals who have lost their employment or livelihoods in both formal and informal sectors because of the COVID-19 pandemic, (b) temporary employment programs building on the Government’s Jobs for Nature initiative that has been introduced as part of the emergency package, and (c) TA and capacity-building activities to enable the Government to effectively deliver these programs. Activities of (a) and (b) under the AF will be added as new components. Component 3: Unemployment Assistance (US$40 million). This component will support conditional cash transfers to individuals who lost their jobs or livelihoods in formal and informal sectors because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible beneficiaries are those unemployed in the formal sector with insufficient FNPF General Account balances across Fiji or those affected in the informal sector in Viti Levu, Fiji’s largest island with almost all of the COVID-19 cases reported. The program eligibility is narrowed down to Viti Levu since business closures and movement restrictions emanating from the COVID-19 crisis have almost exclusively affected employment and earnings opportunities there. The UA provides FJD 120 per month for six months, from August 2021 to January 2022, to eligible beneficiaries. The cash payments were transferred in two rounds: (a) the first payment of FJD 360 was made in August 2021 to cater for the three-month period ending in October 2021 to eligible Fijians who opted to register for the program and received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination by August 27, 2021 and (b) the second payment of FJD 360 was paid out in November to cater for the three months ending January 2022 to eligible Fijians who are fully vaccinated by October 31, 2021. To support the effective delivery of social protection programs, including those supported under Components 3 and 4, the project will support additional activities under Component 2 Institutional Strengthening, including (a) provisions Public Disclosure for TA for trainings to community groups participating in Jobs for Nature 2.0 on key technical and basic skills, and (b) provision of TA for the development of an economic inclusion framework comprising a bundle of coordinated interventions and tailored support, standard operating procedure (SOP) and information system investments to build effective links between beneficiaries of the Unemployment Assistance program (financed under Component 3) and social assistance programs (such as the Poverty Benefit Scheme) to ensure that vulnerable beneficiaries of social assistance and unemployment support programs are prioritized for employment in these activities. In alignment with the Adaptive Social Protection Strategy under the parent project, Component 2 will also help summarize the lessons learned from the Unemployment Assistance implementation (e.g., efficiency, effectiveness, and inclusiveness of the digital registration and delivery mechanisms) that informs the design of the future emergency cash transfers programs. D. Environmental and Social Overview D.1. Detailed project location(s) and salient physical characteristics relevant to the E&S assessment [geographic, environmental, social] The Republic of Fiji is a small island nation that is nevertheless home to one of the most sophisticated economies among the Pacific Islands. The country has an estimated population of 895,000, distributed across an area of 18,000 km spread over 330 islands, of which about 110 are inhabited. The majority of the population lives on two large islands, Viti Levu (over 70 percent of the total population) and Vanua Levu. Although Fiji is one of the most remote countries in the world, it is a regional hub for Pacific Island states and plays a major role in services in the region. Jan 20, 2022 Page 3 of 14 The World Bank Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project - Additional Financing (P177674) As a result of its economic prosperity, Fiji has one of the lowest rates of extreme poverty and inequality in the Pacific. The economy is the second largest in the Pacific after Papua New Guinea, and the most industrially advanced, with substantial services and manufacturing sectors. Unlike many other Pacific Island nations, it has developed a major tourism industry, which attracts over 750,000 tourists a year and contributes about 38 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The latest available data (from 2013) shows that just 1.4 percent of people in Fiji lived in extreme poverty, or under the US$1.90 per day international poverty line. Fiji is facing economic headwinds as a result of the double crisis of Cyclones Winston in 2016 and Harold in 2020, and the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fiji’s has suffered frequent natural disasters; the country’s vulnerability to climate change has caused estimated loss of 2.5 percent of GDP every year (World Bank 2017). The COVID-19 pandemic has been a further blow. The economic impact of the pandemic has been devastating. The tourism industry is at a virtual standstill and the Government expects the economic contraction to be 21.7 percent of GDP and a rise in Cash Transfer to 27 percent, the most severe contraction