The World Bank Appraisal ISDS Entrepreneurship-focused socioemotional skills for the most vulnerable youth in rural Mongolia (P165310) Integrated Safeguards Data Sheet Appraisal Stage Appraisal Stage | Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: 26-Jul-2018| Report No: ISDSA25331 Regional Vice President: Victoria Kwakwa Country Director: Martin Raiser Senior Global Practice Director: Jaime Saavedra Chanduvi Practice Manager/Manager: Tobias Linden Task Team Leader: Rabia Ali The World Bank Appraisal ISDS Entrepreneurship-focused socioemotional skills for the most vulnerable youth in rural Mongolia (P165310) . I. BASIC INFORMATION 1. BASIC PROJECT DATA Project ID Project Name Entrepreneurship-focused socioemotional skills for the P165310 most vulnerable youth in rural Mongolia Task Team Leader(s) Country Rabia Ali Mongolia Approval Date Environmental Category 17-Jun-2019 B-Partial Assessment Managing Unit Is this a Repeater project? GED02 No PROJECT FINANCING DATA (US$, Millions) SUMMARY -NewFin1 Total Project Cost 2.75 Total Financing 2.75 Financing Gap 0.00 DETAILS -NewFinEnh1 Non-World Bank Group Financing Trust Funds 2.75 Japan Social Development Fund 2.75 2. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE The World Bank Appraisal ISDS Entrepreneurship-focused socioemotional skills for the most vulnerable youth in rural Mongolia (P165310) Project Development Objective The project development objective (PDO) is to train vulnerable, disadvantaged youth in 25 of Mongolia’s poorest rural districts across five provinces with socioemotional skills for improved performance in school and preparation for entry into self-employment. The PDO will be achieved through a school-based, community-driven program targeting 6,000 youth to support acquisition of socioemotional skills that are linked not just to success in school, but are also highly valued in the labor market. The project will address the largely unmet need for socioemotional and entrepreneurship skills stemming from extremely limited labor market opportunities that lead to high inactivity among youth in these locations and a job profile dominated . by traditional herding, unpaid work and self-employment in the informal sector. 3. PROJECT DESCRIPTION Component 1 (development and implementation of an innovative community-driven program on entrepreneurship- focused socioemotional skills for vulnerable rural youth of the project) will (i) develop a hands-on, innovative entrepreneurship-focused socioemotional learning (ESEL) curriculum and associated package of learning materials for use by youth and teachers in schools and LLCs in target soums; (ii) develop materials to train teachers in target schools and LLCs on implementing the ESEL course, including counseling and mentoring of students, and deliver the teacher training; (iii) design and implement community awareness information campaigns in each year of the project; (iv) design and implement sensitization trainings for parents; (v) establish a multi-stakeholder networking platform consisting of local councils at the aimag and soum levels to undertake bottom-up design of all project deliverables, ensure alignment with local economic conditions, and support implementation of project activities, including design of localized solutions to challenges faced. Component 2 (introduction of a small grant mechanism to enable target youth to practically apply entrepreneurship knowledge) will (i) design and pilot an innovative seed capital scheme to finance competitively-selected business proposals developed by youth teams in target soums who would receive customized business training and personalized coaching and mentoring, and implement their proposals under supervision of ALCs and SLCs; (ii) sensitize stakeholders to and align all project activities with the Children's Rights and Business Principles (CRBP); (iii) disseminate the most successful business ideas implemented under the seed capital scheme, including through experience sharing events for target youth and community-based information campaigns; and (iv) conduct a comprehensive economic assessment and market analysis to explore potential for creation of school-based enterprises (SBEs) in the project’s target soums. Under Component 3 (project management and administration, monitoring and evaluation, and knowledge dissemination), the project will (i) support operations of SCJ project management team that will manage day-to-day activities and conduct M&E of project activities, including regular updating of the project’s results framework (RF), management of a project-level Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) and monitoring compliance with safeguards policies under the ESMF; (ii) design and conduct the baseline and end-line surveys as part of the project’s final evaluation; (iii) conduct an annual audit; (iv) conduct a mid-term Review (MTR) for the project; (v) produce an implementation completion results report (ICR); (vi) provide training support for participatory M&E by the project’s stakeholders; and (vii) undertake knowledge dissemination activities, including development of communication materials, public outreach campaigns, and consultations and fora at the local and national levels. . 