Report No. PID9896 Project Name Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of- Children and Youth Development Project (LIL) Region Europe and Central Asia Region Sector Other Social Protection Project ID MKPE73483 Borrower(s) GOVT. OF FYR MACEDONIA Implementing Agency Address MINISTRY OF LABOR AND SOCIAL POLICY "Dame Gruev" St., Apt. 14 1000 Skopje, FYR of Macedonia Contact Person: Mr. Bedredin Ibrahimi, Minister Tel: 389 91 117787 Fax: 389 91 220408 Environment Category F Date PID Prepared January 18, 2001 Projected Appraisal Date February 28, 2001 Projected Board Date June 15, 2001 1. Country and Sector Background A. For preschool children--under the main responsibility of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy--the key issues are to: (1) significantly expand Early Child Care and Development (ECCD) coverage in the country by helping communities to address the development needs of the youngest children and their families, through new government-NGO-beneficiary collaboration mechanisms; (2) promote community and individual participation in carrying out child-related public policies and practices, even in the country's smallest administrative units. The socialist approach was to care for children of working mothers, particularly through pre-primary education. A vastly different concept now prevails. Rather than through direct child care, ECCD is effected by a critical improvement of parenting skills, knowledge, practice, and responsibilities. Better parenting is far more fruitful, but its application is more painstaking. Though the government has maintained a system of very good preschool facilities, the coverage is limited and is geared toward better-off urban families. Despite these difficulties, experience has shown that the new approach not only benefits children but also gives parents greater confidence, which, in turn, creates more community involvement and cohesion. In particular, the new approach contributes to: (1) strengthening the family's unity of purpose, thereby decreasing violence and dissension among family members; (2) promoting gender equality, urban-rural balance, and social cohesion among different communities, since need is a main criterion for receiving service. B. Some programs will target children attending school, and will be additional to the regular study curriculum. These programs will cover learning for life, typical adolescence issues, youth-family relations, group activities, and civic participation, and will also focus on character formation and constructive social behavior. Dropout recovery activities will be included within the framework for implementing the Strategy for Education, issued by the relevant ministry in June 2000. Also included will be the extension to all schools of the anti-drug program, as part of the five-year National Plan and the public sector reform.C. The GOM is aware that a youth strategy is needed to define objectives and methods for fostering the social integration of youth. Macedonia's Statistical Office gathers a considerable amount of well-structured data that could be useful in formulating the strategy. The Statistical Office has also issued a report on Young People in Transition (November 1999). The existing information may be sufficient for the project's purposes, once it is disaggregated and recast, and social indicators related to youth expanded and systematized. A mechanism also needs to be established to feed the indicators into the strategy to keep it up-to-date. 2. Objectives The project main development objective is to promote the social integration of children, adolescents and youth from different cultural backgrounds in the development process of Macedonia . In particular the project will:(a) facilitate the access to community based Early Child Care and Development (ECCD) services for children (0-6) especially for children living in remote and isolated areas; (b) test community-based approaches to support adolescents and youth at risk (14-24) and prevent their marginalisation and reduce exposure to abuse (drug, alcohol, etc..); (c) strengthen the institutional capacity at central and local level to address children and youth issues by (i) monitoring social trends affecting youth and assess the impact of project activities, and (ii) raising awareness and commitment of policy makers and communities for children and youth issues. 3. Rationale for Bank's Involvement N.A. 4. Description The project's main objective is to extend to the national level and broaden the scope of the social development activities, aimed at improving the quality of life of Macedonian children and youth, which have been successfully piloted during the two phases of the post conflict grant. In order to ensure the medium and long-term sustainability of these activities, the proposed Learning and Innovation Lending (LIL) will aim at building institutional capacity at central and local levels, through the launching of a youth strategy, an M&E system and training and awareness raising activities for public officials. Component 1: Early Child Care and Development (ECCD)In 1999, during the refugee crisis unleashed by the bombing of Yugoslavia, the World Bank gave a 2 million USD post-conlict grant to UNICEF in the FYR of Macedonia to support the communities hosting refugee children and their families. Under this grant, still under implementation, 30,000 children aged 0-7 were covered at an annual cost of child/per capita 18.50 USD. The