in Fiji’s history. The recession’s impact is likely exacerbated by declining remittances, with 24 percent of the bottom quintile indicating that they receive remittances (World Bank 2020). The pandemic’s impact will severely impact the 20 percent of households with livelihoods directly linked to the tourism and hospitality sectors (data as of 2013), the recession will also impact household indirectly associated to the sector. This Environmental and Social Review Summary is focused on the Additional Financing (the Project) of the parent project of Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project. The AF Project Development Objective (PDO) remains unchanged. The PDO is to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the income of the Public Disclosure unemployed and underemployed, and to increase efficiency and adaptability of the social protection system. The proposed project is aligned with the WBG’s COVID-19 Crisis Response Approach Paper and its strategic objectives. The Project will add a Component 3 - Unemployment Assistance to the parent project, which will retroactively finance cash transfers of FJD 120 per month that were paid directly by the Government of Fiji over a period of six months from August 2021 to January 2022. All (100%) of funding for this component is retroactive. No future payments will be made. No construction/civil works were involved. Another new component added is Component 4 Supporting employment opportunities. The objective of Component 4 is to promote employment opportunities for vulnerable Fijians residing in rural areas through community-led interventions aimed at protection, restoration and rehabilitation of natural resources building on the government’s original Jobs for Nature initiative, the World bank funded scheme will be called ‘Jobs for Nature 2.0’. To achieve this objective, the component will finance the labor costs related to the implementation of small grants (up to FJD 30 thousand) by village cooperatives selected by MOWE and MOE based on a transparent Expression of Interest process and to be paid to community members in relation to the implementation of eligible activities. A preliminary list of activities that the cooperatives will carry out includes (a) wetlands protection: mangrove planting, seagrass planting, restoring waterways, waste and wastewater management; (b) riverbank rehabilitation and coastal bank protection: mangrove planting, vetiver grass planting; and (c) enhancing biodiversity: forest restoration, land degradation through native tree planting, coral reef protection. Labor costs will be provided for pre-identified job profiles to be carried out under public works, including low-skilled physical labor, administrative tasks, transportation, care provision for children of female workers. There are potentially moderate environmental and social impacts envisaged related to the small works. Jan 20, 2022 Page 4 of 14 The World Bank Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project - Additional Financing (P177674) In addition to the newly added component 3 and 4, the AF will also include additional technical assistance activities under the Component 2 of the parent project, which mainly include development of training materials, standard operation procedures and information system. D. 2. Borrower’s Institutional Capacity The project institutional and implementation arrangements will remain the same as the parent project. Implementation will continue to be led by MOE working in close partnership with all implementing agencies involved and overseen by a Steering Committee (SC). The parent project SC comprised multiple institutions with the Ministry of Economy (MOE) as the leading implementation agency, and a Project Management Unit (PMU) joined by other implementation partners, including the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation (MWCPA), Ministry of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations (MEPIR), National Employment Centre (NEC), Ministry of Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport (MCTTT). In order to support the effective implementation of the new components, the inter-agency arrangement will be expanded by updating the MOU and SC composition to also involve representatives from the four new agencies involved in implementation: Ministry of Communications (MOC), Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MOHMS), Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS), Tertiary Scholarship and Loans Board (TSLB) as well as private sector stakeholders from the telecommunications sector involved in registration and cash transfer payments (Vodafone, Digicel). This arrangement will continue helping harmonize and coordinate implementation of activities across various agencies. The SC will address the cross-institutional nature of the project. It is led by the Permanent Secretary of MOE and consist of the heads of implementation partners and representatives from the private sector. The SC provides policy Public Disclosure direction and guidance, facilitates the coordination among various agencies and programs, and helps address the bottlenecks for project implementation. They meet regularly to discuss the policy