4. PROJECT LOCATION AND SALIENT PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS RELEVANT TO THE SAFEGUARD ANALYSIS (IF KNOWN) The World Bank Appraisal ISDS Entrepreneurship-focused socioemotional skills for the most vulnerable youth in rural Mongolia (P165310) The project will target youth in 25 soums in Gobisumber aimag (Central region); Zavkhan and Khovd aimags (Western region); Uvurkhangai (Khangai region); and Sukhbaatar (Eastern region). The location of the project triggers Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 due to presence of ethnic minorities. The project will not finance civil works, and is expected to have minimal or no adverse environmental impacts. 5. ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL SAFEGUARDS SPECIALISTS ON THE TEAM Erdene Ochir Badarch, Social Specialist Xiaodan Huang, Environmental Specialist SAFEGUARD_TABLE 6. SAFEGUARD POLICIES TRIGGERED Safeguard Policies Triggered Explanation As OP 4.10 on indigenous peoples is triggered (see below), the project is a category B project, and OP 4.01 is triggered to address potential environmental impacts as provided for in the ESMF. Overall, the project does not finance civil works under any component. Component 1 of the project will support development and implementation of an innovative community-driven education program on entrepreneurship skills for vulnerable, rural youth. There is thus no adverse environmental impact expected under this component. Under Component 2, the project will finance and oversee implementation of a competitive small grants scheme (up to $1,000 per grant) to enable older Environmental Assessment OP/BP 4.01 Yes youth in the project’s target group to practically apply entrepreneurship knowledge and social emotional skills acquired under component 1 to identify and harness unexploited business opportunities at the local level. Youth team business ideas are expected to be concentrated in (i) services and sales, e.g. in tourism and hospitality; (ii) small-scale, labor-intensive production of hand- made goods; and (iii) food production, agriculture and animal husbandry. The screening process for grants will weed out those ideas that that pose substantial environmental risks. SCJ has prepared an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) that includes a risk mitigation strategy to ensure that the risk of adverse impact The World Bank Appraisal ISDS Entrepreneurship-focused socioemotional skills for the most vulnerable youth in rural Mongolia (P165310) on the environment remains low throughout the duration of the project. Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 No Forests OP/BP 4.36 No Pest Management OP 4.09 No Physical Cultural Resources OP/BP 4.11 No This Policy is triggered due to presence of ethnic minorities in the project's target locations. The ESMF prepared by SCJ outlines measures to enhance the project’s benefits for IP communities Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 Yes and ensure that the project includes representatives of IP communities in the multi- stakeholder networking platform consisting of local councils established under the project. Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP 4.12 No Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 No Projects on International Waterways No OP/BP 7.50 Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP 7.60 No KEY_POLICY_TABLE I. KEY SAFEGUARD POLICY ISSUES AND THEIR MANAGEMENT A. SUMMARY OF KEY SAFEGUARD ISSUES 1. Describe any safeguard issues and impacts associated with the Restructured project. Identify and describe any potential large scale, significant and/or irreversible impacts. Risk of adverse environmental impact The project will not lead to any large scale, significant and/or irreversible impacts on the environment in its target areas. The project does not finance civil works under any component. Component 1 of the project will support development and implementation of a community-driven education program on entrepreneurship skills for vulnerable, rural youth. This component consists of training-related activities only with no environmental impact. Under Component 2, the project will finance and oversee implementation of a competitive small grants scheme to enable target youth to practically apply entrepreneurship knowledge and social emotional skills acquired under component 1 to identify and harness unexploited business opportunities at the local level. Criteria for selection of business ideas will be aligned with soum-level economic development priorities. A large share of grant proceeds will go towards initial investments in small equipment, tools, and materials, and operating costs at start-up. Grant operation will be governed by criteria and procedures described in the grant manual to be developed in the first year of the project. Youths’ business ideas are expected to be concentrated in (i) services and sales, e.g. in tourism and The World Bank Appraisal ISDS Entrepreneurship-focused socioemotional skills for the most vulnerable youth in rural Mongolia (P165310) hospitality; (ii) small-scale, labor intensive production of goods (handmade products from locally-sourced raw and other materials, arts and crafts, clothing and textiles, toys, etc.); and (iii) food production, agriculture and animal husbandry (e.g. running semi-settled or intensive farming, animal health and breeding, farming management, animal feed e.g. making fodder, greenhouse and food processing, vegetable planting, growing, cooking, pickling etc.). The screening process for these grants, together with the specific actions described in (4), will weed out any business ideas that that pose moderate or high risk of adverse environmental impact and will ensure that the risk remains low for the duration of the project. Risk of adverse social impact Certain ethnic minorities covered by OP 4.10, who either speak a language other than Mongolian or a dialect of the Mongolian language, are resident in a number of project soums. These are the Kazakh, Buryat, Darigang, and Hotgoid minority groups. By design, project activities target the most vulnerable and disadvantaged youth in rural areas, who also tend to be among the socially excluded groups, including ethnic minorities. Since key project outputs (training materials under components 1 and 2 and selection of grant proposals) will be designed in consultation with communities in target soums, including ethnic minorities, who will also be involved in monitoring implementation progress through representation on the project’s participatory M&E arrangements and the mechanisms of ALCs and SLCs, the risk of adverse impacts on and exclusion of the minority populations in the project’s locations is estimated to be very low. The project activities are designed to improve equity and social cohesion. At the same time, to ensure that this risk remains low throughout the course of the project, the project will undertake a number of social the following social safeguard actions and these are described in question (4) below. 2. Describe any potential indirect and/or long term impacts due to anticipated future activities in the project area. No potential indirect or long-term impacts due to anticipated future activities in the project area are expected. 3. Describe any potential alternatives (if relevant) considered to help avoid or minimize adverse impacts. The risk for adverse impacts was low and the implementing agency has agreed to incorporate in project design the risk-mitigation measures described in (4) below. As such, there was no need for project alternatives. 4. Describe measures taken by the borrower to address safeguard policy issues. Provide an assessment of borrower capacity to plan and implement the measures described. As agreed at the project initiation stage, SCJ has prepared an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF). The purpose of this ESMF is to provide SCJ's project implementation team a set of policies and guidelines that will assist the team in the screening, appraisal and supervision of the environmental and social aspects of the project. The Framework outlines (1) the WBG and Government of Mongolia (GOM) policies that will apply to this project and (2) the implementation arrangements that will be put in place to ensure that these policies are implemented successfully and that the project meets all the applicable requirements of the World Bank Group (WBG), as well as Mongolian laws and regulations. The ESMF outlines risk mitigation strategies in the following areas: The environment The World Bank Appraisal ISDS Entrepreneurship-focused socioemotional skills for the most vulnerable youth in rural Mongolia (P165310) In order to ensure that the risk of adverse environmental impact due to the component 2 grant activities remains low throughout the project, the following safeguards are integrated into project activities: • Sensitization of youth as part of the component 1 ESEL training to laws, regulations and good practices related to environmental management and sustainability in the context of key business areas of interest. An equivalent training will be delivered to all project stakeholders, i.e. teachers and school administrators, as well as ALCs and SLCs, involved in design, implementation and M&E of project activities. • The grants will not finance any proposals for activities that pose moderate or higher risk of adverse environmental impact. Such activities will be weeded out at two stages of proposal development: o The grant template provided will include a section on assessment of potential environmental impact of proposed activities, and youth team supervisors and teachers supervising preparation of proposals will work with youth teams to ensure that their proposals do not include such activities. Grant proposals will also include a mandatory section containing description of the practices to be employed to manage and minimize adverse impacts, including production of noise, congestion, refuse or litter, and measures for safeguarding the well-being of workers and family members involved in the businesses. o The criteria and procedures for short-listing and selection of proposals described in the grant manual will include an assessment of environmental risks and the soum-level panel responsible for reviewing, evaluating and selecting proposals will reject proposals that include such activities. To further reduce potential for adverse impacts for activities linked to agriculture and animal husbandry, preference will be given to ideas that convert processed raw materials into an