On Monday morning, January 22, the World Bank mission began in Cape Verde, with the aim of carrying out a comprehensive assessment of the National Environmental and Social Risk Management System. The meeting was attended by the Coordinator of the Special Projects Management Unit (UGPE), Nuno Gomes, accompanied by the Environmental and Social Specialist, Neiva Centeio.
During the meeting, they explained Cape Verde’s experience in implementing the World Bank’s 10 Environmental and Social Standards (NAS), alignment with national laws and regulations, good practices applied in the country and areas where institutional capacity building is needed.
The mission also includes a series of bilateral meetings with different institutions benefiting from projects financed by the World Bank, in order to gather suggestions and identify opportunities to improve the whole process, bringing it into line with good international practices applied by the World Bank.
It should be noted that Cape Verde was selected as one of the 10 pilot countries for this type of evaluation, where the conclusions include guidelines for the process of using national systems to manage the environmental and social risks of projects financed by the World Bank.
This assessment will identify areas in which national institutions, laws, regulations and procedures for environmental and social management are materially consistent with the Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) and can therefore be used for the preparation and execution of projects financed by the Bank.
In areas where there are significant gaps between the national system and the World Bank’s environmental and social standards (or international best practice), a joint action plan can be developed to address these gaps.
The evaluation period will run until February 2, providing a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the country’s current scenario so that the proposed solution can be adapted to the country’s reality and respond to today’s challenges.