and implementation issues and carry out field visits as necessary. The MOE will take the overall responsibility for the project implementation and coordination and have established a Project Management Unit (PMU) as part of the parent Project. The PMU will be responsible for the day-to-day work on project management, coordination, financial management, procurement, monitoring and reporting, and environmental and social (E&S) risk management. The MOE has assigned a project director and other key positions from relevant business units and other implementation partners can nominate technical coordinators to join the PMU. The PMU currently has one Environmental and Social Specialist who oversees coordination and implementation of commitments as per the Environment and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP); one designated Environmental and Social officer from the Climate Change Department. Under the Parent project, this institutional arrangement appears to be functioning well noting that the PMU Environmental and Social Specialist only commenced work in November of 2021. Fiji has relatively strong institutions and a reputation for a disciplined and well-educated civil service and pays for about 80 percent of its spending out of tax revenue. Fiji has recruited domestic and international experts to the public service on performance contracts and paid for them without donor support. According to traditional global indicators of governance, Fiji ranks relatively high on political stability and control of corruption. It has also shown it can develop and put in place significant reforms quickly when necessary and can adopt appropriate policies for the country. Nonetheless, MOE and the implementation partners are new to World Bank IPF projects and not familiar with the World Bank project policies and procedures including the Environment and Social Framework (ESF). In view of the diverse technical and implementation capacity of the implementation partners, the risk of project implementation is Jan 20, 2022 Page 5 of 14 The World Bank Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project - Additional Financing (P177674) considered substantial. The PMU will help mitigate the risk by maintaining key positions and allocating adequate time on project management. The SC will oversee the project implementation and address bottleneck issues. The World Bank Task Team will provide implementation support to the PMU, MOE and other implementation partners. Capacity building for PMU staff will be carried out throughout the project implementation on environmental and social risk management. II. SUMMARY OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL (ES) RISKS AND IMPACTS A. Environmental and Social Risk Classification (ESRC) Moderate Environmental Risk Rating Moderate The environmental risks of this AF are considered as Moderate; the parent project was also Moderate risk. The environmental risk rating is mainly related to the new Component 4 Supporting employment opportunities for green, resilient, and inclusive growth. This component will provide small grants to support small work activities implemented by village cooperatives selected by MOWE and MOE. These activities generally fall into three types: (1) wetlands protection: mangrove planting, seagrass planting, restoring waterways, waste and wastewater management; (2) riverbank rehabilitation and coastal bank protection: mangrove planting, vetiver grass planting; and (3) enhancing biodiversity: forest restoration, land degradation through native tree planting, coral reef protection. These activities themselves are environmental protection and enhancement interventions, with inherent positive environmental benefits as objectives and outputs. The potential environmental risks of this component would mainly include environmental sensitivities of sub-projects sites, risk of seedlings introducing Public Disclosure pests/disease/invasive species, and plantation/rehabilitation related impacts such as dust, noise, waste management, soil erosion, surface vegetation damage, habitats disturbance, worker’s safety and health, traffic disturbance and community safety, cultural heritage protection and chance-find procedures etc. It is envisaged that these community-driven subprojects will all be small works with the objective of environment protection and restoration. Through proper criteria to exclude high or substantial risks (e.g. due to sensitive locations), the potential environmental risks and impacts of such activities would be low to moderate. The temporary plantation and rehabilitation related environmental impacts are short-term, site specific and in small scale, which could be avoided, minimized or mitigated through good management practice and well-known mitigation measures (e.g. a set of generic measures as ESCOP). The new Component 3: Unemployment Assistance will provide cash payment to those unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no physical/civil works involved. It is envisaged that there is no environmental risks and impacts for this component. The additional technical assistance and capacity building under Component 2 will be capacity building and training activities for