ECCD is a very cost-effective program and the Government is therefore committed to scale it up through a LIL, as it currently covers only about 20t of all Macedonian children in pre-primary age. Another 11 of children in the same age group are covered by other governmental and non governmental programs. This still leaves some 69t of all children aged 0-7 uncovered by any program.The component therefore extends activities (i) tested under the post conflict grant to the majority of the country's communities, with priority for the neediest, and -2 - (ii) redesigned as Better Parenting. UNICEF will direct the assistance that will be provided by trained staff as well as by local volunteers. Community support for the program is ensured by UNICEF's network of community based groups and sympathizers, particularly women's associations. The budget allocation for the proposed component is US $ 2.5 million. The project will finance (a) part of the cost of running the existing ECCD centers for approximately 30,000 children (0-6) throughout the country and for the all duration of the project but on a declining basis (small equipment, pedagogical material, training for personnel); and (b) capacity building for trainers, caregivers, educators, volunteer staff, etc..Components 2: YouthDuring the second phase of the post conflict grant implementation, UNICEF has been piloting youth activities in 8 urban locations throughout the country. The beneficiaries are currently nearly 4,000 children/youth aged 7-24, and their parents and teachers. The youth activities are totally inter-ethnic and cover sports, computer and IT training, English language, social skills and creativity (art, music, drama, etc.), journalism, debates, seminars and worshops, additional to the regular scolastic activities which cover 60 percent of those age cohorts. Another major activity is also ongoing as part of the post conflict grant piloting, which is funding the extension of a drug prevention program implemented by the Agency for Youth and Sports to the 92 secondary schools existing in the country (compared with the 55 schools initially covered by the Agency), and the consolidation of the program's organization. According to the Youth Needs and Resource Assessment (November 2000), these are the only existing systemic efforts specifically directed to youth in the country.Under this component, the project will (i) continue to test methods and the experimentation carried out in 8 existing centers financed by the Post Conflict grant and (ii) establish 8 new centers (average cost for one new center is US$ 100,000 for the whole duration of the project). If lessons are successful, the project will support the process of taking over activities organized by the centers from local governments and communities with support from the central government. Criteria to locate the new centers run by local NGOs will be identified during the first year of the project implementation, based on lessons learned from the already existing centers. Tentative criteria include (a) geographical coverage based on needs and availability of social services for the youth and on ethnic diversity, etc; (b) existing local capacity, the efficiency of the existing NGOs and their participatory approaches and (c) scope for community ownership.The existing eight centers targeting approximately 4,000 children/youth aged 7-24 are already carrying out some relevant activities divided into two groups, one for children and one for teenagers. The existing programs for children include activities such as (a) creativity (handcrafts, games, drawing, music and drama), (b) computer training, (c) basic English, (d) social skills, and (e) Sport/physical exercise. For the adolescents and teen-agers, activities include (a) information and connection technology, ICT, (b) English, (c) street law (constitutional law, human rights, democracy, civic education and participation), (d) social skills, (e) debate, including role playing, by the teenagers themselves on critical issues for youth, parents, friends, schools, careers, social life, entertainment, etc., (f) sports and (g) journalism. Parents are also benefiting from the above centers by the increased awareness on adolescent and teenagers issues as these themes are discussed in the documentation distributed by the centers (paper, seminars or videos) or during events organized within the centers. The allocated budget for the proposed -3 - component is US $ 1.5 million and includes financing of 8 already existing centers and the establishment of 8 new ones. The allocation is planned as follows: each new center costs on average US$ 100,000 (investment and recurrent costs) for the whole duration of the project (US$ 800,000); the already existing centers will cost in recurrent costs the equivalent of approximately 40,000 per center (US $ 320,000) and US $ 300,000 are foreseen for development of pedagogical material, training of staff in the national and local government, and general support to the centers. Component 3. The component will support (i) the establishment of the PIU and the identification of training needs (i.e, procurement); (ii) a policy dialogue and strategy to involve and promote the ownership of the proposed program within policy makers and communities; (iii) the establishment of a mechanism for monitoring social trends affecting youth and beneficiaries responsiveness to the proposed activities and awareness raising programs with