Republic of Yemen
Ministry of Oil and Minerals
Yemen Industrial Stones Project
Environmental and Social Management Framework
October 2010
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1
2 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK 8
National Legislation 8
2.1 Legal Framework 8
2.1.1 The Environmental Protection Law 8
2.1.2 The Mines and Quarries Law 8
2.1.3 The Water Law 9
2.1.4 The Law on Archaeology 9
2.1.5 The Labor Law 9
2.2 Land rights / constitutional law 11
2.3 Protected Areas in Yemen 11
International Legislation 12
Administrative Framework 13
3 INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT 13
3.1 The Ministry of Oil and Minerals 13
3.2 The Application of the Environmental Protection Law 14
3.3 World Bank Safeguard Policies 15
4 BASELINE CONTEXT 16
4.1 Description of baseline environmental conditions 16
4.2 Description of baseline social conditions 17
4.2.1 Patterns of ownership 17
4.2.2 Ownership of land 18
4.2.3 Livelihoods 19
4.2.4 Status of women 20
4.2.5 Equity 20
4.2.6 Tribal law and land titles 20
4.2.7 Land conflict 22
5 POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL & SOCIAL IMPACTS 23
5.1 Negative environmental impacts: quarry sites 23
5.2 Negative environmental impacts: diamond saw workshops 23
5.3 Negative social impacts: quarry sites 32
5.4 Negative social impacts: diamond saw workshops 32
5.5 Positive social impacts: quarry sites 33
5.6 Positive social impacts: diamond saw workshops 33
5.7 Mitigation 33
6 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 34
7 SUB PROJECT REVIEW & SCREENING PROCEDURES 35
7.1 Preliminary sub-project review and screening 35
Environmental and Social Criteria for Sub-Projects 36
7.2.1 Sub-project screening: Quarry sites / environment 38
Environmental Impacts Matrix: Quarry sites on Land 39
Environmental Impacts Matrix: Quarry sites on Water 40
Environmental Impacts Matrix: Quarry sites on Air 41
7.2.2 Sub-project screening: Diamond saw workshops / environment 42
Environmental Impacts Matrix: Diamond saw workshops on Land 43
Environmental Impacts Matrix: Diamond saw workshops on Water 44
Environmental Impacts Matrix: Diamond saw workshops on Air 45
7.3 Social baseline survey 46
8 TRAINING, AWARENESS & CAPACITY BUILDING NEEDS 49
8.1 Directly affected people 49
8.2 Indirectly affected people / Other stakeholders 49
9 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MONITORING & REPORTING 51
9.1 Process for monitoring environmental impacts 51
9.2 Process for monitoring environmental and social impacts 53
Annex 1 Laws and Regulations 54
Annex 2 Preliminary stakeholder consultations with Map 64
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
DAP Directly Affected People
EIA Environmental Impact Assessment
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
EPL Environmental Protection Law
ESMF Environmental and Social Management Framework
GOAMM General Organisation for Antiquities, Museums and Manuscripts
GPS Global Positioning System
GSMRB Geological Survey and Mineral Resources Board
IPDP Indigenous Peoples’ Development Plan
JSDF Japan Social Development Fund
MAI Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
MOM Ministry of Oil and Minerals
MWE Ministry of Water and Environment
NGO Non-Governmental Organisation
NWRA National Water Resources Authority
OP Operational Policy
PMU Project Management Unit
RAP Resettlement Action Plan
RPF Resettlement Policy Framework
UN United Nations
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
YISP Yemen Industrial Stones Project
YR Yemeni Riyal
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Background
Yemen’s economy faces many challenges from converging crises relating to population, natural resources and productivity. In response to these challenges a number of promising sectors have been identified for intervention and support. Yemen has a thriving internal market in stone quarrying, primarily producing a range of high-quality stone facings that reflect Yemen’s cultural architectural heritage. This sector employs many thousands of artisans in small businesses which contain some significant problems and potential. As the overall economic situation in Yemen becomes more challenging, the impetus increases to broaden and develop promising sectors. Improvement in the quarrying sector can be aimed at productivity and quality, and in improving and broadening employment opportunities.