beneficiary identification, selection, eligibility verification, management of beneficiaries, effective service provision, fiduciary oversight, grievance redress mechanism, and monitoring and evaluation etc. These TA activities do not include activities that support the preparation of future investment projects (Type 1 TA as per Bank’s Advisory Note: Technical Assistance and the Environmental and Social Framework), or support the formulation of policies, programs, plans, strategies or legal frameworks (Type 2). They are all Type 3 capacity strengthening activities. There is no civil works/construction involved in these TA. There are no direct or downstream indirect environmental risks/impacts envisaged for these TA activities. Social Risk Rating Moderate Jan 20, 2022 Page 6 of 14 The World Bank Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project - Additional Financing (P177674) The social risks of this AF are considered Moderate; the parent project was also Moderate risk. The AF is expected to have immediate and medium term positive social impacts for the Fijian working population and dependents; including vulnerable and marginalized groups participating in the formal and informal labor market. Social risks and impacts are expected to be predictable and readily managed. Component 3: Unemployment Assistance provided cash payment to those unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A social audit was conducted as part of the project's ESMF. The social audit investigated (i) potential exclusion of targeted beneficiaries due to vaccine status, marginalization or vulnerability (i.e. poor, elderly, young, gender identity, disability or other potential barriers to participation); (ii) working conditions and protections for workers including occupational health and safety, (iii) potential exacerbation of GBV and SEA-SH as a result of employment assistance, (iv) information dissemination, consultation and grievance redress mechanisms, and (v) personal data security. The social audit finds the unemployment assistance provides significant benefits, particularly to the vulnerable and unemployed. The audit recommendations will be integrated into the Component 3 Cash Assistance Operations Manual and recommendations for systems improvements integrated into proposed technical assistance under Component 2. The Component 4: Employment Support will support small works sub-projects conducted by ‘Village Cooperatives’ aimed at the protection and restoration of the natural environment. Social risks and impacts include: (i) capacity and reputational risks associated with the village cooperatives; (ii) access, information and consultation; the risk that Jobs for Nature 2.0 is not widely accessible, (iii) access to benefits and elite capture: potential for exclusion of community members along the lines of age, gender and other criteria or elite capture of benefits through nepotism or informal soliciting of funds or bribes from prospective participants, (iv) inappropriate land use; the risk that sub- project activities are not adequately screened and occur on disputed land or an involuntary basis causing physical or economic displacement or land restrictions on a temporary or permanent basis, (v) lack of protections for workers; Public Disclosure poor OHS and incidents of SEA-SH perpetrated by workers against each other or towards members of the community, (vi) the risk that child workers participate in activities. These risks are addressed through guidance for screening, mitigation and monitoring within the ESMF and ESCOP, labor and working conditions set out within the LMP and the SEP. Additional technical assistance and capacity building under Component 2 of the parent project will include capacity building and training activities for beneficiary identification, selection, eligibility verification, management of beneficiaries, effective service provision, fiduciary oversight, grievance redress mechanism, and monitoring and evaluation etc. All TA activities will be screened for social risks and impacts as per the parent project ESCP; the same commitment is reflected in the AF ESCP. Project activities were screened using the World Bank SEA/SH social protection tool. The project-related SEA/SH risk rating is low. The risks associated with SEA-SH and increased gender-based violence as a direct or indirect impact of participation in the project is considered within the Project design, ESMF, LMP and SEP. Sexual Exploitation and Abuse/Sexual Harassment (SEA/SH) Risk Rating Low The project was screened using the World Bank Social Protection SEA/SH Risk screening tool. The AF is classified as low risk. Appropriate mitigation measures, namely introduction of a worker code of conduct within the project LMP and commitments within the ESCP, have been included as part of the project environmental and social instrument preparation. The included mitigation measures are commensurate with a low SEA-SH risk rating. B. Environment and Social Standards (ESSs) that Apply to the Activities Being Considered B.1. General Assessment ESS1 Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts Jan 20, 2022 Page 7 of 14 The World Bank Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project - Additional Financing (P177674) Overview of the relevance of the Standard for the Project: ESS1 is relevant to the AF project. The AF project will have positive environmental and social benefits built in the project activities, i.e. significant positive environmental benefits through support to the environmental protection and enhancement subprojects by village cooperatives, and significant social benefits through direct financial support to vulnerable groups who lost jobs or livelihood in formal and informal sectors because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Potential adverse environmental and social impacts envisaged during the implementation of the AF project activities include: Component 3: Unemployment Assistance. MoE conducted a Social Audit (audit) of Component 3 to assess the scope of activities against the requirements of WG Environment and Social Framework (ESF). The ESF standards found to be most relevant include: ESS1 (Assessment and Management of Environmental Risks and Impacts), ESS2 (Labor and Working Conditions), ESS4 Community Health and Safety and ESS10 (Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure). The issue of protection of personal data was also considered. Methodologies to prepare the audit include review of GoF reports, media releases, and information available their websites and social media platforms including facebook; information provided by Vodafone and Digicel in response to questions; publicly available information in the media, websites and social media platforms; and consultations with relevant GoF personnel in relevant agencies, especially the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Health. Given movement restrictions in place during the preparation of the social audit, other participatory means such as consultations with people from the public were not possible. The social audit finds the unemployment assistance provides significant benefits, particularly to the vulnerable and unemployed. The audit also recommends further assessment and systems Public Disclosure improvements, especially with respect to monitoring and evaluation, ensuring equitable participation and information communication for disadvantaged and vulnerable people. The audit recommendations will be integrated into the Component 3 Cash Assistance Operations Manual and recommendations for systems improvements integrated into proposed technical assistance under Component 2. The Cash Assistance Operations Manual will be finalized and adopted by MOE following appraisal and during implementation. The Manual will detail guiding principles and procedures on eligibility criteria, verification of beneficiaries, payment, grievance redress mechanism (GRM), personal data protection and other administrative, financial, technical, organizational arrangements and procedures necessary for the implementation of the cash transfers. The MOE, Vodafone and Digicel will amend the agreement with terms and conditions approved by the World Bank, to reflect the respective roles and responsibilities in relate to the cash assistance in accordance with the provisions of the World Bank’s Anti-Corruption Guidelines applicable to Recipients of IDA proceeds. The execution of the amendment to the Agreement and the adoption of the Manual will be disbursement conditions to be met prior to withdrawal of funds allocated for the cash assistance category. Component 4: Employment Support. The potential environmental and social risks and impacts include potential environmental and socially sensitive sites involved; risk of seddlings introducting pests/disease/invasive species; and plantation/rehabilitation related impacts such as dust, noise, waste management, soil erosion, surface vegetation damage, habitats disturbance, worker’s safety and health, traffic disturbance and community safety, capacity and reputational risks associated with the village cooperatives, lack of information and consultation, barriers to inclusion and/or elite capture of benefits, inappropriate land use, lack of protections for workers including SEA-SH perpetrated by workers against each other or towards members of the community, the risk that child workers participate in activities, and destruction of cultural heritage. Jan 20, 2022 Page 8 of 14 The World Bank Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project - Additional Financing (P177674) Though the activities supported by this component are all environmental protection works in nature, potentially high risks may exist if such activities are implemented in highly sensitive environmental sites (e.g. protected area, critical natural habitats etc.) or if significant social risks/impacts are involved (e.g. involuntary land acquisition and resettlement). An exclusion criteria is therefore established as part of the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) to exclude all the activities that could have potentially “high” or “substantial” risks. For example, projects that would result in physical and/or economic displace would not be eligible. For the eligible “moderate” and “low” risk subprojects, it is expected that the plantation and rehabilitation related impacts would be temporary, site