end product. • Implementation of risk mitigation measures approved for each business idea and clearly described in each successful proposal will be monitored by SLCs and reported on quarterly in SLC progress reports to ALCs and SCJ. Overall, thus, no significant, irreversible, or major environmental impacts are anticipated under the project, but each grant proposal will be screened and the decision to proceed with the business idea (or to continue its implementation) will be made on a case-by-case basis and through ongoing monitoring. With these restrictions and mitigation measures in place, the risk of adverse impacts on the physical environment is assessed to be low. Social risks Based on consultations conducted during project preparation as well as the extensive experience of SCJ in implementing projects in the project’s target locations, the project will undertake the following social safeguards actions in order to ensure that IPs benefit in culturally appropriate ways and that the risk of adverse impacts on minority groups remain low: • By working with soum-level education, social protection and other government authorities who have the most up-to-date demographic data on social groups resident in the communities they serve, community awareness information campaigns to be undertaken in each year of the project will be designed to ensure outreach to socially excluded and ethnic minority groups resident in the project’s target locations, in order to ensure that they are aware of the project’s planned activities; • The multi-stakeholder networking platform to be set up under component 1 of the project consisting of local councils at the aimag and soum levels to undertake bottom-up design of all project deliverables, in particular the ESEL the course, ensure alignment with local economic conditions, and support implementation of project activities, including design of localized solutions to implementation challenges faced, will include representatives of each ethnic minority group resident in project locations; • All training and other materials developed under components 1 and 2, including the grant manual, will be translated into the Kazakh language and trainings delivered in the local dialects of each ethnic minority; The World Bank Appraisal ISDS Entrepreneurship-focused socioemotional skills for the most vulnerable youth in rural Mongolia (P165310) • In soums where minority groups are present, the panels set up to review and select youth grant proposals under component 2 will include representatives of the relevant minority groups; • The personalized coaching and mentoring offered to youth under the project will address socioemotional needs of youth from ethnic minority groups; • The M&E focal points of SLCs will be responsible for collecting data on the above activities as part of the project’s routine M&E activities, and the information will be aggregated by the SCJ project management team for reporting to the World Bank and government authorities responsible for oversight of the project at the national level. This will allow for timely identification and resolution of any social safeguards issues that arise during project implementation. Assessment of SCJ's capacity to implement safeguards measures The design and implementation of this demonstration project hinges on intensive community participation and mobilization at the grassroots level in a bottoms-up approach, informed by and consistent with local labor market conditions and skills needs. A particular strength of the implementing agency is that, unlike existing donor-funded projects relevant to skills development typically implemented by MECSS and MLSP or other line ministries, Save the Children Japan (SCJ), a non-governmental organization, has deep soum-level networks to conduct the outreach needed in remote, rural parts of Mongolia for a project that hinges on intensive community participation and consultations at the grassroots level – networks that UB-based government implementing agencies do not possess. While the implementing the “Improving Primary Education Outcomes Among the Most Vulnerable Children in Rural Mongolia� project (P130760) between 2012 and 2017, SCJ gained significant experience with World Bank safeguards policies. The target locations under this successful project overlap with those proposed under the new operation, and although the target group of beneficiaries is a completely different age group and the proposed interventions are new and innovative, the overlap allows SCJ to build on an existing foundation of outreach networks and deep familiarity and understanding of the social and economic conditions in these remote soums. Further building on this foundation, training on overseeing the adherence to relevant safeguards policies will be offered to SCJ’s project implementation team, as well as ALCs and SLCs, as part of the Bank’s project implementation support to the project. From the very beginning of its operation in Mongolia (1994), SCJ has been working in provinces with the largest ethnic minority populations in the country, namely Bayan-Ulgii, Khovd and Dornod provinces. SCJ’s work in these areas includes support to education of children of ethnic minorities, strengthening preschool and primary education, support to education of children with disabilities and emergency responses during difficult times. In 2005-6, SCJ brought the issue of education for Kazakh minority children to the attention of the government and other stakeholders by undertaking and documenting a comprehensive situation analysis on the subject. The findings were submitted to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Committee accepted the findings and formally recommended to the Government of Mongolia that minority children should be able to learn in their mother tongue, as well as in Mongolian. SCJ also supported a number of small projects to promote bilingual education programs for Kazakh children in 2007-9. 