The World Bank Mauritania Social Safety Net System (P150430) REPORT NO.: RES27617 RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF MAURITANIA SOCIAL SAFETY NET SYSTEM APPROVED ON MAY 14, 2015 TO ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF MAURITANIA SOCIAL PROTECTION & JOBS AFRICA Regional Vice President: Makhtar Diop Country Director: Louise J. Cord Senior Global Practice Director: Michal J. Rutkowski Practice Manager/Manager: Jehan Arulpragasam Task Team Leader: Aline Coudouel, Matthieu Boris Lefebvre The World Bank Mauritania Social Safety Net System (P150430) ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ASP: Adaptive Social Protection CSA: Commissariat à la Sécurité Alimentaire (Food Security Office) FA: Financial Agreement GA: Grant Agreement MOU: Memorandum of Understanding RETF: Recipient-Executed Trust Fund The World Bank Mauritania Social Safety Net System (P150430) BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID Financing Instrument P150430 Investment Project Financing Original EA Category Current EA Category Not Required (C) Not Required (C) Approval Date Current Closing Date 14-May-2015 31-Oct-2020 Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF MAURITANIA AGENCE TADAMOUN Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO The objectives of the proposed Project are to support the establishment of key building blocks of the national social safety net system and to provide targeted cash transfers to extreme poor households. OPS_TABLE_PDO_CURRENTPDO Summary Status of Financing Net Ln/Cr/Tf Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed IDA-D0540 14-May-2015 07-Sep-2015 30-Sep-2015 31-Oct-2020 15.00 2.94 12.20 TF-19374 14-May-2015 07-Sep-2015 30-Sep-2015 31-Dec-2017 4.00 .77 3.23 Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No The World Bank Mauritania Social Safety Net System (P150430) I. PROJECT STATUS AND RATIONALE FOR RESTRUCTURING Click here to enter text. A. PROJECT STATUS 1. The project has been effective for 24 months. Progress towards the PDO and Overall Implementation Progress are Satisfactory. The overall disbursement remains in line with forecast. To date (Q1-2017), the actual cumulative disbursement on IDA is US$ 2.35 million of the US$ 15 million loan amount, compared to the originally projected US$ 2.5 million. The Mid Term Review is scheduled during the first semester 2018. External audits are up-to date and unqualified. 2. The key building blocks (social registry, national social transfer program Tekavoul) are now functional, fully implemented in one department (Mbout), and will be rolled out in the poorest areas in the coming months. The first cash transfer to the extreme poor and the first social promotion session have been delivered during the first quarter 2017. To get to this important milestone, all prerequisites have been implemented: poverty map development to define geographical targeting, community targeting by the Social registry, data collection in partnership with the national statistical office, contracting of paying agent, registration of households, first outreach session tool definition, grievance mechanism setup (to be consolidated), communication tools conception, payment testing phases (intern and field simulation). A positive step towards sustainability has been taken with the institutionalization of the social registry within a regular General Direction in the Ministry of Economy and Finance. An impact evaluation is under design and the baseline is scheduled to be implemented during the second semester of 2017. 3. The development of the Adaptive Social Protection (ASP) components is ongoing: a. Productive activities component (whose objective is to reinforce poor households’ resilience through livelihood support and accompanying measures): a productive activities package has been designed through a regional process. This component will be implemented by the Tadamoun agency, starting in the second semester 2017. b. Shock-responsive component (whose objective is to temporarily support vulnerable households affected by covariate shocks – such as drought - in a timely and effective way through a punctual cash transfer): extensive analytical work has been carried out. The Food Security Agency (Commissariat à la Sécurité Alimentaire – CSA) will implement this component using existing social protection tools (social registry and payment service provider). A shock-responsive program roadmap has been discussed and agreed, and a pilot should be implement during the 2017 lean season in a few communes. B. RATIONALE FOR RESTRUCTRING After more than a year of implementation, three changes have been decided by the government, which need to be reflected in the agreements: 1. Changes in operationalizing the ASP shock-responsive program. During the project preparation, it was initially anticipated that the shock-responsive component would be implemented as part of the Tekavoul program (scaling- The World Bank Mauritania Social Safety Net System (P150430) up the transfer amount or the number of beneficiaries of the regular social transfer program in case of covariate shock). However, recent analysis and discussions with government counterparts and development partners have led to the Government’s decision to host this component as a program within the Food Security Agency (Commissariat à la Sécurité Alimentaire, CSA) and fostering synergies with social protection actors and tools. Indeed, the CSA is one of the main governmental agencies with the mandate to respond to shocks (especially climate change related shocks such as drought or floods), the responsibility to coordinate such response, and the ability to mobilize adequate operational capacity. Hosting this program in the CSA will foster sustainability (as they are also hosting the African Risk Capacity financing mechanism) and efficiency of the governmental-led response (by using efficient and innovative tools and methodology). The CSA is keen to implement this shock-responsive safety net component, which will be implemented separately from the Tekavoul program (a specific operational manual will be drafted) but will be fully part of the safety net system and will use some of the core instruments of this system (in particular the national social registry and the payment platform also used by the Tekavoul program). As stated in the PAD, the implementing Agency of the project is Tadamoun. Tadamoun will remain the implementing Agency. A MOU between Tadamoun and the CSA will be signed to state the shock-responsive program operational arrangements. 