specific and small scale. Such impacts are commonly known for small works which can be clearly identified and readily avoided, minimized or mitigated through good management practice and well-known mitigation measures. A set of generic environmental and social measures is developed as part of the Environmental and Social Code of Practice (ESCOP) which is part of the ESMF. The ESCOP will be incorporated into the agreements/contracts with village cooperatives for implementation. The ESCOP will screen out high risk activities as well as establish inclusive and safe working conditions for participants and community members. (3) The additional technical assistance activities under Component 2 include capacity building and training activities for beneficiary identification, selection, eligibility verification, management of beneficiaries, effective service provision, fiduciary oversight, grievance redress mechanism, and monitoring and evaluation etc. Specifically, these activities mainly include development of training materials, standard operation procedures and information system. They are all Type 3 capacity strengthening activities. There is no civil works/construction involved in these TA. There are no direct or downstream indirect environmental or social risks/impacts envisaged for these TA activities. Public Disclosure ESS10 Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure ESS10 is relevant to the Project. The parent project stakeholder engagement plan (SEP) was updated to include proposed activities introduced as part of the AF (Component 3 and 4). The project recognizes the need for effective, inclusive and ongoing engagement with project stakeholders including targeted beneficiaries and the general public. The Project will continue to utilize the existing communications strategy and platforms developed by the MOE and implementing agencies; however additional stakeholder engagement activities and platforms will be identified for Component 4 Unemployment Assistance once the component design is finalized as part of the Unemployment Assistance Operations Manual. The SEP covers project activities, identifies and analyses key stakeholders (i.e., affected parties, other interested parties and disadvantaged and vulnerable groups) and describes the process and modalities for sharing information on the project activities, incorporating stakeholder feedback into component designs and reporting and disclosure of project documents. The ongoing and future stakeholder engagement activities outlined in the SEP include different modes of communication to reach vulnerable groups, including people with special needs. The SEP also states that ethnically and culturally sensitive communication approaches should be developed as needed. The SEP includes the existing grievance mechanism being utilized by the project to enable stakeholders to Jan 20, 2022 Page 9 of 14 The World Bank Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project - Additional Financing (P177674) raise project related concerns and grievances; as well as details to be updated for Component 4. The MOE will update the SEP during project implementation and prior to commencement of activities for Component 4. The project GM will ensure core elements are in place to enable affected people and the project workforce to raise concerns and complaints - including adequately trained staff with GM responsibilities, community awareness tools, grievance lodgment tools, and investigation and feedback processes. B.2. Specific Risks and Impacts A brief description of the potential environmental and social risks and impacts relevant to the Project. ESS2 Labor and Working Conditions ESS2 is relevant to the Project. A Labor Management Procedure (LMP) was designed for parent project in December of 2020. The LMP was updated in preparation of this AF to include activities introduced under components 3 and 4 and will be further updated during implementation by MOE to reflect detailed designs and plans to be prepared and finalized for Component 4; Jobs for Nature 2.0 scheme. At the time of updating the LMP during preparation of the AF, the operations manual for component 4 had not been initiated and hence, it was not possible to capture the details in this LMP, including exact number of workers, project worker redress mechanism details and so forth. Public Disclosure The project workforce includes two categories of worker: i) Direct Workers: including government staff assigned to the project and consultants engaged directly by the MOE as part of the PMU; and ii) Contracted Workers: staff engaged through the FNPF as part of Component 1; a Technical Advisory consultancy firm as part of Component 2; staff employed under Component 3 Unemployment Assistance; and Component 4; Village Cooperatives and employees whom are also classified as contracted workers to deliver upon Jobs for Nature 2.0. The ESS2 requirements associated with and community and primary supply workers are not relevant for the project. Fiji has a comprehensive legislative framework governing labor and working conditions. At the international level, Fiji has ratified 38 ILO Conventions, which is more than any other country in the Pacific. The project’s