- The Global Environment Facility (GEF), through the World Bank (WB) as an implementing agency, was in process of financing the “Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Strategic Ecosystem Management Project” (RSGA ESM) in Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, and Yemen.
- The project was to be executed by the Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA).
- An integral prerequisite to WB financing is to ensure that a development project will not have detrimental environmental impacts. Therefore, PERSGA commissioned Environics to develop an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) and a Process Framework (PF) for the selected sites.
- The main objective of the assignment was to prepare comprehensive studies that identified and analyzed the potential environmental and social impacts of the implementation of the project.
- Due to project modifications made by PERSGA, the assignment was limited to developing the studies for the case of Egypt, as well as reviewing those developed for the case of Sudan. In line with the WB safeguard policies, the study for the case of Egypt included an ESMF and a Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF)/PF for the project site, namely, Wadi ElGemal Hamata Protected Area (WGHPA).
The ESMF included the following:
- Environmental baseline, which covered:
- Physical environment: climate, circulation and currents, and geology.
- Biological environment: mountains and wadis, coastal plain, littoral belt, marine environment, and critical habitats.
- Social environments: population size and trends, and socioeconomics.
- Legal framework, which comprised the WB safeguard policies and the Egyptian legislation pertaining to the environmental assessment.
- Methodology for preparation, approvals, and execution of sub-projects.
- Stakeholder analysis.
- ESMF.
- Preliminary assessment of environmental impacts and discussion of mitigation measures.
- Strengthening institutional capacities: training, information and sensitization, which comprised public consultation and participation, as well as a consultation strategy.
The PF included:
- Legal framework, which covered: the WB involuntary resettlement policy requirements, Egyptian policy and laws, and the indigenous people within the project area.
- Process framework, which included: preliminary social assessment; consultation process; participatory implementation; stakeholders analysis; criteria for eligibility of affected people; measures to assist affected people; conflict resolution and complaint mechanism, and monitoring and evaluation.