policy makers and communities. As part of the M&E activities , the PIU will identify the adequate capacity and promote partnership with the National Office for Statistics, and /or other relevant department within universities and /or the national agency for Youth and Sport, for the development of baseline indicators, yearly beneficiary assessments, etc.. In order to make the first two components more effective and sustainable, this component will aim at mainstreaming children and youth issues and human rights of public concern (i.e. enforcing the birth registration requirements, combating corporal punishment practices in schools, awareness raising programs on the rights of children and adolescents, especially as to sexual abuse, trafficking of human beings and family violence), with a holistic and gender-focused child rights approach. The full committment by the Macedonian government is assured by the leading role the Minister of Labor and Social Policy has in the Government and by the Action Plan drafted by the Social Cohesion Working Group of the Stability Pact for South East Europe which specifically indicates the full social integration and empowerment of ethnic minorities, women and vulnerable groups such as children and youth, as a key element for a lasting stability and the reduction of social tensions at country and regional level to be pursued with all the regional Ministers of Labor and Social Affairs (Enlarged Meeting of the Stability Pact Social Cohesion Working Group, Conclusion of the Chairman and the Co-hosts, Paris December 2000). 1. Early Child Care and Development Ages 0-6. 2. Youth. Ages 7-13 and 14-24 3. Institutional Development (Strategy, Social Observatory, Public Outreach Campaign and PMU set up cost) 5. Financing Total ( US$m) Total Project Cost 5 6. Implementation The Project is to be implemented over a period of four years. The Ministry - 4 - of Labor and Social Policy, lead ministry responsible for general directives, periodical progress review, and annual planning for the implementation of the three project components. The project will be managed by a PMU to be hosted in the Agency for Youth and Sports. A Project inter-ministerial Steering Committee, which will include a couple of NGOs, will oversee the project activities selection process. The Early Child Care and Development Component will be implemented under the responsibility of the PMU, and the technical support for the implementation will be provided through a service contract with UNICEF. Component 2 will be a program directly managed by the PMU to be fully developed during project implementation. During appraisal, the mission will choose at least 3 more youth centers to be developed during the LIL. The remaining 5 youth centers will be selected during the first year of project management. The appraisal mission will define selection criteria for the new youth centers on the basis of (i) geographic considerations (areas with very limited access to services for children and youth and with high incidence of unemployment, drug trafficking and crime); (ii) efficiency considerations, with reference to availability of adequate technical capacity by NGOs and CBOs; (iii) community ownership of the project concept and participation. Selection criteria, particularly for the new youth centers to be funded under the LIL, will be refined over the next few months of piloting. The project Steering Committee will oversee the youth centers selection process. The activities under Component 3, particularly the Children and Youth Strategy will be promoted by the PMU, under the leadership of the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, and in coordination with other relevant ministries. In addition, the PMU will be directly responsible for (i) the public outreach campagn activities, including awareness raising activities aimed at public officials as part as the Youth Strategy Development. 7. Sustainability The project will strengthen the institutional capacity at central and local level to address children and youth issues and will therefore raise awareness and committment of policy makers and communities. 8. Lessons learned from past operations in the country/sector NA 9. Program of Targeted Intervention (PTI) N 10. Environment Aspects (including any public consultation) Issues The Project would benefit the natural environment. Environment-raising awareness and environment improving components are within the Project scope. No negative effects can be expected on habitat, natural resources, landscape or other ecological aspects. The PMU will check and monitor the possible negative environmental effects, however minimal, related to the treatment of proper drainage of hygienic services, the safety of paints and other construction materials used in some rehabilitation work. During the appraisal the mission will appraise the adequacy of the environmental local legislation. 11. Contact Point: Task Manager Gloria de Silva -5- The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington D.C. 20433 Telephone: 202 458-7646 Fax: 202 522-0696 12. For information on other project related documents contact: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-5454 Fax: (202) 522-1500 Web: http:// www.worldbank.org/infoshop Note: This is information on an evolving project. Certain components may not be necessarily included in the final project. This PID was processed by the InfoShop during the week ending January 26, 2001. - 6 -