LMP assessed that Fiji’s labor legislation is comprehensive and sufficiently covers the issues relating to this Project including: i) working conditions and management of worker relationships, ii) protecting the workforce, iii) grievance mechanism, iv) occupation health and safety and v) contracted workers. The LMP outlines that children under the age of 18 will not be allowed to work on the project and the use of forced labor or conscripted labor on the project is also prohibited. Guidance for the Code of Conduct (CoC) for direct workers and contracted workers is included as an annex to the LMP and will be developed for project workers as part of the ESMF implementation to mitigate against the risk of SEA-SH incidents between workers, workers and the public. The CoC will be approved by the Bank as part of the Environmental and Social Code of Practice (ESCOP) finalization; which will occur prior to implementation of Component 4 activities; as reflected within the project ESCP. The ESCP commits the project to updating the LMP once detailed designs for Component 4 - Unemployment Assistance – are finalized. Jan 20, 2022 Page 10 of 14 The World Bank Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project - Additional Financing (P177674) ESS3 Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention and Management ESS3 is relevant to the AF project. The small environmental protection subprojects under component 4 will include small scale earth/civil works which will have potential pollution impacts through generation of wastewater, solid waste, noise and dust nuisance, and implications of resource use such as construction materials. Given the nature of component 4 activities are all small scale environmental protection and enhancement activities, the pollution and resource efficiency impacts would be small and can be easily predicted, and readily avoided, minimized and mitigated through the generic measures in the ESCOP of the ESMF. The plantation and rehabilitation works will also have the risk of seddlings introducting pests/disease/invasive species. Such risks are incorporated into the ESMF in terms of exclusion criteria, and ESCOP measures. The TA activities may include procurement of office equipment (computers, printers, routers etc.) which may have the implication of e-waste generation after these equipment retire. In this regard, an E-waste Management Plan has been developed by PMO under the parent project, which has set up the management system and procedures to track the use of electronic equipment procured under the World Bank project through their lifespans from procurement to final disposal. The same system will continue to be applied for the AF project. Public Disclosure ESS4 Community Health and Safety ESS4 is relevant to the AF project. The small civil works under Component 4 will have potential community health and safety risks, including the safety risks for activities near communities, traffic safety risks from equipment and material transportation vehicles, infectious disease risks (STD, HIV/AIDS, Covid-19 etc.) etc. As the small work are expected to be conducted by local villagers, there is no health risk envisaged from the influx of labors. The component 3 cash transfer will have no community and health risks envisaged. The additional TA under component 2 will include capacity training activities which may have potential health and safety risks for participants given the current COVID-19 situations. Stakeholder engagement activities may also increase the risk of transmission of COVID-19. To address such risks, mitigation measures, including a code of conduct and COVID-19 protocol, are developed in the ESCOP which will be incorporated into the agreements/contacts with village cooperatives for implementation. ESS5 Land Acquisition, Restrictions on Land Use and Involuntary Resettlement ESS5 is not relevant to the Project. Jan 20, 2022 Page 11 of 14 The World Bank Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project - Additional Financing (P177674) Environmental and social screening criteria has been established in the project’s ESMF to exclude activities under component 4 that would have potential to involve involuntary land acquisition, land use restriction or resettlement or involuntary physical or economic displacement. No other component has potential for land impacts. ESS6 Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources ESS6 is relevant to the AF project. The small works of Component 4 will include small scale civil works related to mangrove plantation, sea grass plantation, river bank restoration, forest restoration etc. which have potential implications in terms of biodiversity conservation and natural resource management. Since the ultimate objectives of such activities are to protect local environment and restore ecology with inherent design for biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of living natural resources, therefore, it is unlikely to cause major adverse impacts in this regard. The plantation and rehabilitation activities may have the risk of seedlings introducing pests/disease/invasive species, which requires considerations in the ESMF. Exclusion and screening criteria have