The World Bank Malawi Floods Emergency Recovery (P154803) REPORT NO.: RES43420 DOCUMENT OF THE WORLD BANK RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF MALAWI FLOODS EMERGENCY RECOVERY APPROVED ON MAY 7, 2015 TO MINISTRY OF FINANCE, ECONOMIC PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT URBAN, RESILIENCE AND LAND AFRICA EAST Regional Vice President: Hafez M. H. Ghanem Country Director: Mara K. Warwick Regional Director: Mark R. Lundell Practice Manager/Manager: Meskerem Brhane Task Team Leader(s): Francis Samson Nkoka, Nicholas James Callender The World Bank Malawi Floods Emergency Recovery (P154803) I. BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID Financing Instrument P154803 Investment Project Financing Original EA Category Current EA Category Partial Assessment (B) Partial Assessment (B) Approval Date Current Closing Date 07-May-2015 30-Sep-2020 Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Government of Malawi Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO The Project Development Objective is to “sustainably restore agricultural livelihoods, reconstruct critical public infrastructure to improved standards in the flood-affected districts, and improve the Government of Malawi’s disaster response and recovery capacities”. Summary Status of Financing (US$, Millions) Net Ln/Cr/Tf Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed IDA-56360 07-May-2015 03-Jun-2015 20-Aug-2015 30-Sep-2020 40.00 35.22 5.30 IDA-D0580 07-May-2015 03-Jun-2015 20-Aug-2015 30-Sep-2020 40.00 37.83 2.96 Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No The World Bank Malawi Floods Emergency Recovery (P154803) I. SUMMARY OF PROJECT STATUS AND PROPOSED CHANGES 1. The MFERP continues to make commendable progress for the remaining activities towards achieving its development objectives. Progress towards achievement of PDO and Overall Implementation Progress are both rated Moderately Satisfactory as of June 2020 mission aide memoire and ISR. The project has reached 2,070,402 direct beneficiaries, representing 131% of the target of 1,580,000 and has supported the restoration of agricultural livelihoods for 208,753 households, surpassing the PDO target by 16%. The project has also supported infrastructure restoration in the health and education sectors, (i) having rehabilitated 5 health centers, constructing 2 new health centers and (ii) having rebuilt 152 classrooms, 11 staff houses and 2 administration blocks across 42 schools in 9 districts based on safer-school guidelines. The extension proposed under this restructuring would allow for the continued advancement of work at the Thabwa-Chitseko-Seveni Road, which was delayed due to COVID-19, and remains critical for the achievement of the Project Development Objective. 2. The Thabwa-Chitseko-Seveni road is 59 km long and lies at the bottom of an escarpment which receives regular torrential rains that gives rise to flash floods. The road is in a state of disrepair negatively impacting transportation and the local/national economy. The two districts served by the road (Chikwawa and Nsanje) have the highest incidence of poverty and ultra-poverty in Malawi. The area is largely dependent on agriculture for income, where access to market challenges currently exist. The road connects the high agricultural productive areas within Chikwawa and Nsanje to markets within the Chikwawa, Nsanje and Blantyre districts and is critical for access to health services, education centers and other facilities. 3. In December 2019, the MFERP was restructured to extend the closing date to September 30, 2020, following a request from the Government of Malawi in November 2019 due to the substantial delay experienced from the stoppage of works and contract termination of the safeguards non-compliant contractor at Thabwa-Chitseko-Seven Road. The Government has demonstrated their strong commitment to restore project compliance by taking swift action on the implementation of a Safeguards Action Plan and committing to long term structural changes. The GRM was revamped to a multi-tier system with scaled-up gender balanced community representation, community sensitization training and distinct protocols and systems for the community and contracted labor. 4. Following the extension, advancement on the road, drainage and bridge rehabilitation has been carried out by two contractors on site, with works at 73% and 52% completion for Plem Construction and Mota-Engil respectively. Both contractors, however, have suffered delays due to COVID-19 and the resulting lockdown measures, including cement shortages and supply disruptions, unavailability of construction equipment, late arrival of overseas expert staff where local skills (for instance, in piling for bridge works) were unavailable and additional contractor precautions for staff and community safety. Both Contractors and the Supervising Engineer and all service providers are following the guidelines stipulated by the Ministry of Health and the guidelines on prevention of spread of COVID-19 in the Road Sector developed by RA. 5. In August 2020, the Grievance Redress and reporting systems uncovered five incidents of sexual harassment and sexual exploitation and abuse, involving workers from both on-site contractors. Parties on the ground including the Roads Authority, Contractors and GBV Service Provider were swift in reporting, removing perpetrators in line with signed codes of conduct, informing district offices, investigating all SEA/SH incidents and providing medical, psychosocial and legal support. While strengthening of the project GRM and safeguards system over the past months demonstrate Survivor confidence in reporting structures and their effective functioning, further system level enhancements are required for future prevention, survivor support and reporting. Thus, the time extension would also enable monitoring and implementation of an enhanced action plan to strengthen institutions, contractor capacities, The World Bank Malawi Floods Emergency Recovery (P154803) sensitize the workers and communities and bring on board additional stakeholders to provide on-ground support and oversight. 6. The Roads Authority shall strengthen environmental and social safeguards by (i) increasing monitoring of the project site on fortnightly basis; (ii) immediately hiring a GBV third party monitor; (iii) instituting the monthly steering committee comprising of Min of Transport, RA, Gender and Child Protection Department, Environmental Affairs Department, Police, and Ministry of Labor, to oversee the implementation of the project (iv) reviewing the contract and performance of GBV Service Provider and supplementing capacity gaps, (v) conducting targeted awareness with different groups such as chiefs and religious leaders to raise awareness, and (vi) Utilizing the existing GBV/SEA one stop center in Chikwawa District to provide support to survivors. The actions indicated above are an extract from the action plan that was developed in coordination with the Bank’s safeguards team. This is in addition to Contractor training and worker sensitizations and signing of t he code of conduct according to the Contract. 7. The proposed changes are to extend the Project closing date from September 30, 2020 to January 31, 2021, in line with the Government request for project extension. This no-cost time extension will allow for full completion of civil works within the timeframe and will ensure the completion and resolution of the agreed upon updated enhanced Safeguards Action Plan. There are no overdue audits affecting this Project. II. DETAILED CHANGES LOAN CLOSING DATE(S) Original Revised Proposed Proposed Deadline Ln/Cr/Tf Status Closing Closing(s) Closing for Withdrawal Applications IDA-56360 Effective 31-Dec-2019 30-Sep-2020 31-Jan-2021 31-May-2021 IDA-D0580 Effective 31-Dec-2019 30-Sep-2020 31-Jan-2021 31-May-2021