5. Identify the key stakeholders and describe the mechanism for consultation and disclosure on safeguard policies, with an emphasis on potentially affected people. The most critical stakeholders are the beneficiary youth of socioeconomically marginalized communities, including ethnic minorities, and their parents and households, and teachers, training managers and directors of schools and LLCs, followed by soum-level stakeholders that include representatives of community and business associations, soum labor and social protection officers and soum government, aimag government departments of education, social protection and labor departments. National level stakeholders are MECSS, MLSP and the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The World Bank Appraisal ISDS Entrepreneurship-focused socioemotional skills for the most vulnerable youth in rural Mongolia (P165310) In addition to the consultations with MECSS, MLSP, community members, youth, and education and labor officers in rural soums conducted during project preparation, World Bank safeguard policies and project documents including the draft ESMF were disclosed to and shared with provincial and local authorities through face-to-face and online meetings and their feedback incorporated into project documents. These documents, including relevant safeguards policies, will be published on the websites of authorities in target soums. Information on safeguards policies will be integrated into the project’s community awareness campaigns and will be available on hard copy in all soum offices and during public follow-up consultations undertaken with stakeholders at the local and national levels during project implementation for design of specific project outputs, such as the training content. DISCLOSURE_TABLE B. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS ENV_TABLE Environmental Assessment/Audit/Management Plan/Other Date of receipt by the Bank Date of submission for disclosure 10-May-2019 24-Jun-2019 For Category ‘A’ projects, date of distributing the Executive Summary of the EA to the Executive Directors “In country� Disclosure Country Date of Disclosure Mongolia 21-Jun-2019 Comments Disclosure of ESMF INDIG ENOUS_TA BLE Indigenous Peoples Development Plan/Framework Date of receipt by the Bank Date of submission for disclosure 10-May-2019 27-May-2019 “In country� Disclosure Country Date of Disclosure Mongolia 21-Jun-2019 The World Bank Appraisal ISDS Entrepreneurship-focused socioemotional skills for the most vulnerable youth in rural Mongolia (P165310) Comments Disclosure of ESMF COMPLIANCE_TABLE C. COMPLIANCE MONITORING INDICATORS AT THE CORPORATE LEVEL EA_TABLE OP/BP/GP 4.01 - Environment Assessment Does the project require a stand-alone EA (including EMP) report? Yes If yes, then did the Regional Environment Unit or Practice Manager (PM) review Yes and approve the EA report? Are the cost and the accountabilities for the EMP incorporated in the credit/loan? Yes IP_TABLE OP/BP 4.10 - Indigenous Peoples Has a separate Indigenous Peoples Plan/Planning Framework (as appropriate) Yes been prepared in consultation with affected Indigenous Peoples? If yes, then did the Regional unit responsible for safeguards or Practice Manager Yes review the plan? If the whole project is designed to benefit IP, has the design been reviewed and NA approved by the Regional Social Development Unit or Practice Manager? PDI_TABLE The World Bank Policy on Disclosure of Information Have relevant safeguard policies documents been sent to the World Bank for Yes disclosure? Have relevant documents been disclosed in-country in a public place in a form and language that are understandable and accessible to project-affected groups Yes and local NGOs? ALL_TABLE All Safeguard Policies Have satisfactory calendar, budget and clear institutional responsibilities been Yes prepared for the implementation of measures related to safeguard policies? Have costs related to safeguard policy measures been included in the project Yes cost? The World Bank Appraisal ISDS Entrepreneurship-focused socioemotional skills for the most vulnerable youth in rural Mongolia (P165310) Does the Monitoring and Evaluation system of the project include the monitoring Yes of safeguard impacts and measures related to safeguard policies? Have satisfactory implementation arrangements been agreed with the borrower Yes and the same been adequately reflected in the project legal documents? II. APPROVALS Task Team Leader(s) Rabia Ali Approved By Safeguards Advisor Surhid P. Gautam 25-Jun-2019 Practice Manager/Manager Tobias Linden 25-Jun-2019 .