2. Changes in institutional arrangements for the Social Registry. The Social Registry was previously housed in a "social protection unit" attached to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Development, outside of the ministry’s main administrative structure. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Development was recently merged with the Ministry of Finance to form the Ministry of Economy and Finance. In addition, in March 2016 a decree created a Social Registry Direction within the General Direction for Economic Policy and Development Strategy in the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Anchoring the Social Registry within the main ministry’s structure is a key element to ensure its sustainability and the team welcomes this change. The “social protection unit” where it was initially located is not functional any more. 3. Changes in the GA closing date. The governmental request suggests a closing date on the 31st of December 2018. As the Mauritanian RETF should at least close 6 months ahead the regional ASPP closing date (which is the 31st December 2018), the new closing date is set as the 30th of June, 2018 in the GA. The FA closing date remains unchanged. II. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED CHANGES There are three changes proposed in this restructuring, as follows: 1. Changes in operationalizing the ASP shock-responsive program. To reflect the Government’s choice to implement the shock-responsive program separately from the Tekavoul program, schedule 1 of the Financing and Grant Agreements should read “Support to the Recipient for: (a) the payment of Cash Transfers to Eligible Beneficiaries participating in the Social Transfer Program Promotion Activities and to Eligible Beneficiaries participating in the Shock Responsive Program and (b) the payment of financial fees associated with the Cash Transfers” in place of the initial “Support to the Recipient for: (a) the payment of Cash Transfers to Eligible Beneficiaries participating in the Social Transfer Program Promotion Activities and (b) the payment of financial The World Bank Mauritania Social Safety Net System (P150430) fees associated with the Cash Transfers”. The definition of the Shock Responsive Program also needs to be added to the Financing and Grant Agreements. Part 2 also needs to be renamed and we propose to call it “Part 2. Support to Social Transfer and Shock Responsive Programs” in lieu of “Part 2. Support to Social Transfer Program”. The Financing and the Grant Agreements also need to reflect that there will be two operational manuals – the Social Transfer Program Manual and the Shock Responsive Program Manual. The section describing the Social Transfer Program also needs to reflect the newly created Shock Responsive Program. 2. Changes in institutional arrangements for the social registry. To reflect the creation of the Social Registry Direction, schedule 2 of the Financing and Grant Agreements should read “The Social Registry Direction of the Ministry of Economy and Finance” in lieu of the “Social Protection Unit of the MAED (Cellule de Protection Sociale, CPS)”. Also, section 5 of schedule 2 should read “5. National Project Coordinator. The National Project Coordinator shall be responsible for the technical coordination of the proposed Project” in lieu of “5. Social Protection Unit of MAED. The Social Protection Unit of the MAED and its National Project Coordinator shall be responsible for the technical coordination of the proposed Project”. The documents also need to change the denomination of the Recipient’s representative, to read “Ministère de l’Economie et des Finances” in lieu of “Ministère des Affaires Economiques et du Développement” throughout the documents. 3. Change in the GA closing date. The information should be corrected to read a closing date of June 30, 2018. I. SUMMARY OF CHANGES Changed Not Changed Change in Loan Closing Date(s) ✔ Change in Institutional Arrangements ✔ Change in Implementing Agency ✔ Change in DDO Status ✔ Change in Project's Development Objectives ✔ Change in Results Framework ✔ Change in Components and Cost ✔ Cancellations Proposed ✔ Reallocation between Disbursement Categories ✔ Change in Disbursements Arrangements ✔ The World Bank Mauritania Social Safety Net System (P150430) Change in Disbursement Estimates ✔ Change in Overall Risk Rating ✔ Change in Safeguard Policies Triggered ✔ Change of EA category ✔ Change in Legal Covenants ✔ Change in Financial Management ✔ Change in Procurement ✔ Change in Implementation Schedule ✔ Other Change(s) ✔ Change in Economic and Financial Analysis ✔ Change in Technical Analysis ✔ Change in Social Analysis ✔ Change in Environmental Analysis ✔ IV. DETAILED CHANGE(S) OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_LOANCLOSING_TABLE LOAN CLOSING DATE(S) Original Revised Proposed Proposed Deadline Ln/Cr/Tf Status Closing Closing(s) Closing for Withdrawal Applications IDA-D0540 Effective 31-Oct-2020 TF-19374 Effective 31-Dec-2017 30-Jun-2018 30-Oct-2018