been developed as part of the environmental management procedures in the ESMF, which will exclude any activity that are located in protected area/critical habitats or introducing invasive species, or any activities that may have adverse impacts on the biodiversity conservation. Measures for biodiversity protection are developed in the ESCOP which will be implemented by the Public Disclosure village cooperatives during project implementation. The component 3 cash transfer and additional capacity building activities of component 2 are not expected to have direct adverse impacts/risks in terms of biodiversity conservation and management of living natural resources. While, PMU will ensure relevant considerations are included the TORs for specific TA activities proportionate to the nature and potential risks related to ESS6. The World Bank will review these TORs and outputs to ensure the compliance with ESS6 requirements. ESS7 Indigenous Peoples/Sub-Saharan African Historically Underserved Traditional Local Communities ESS7 is not relevant to the AF project. ESS7 is not relevant to the Project. The Indigenous Peoples of Fiji, the iTaukei, are the mainstream society in Fiji. The iTaukei represent the majority, or 57 percent of the population according to the 2007 census. The Indigenous Peoples of Fiji, the iTaukei, are the mainstream society in Fiji. The iTaukei represent the majority, or 57 percent of the population according to the 2007 census. As iTaukei customary cultural, economic, social and political institutions are the mainstream culture of Fijian society, ESS7 in not considered relevant.. The iTaukei do not meet all the four identifying characteristics of ESS7, including separate language and institutions from dominant society. The remaining population in Fiji are comprised of Indo-Fijians (38 percent), whose ancestors migrated to the Fijian Islands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The remaining 5 percent consist of other minority communities, including people from various Pacific Island countries, Australia, New Zealand, the People’s Republic of China, and Jan 20, 2022 Page 12 of 14 The World Bank Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project - Additional Financing (P177674) Europe. The Indo-Fijians and other minority communities do not meet the identifying characteristics of ESS7. The project design and implementation arrangements mainstream non-discrimination and social inclusion of all Fijian irrespective of indigenous status. As with the parent Project, the AF ESCP and SEP commit the project to raising awareness and conducting stakeholder engagement with disadvantaged or vulnerable individuals and groups across the Fijian population, including across diverse ethnic groups. Awareness raising and stakeholder engagement will be adapted to account for such groups or individuals’ particular sensitivities, concerns and cultural sensitivities. ESS8 Cultural Heritage ESS8 is relevant to the AF project. The component 4 activities will involve small scale civil works, which may have potential impacts on cultural heritage. Screening criteria has been developed in the ESMF to avoid any known cultural heritage during subproject screening process. For the unknown chance-find cultural heritage, a set of chance-find procedures has been developed in the ESCOP, which requires the village cooperatives to stop plantation and rehabilitation works in case chance-find of cultural heritage, protect the site, and report to relevant authority. The component 3 cash transfer and additional capacity training activities of Component 2 are not expected to have adverse impacts on cultural heritage. While, PMU will ensure relevant considerations are included the TORs for Public Disclosure specific TA activities proportionate to the nature and potential risks related to ESS6. The World Bank will review these TORs and outputs to ensure the compliance with ESS8. ESS9 Financial Intermediaries ESS9 is not relevant to the AF project. C. Legal Operational Policies that Apply OP 7.50 Projects on International Waterways No OP 7.60 Projects in Disputed Areas No B.3. Reliance on Borrower’s policy, legal and institutional framework, relevant to the Project risks and impacts Is this project being prepared for use of Borrower Framework? No Areas where “Use of Borrower Framework” is being considered: Jan 20, 2022 Page 13 of 14 The World Bank Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project - Additional Financing (P177674) N?A IV. CONTACT POINTS World Bank Contact: Lansong Zhang Title: Operations Officer Telephone No: +1-202-458-5423 Email: lzhang3@worldbank.org Contact: Sandor I. Karacsony Title: Senior Economist Telephone No: +1-202-473-4257 Email: skaracsony@worldbank.org Borrower/Client/Recipient Borrower: Republic of Fiji Implementing Agency(ies) Implementing Agency: Ministry of Economy V. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Public Disclosure The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 473-1000 Web: http://www.worldbank.org/projects VI. APPROVAL Task Team Leader(s): Sandor I. Karacsony, Lansong Zhang Practice Manager (ENR/Social) Susan S. Shen Cleared on 14-Jan-2022 at 21:45:53 GMT-05:00 Jan 20, 2022 Page 14 of 14