The aim of the Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF) in financing the Yemen Industrial Stones Project is to assist the communities in and around four existing quarrying and stone processing areas of Yemen to increase their productivity and capture greater value from their labour. The JSDF also seeks to build capacity in local community organizations so that they can support the development of their stone quarrying in an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable way by greatly improving basic health, safety and environmental performance in working methods and improving the social responsibility (equity) of working quarrying and stone cutting and finishing enterprises. To this end, the JSDF will provide financing for small grants and a revolving fund to support the Yemen Industrial Stones Project to work in four target governorates.
In addition to this Environmental and Social Management Framework, there is a generic resettlement policy framework that has been prepared for Yemen in general. This will be applied to the Yemen Industrial Stones Project as relevant.
Project Objectives and Components
The JSDF, through the World Bank proposes to finance a project starting in 2010 called the Yemen Industrial Stones Project (YISP). The project’s main objective is
“support industrial stones mining for disadvantaged, poorest and most vulnerable communities in four geologically suited governorates in Yemen” and it is designed to provide practical support to “Women, youths and persons with disabilities engaged in the minerals sector at the artisanal level who are currently a particularly disadvantaged segment of the population, engaged in a poverty-driven activity without access to modern technology, business information or markets.”
The YISP objectives are
“to assist the impoverished and disadvantaged communities in four geologically suited areas of Yemen to benefit from increasing their productivity in the development of stone quarrying and processing and to increase income generated from the minerals sector. The JSDF would also build capacity in local community organizations so that they can support the development of stone quarrying in an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable way by addressing environmentally hazardous work methods and improving social responsibility of mining projects to promote equity.”
The YISP comprises four components:
Component 1: Baseline assessment and strategy design
A comprehensive design that will feed into the rest of the project and setting up monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track project performance during its implementation. The assessment will focus on developing strategies for providing assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable groups in these communities.
Component 2: Engagement and sensitization of impacted mining communities
This component will address a lack of awareness in the four governorates (Sana'a, Amaran, Taiz and Dhammar) related to environmental and health and safety hazards associated with industrial stones mining and quarrying methods. Critically, the component will also examine and develop business and marketing awareness. The component will be completed right after the end of the baseline assessment and strategic design.
Component 3: Implementation
This component will address implementation of the YISP in the four targeted governorates. While the exact scope of the activities will be defined under the first component (baseline assessment and strategy design), it is expected that the focus will be on training of the engaged participants, introduction of environmentally less harmful mining/processing methods through modern technology, training on market access and product placement, and other activities to increase productivity.
Component 4: Grant Implementation and Administration
The fourth component will finance grant implementation and administration through the Project Management Unit (PMU) in the Geological Survey and Mineral Resources Board (GSMRB) in the Ministry of Oil and Minerals (MOM) and through a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) selected to implement Component 4 activities. The existing PMU will be slightly expanded to address the larger operation. The component will also be used to hire an independent NGO which will focus its activities on Component 4 implementation (small grants and revolving fund). The NGO will be selected and will be used to ensure independence and proximity to the recipients in the 4 communities.
Geographical scope and location
As yet the YISP has not selected any specific sites for intervention; however the projects will be distributed over four governorates: Taizz, Dhamar, Sana’a and Amran. These governorates contain active stone-quarrying industries which are representative of a wider group of businesses in the sector across much of Yemen. Following implementation, the chosen sites should be able to function as examples for replication and scaling-up in other areas.
The Environmental and Social Management Framework Objectives
The purpose of this Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) is to provide the Geological Survey and Mineral Resources Board (GSMRB), and the implementing partner organisation or NGO, with an appropriate environmental and social screening process that will enable them to identify, assess and mitigate potential negative environmental and social impacts of project activities.
This Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) aims at identifying the potential environmental and social impacts of the YISP, and develop an environmental and social management plan to help mitigate against potentially negative impacts and for monitoring compliance with relevant environmental laws. To this end, this report lays out the general environmental and social management framework for the industrial stones sector, so that once the Yemen Industrial Stones project is operational, the project may conduct a separate assessment to select precise sites in the four targeted governorates before carrying out the planned technical assistance operations. The ESMF team visited a range of typical sites to arrive at preliminary conclusions.
The core task is to prepare the basis for building suitably scaled and fit-for-purpose environmental and social management into the Yemeni Industrial Stones Project. To this end, the objectives of this ESMF are:
· To establish clear procedures and methodologies for the environmental and social planning, review, approval and implementation of subprojects to be financed under the Project;
· To specify appropriate roles and responsibilities, and outline the necessary reporting procedures for managing and monitoring environmental and social concerns related to subprojects;
· To determine the training, capacity building and technical assistance needed to successfully implement the environmental and social management provisions of the ESMF;
· To estimate the practical resources and budget for implementing the ESMF.
Methodology
In preparing this ESMF, the working team comprised members of the GSMRB and the external consultant, who together undertook consultations in all four targeted governorates (Taizz, Dhamar, Amran and Sana’a) but with a limited group of key stakeholders including Quarrymen, truck drivers and stone cutters. The sites visited and the stakeholders interviewed are provided in Annex 2. The outputs of this consultancy are intended to help ensure that the proposed project will be environmentally and socially sound and sustainable and in line with the Bank safeguard policies.
The Yemen Industrial Stones Project has no current project plan which defines the exact location of the sub-projects or defines the exact sub-sector of the industrial stones production and supply chain in which it may engage. The methodology chosen in the fieldwork was to visit a number of typical quarry sites and diamond saw workshops which may or may not be selected for inclusion in the YISP.
Moreover, at the time of carrying out the ESMF study, the YISP did not have a defined and selected set of pilot interventions for possible application at each distinct section of the production and supply chain. A number of highly promising technologies and ideas were discussed in an informal manner during the fieldwork, but there are, as yet, no set plans.
The baseline provided below is therefore an outline of the apparent context and issues around each site visited with reference to specific sites where appropriate. Before finalization, the external consultant prepared a draft ESMF for review by the GSMRB and the World Bank’s safeguards team.
World Bank Safeguards Policies
Because the YISP is based in an extractive industry, it is classified as environmental category B project. Each of the ten safeguard policies will be checked against the project components and their activities. All the individual sub-projects are expected to be small scale (‘cottage industry’) and are expected to have significant positive environmental and social impacts, with relatively minor negative impacts, if any.
Potential Environmental and Social Impacts and Mitigation Measures
Anticipated positive impacts
The project will achieve significant socioeconomic benefits. Among these:
§ Improving the living standards of the relevant populations and the provision of an enhanced sense of wellbeing;
§ Providing community empowerment, especially for women, youth and vulnerable groups;
§ Achieving economic development through direct income generation opportunities;
§ Mobilizing the communities and encouraging community participation;
§ Significant reduction in stone waste through re-processing of stone waste which is currently the largest environmental impact from the quarries; and
§ Building the skills of stone processors.
Environmental and social impacts and the mitigation measures
The projected negative environmental and social impacts are very minor and do not have significant impacts on the local ecology or agro-ecology. There are no anticipated risks associated with the implementation of the YISP; however, there may be some impacts as a result of some activities and the related mitigations are introduced:
§ The provision of small stone cutting equipment may involve preparation of sites within the existing quarry. If the YISP is highly successful it is anticipated that replicate projects may emerge, in which case, additional traffic may occur. Upgrading of roads should not be primary feature of YISP; however, mitigation would require the care not to construct roads on valuable crop land. Social conflicts may arise from compensation claims therefore awareness and involvement of the community in the decisions would mitigate this social impact.
§ The implementation of stone-processing at the quarry site will benefit the rural poor; however, the by-products will still comprise stone waste, dust and cuttings. Although a small volume of solid wastes may be left on the sites, because the projects will be re-processing existing waste, the overall level of land degradation is expected to be reduced due to project activities. Subprojects will be monitored and waste management systems put in place.