“We seek to comply with the procedural criteria imposed by the funders” said the Coordinator of the Special Projects Management Unit – UGPE, Nuno Gomes, at the opening session of the training on gender-based violence that took place this Tuesday, June 12 , in Praia.
According to the coordinator, this training is listed as one of the environmental and social safeguard requirements of the Project for Access to Financing for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, which also includes support for companies in the preparation of the business plan and in the organization of the management and accounting.
In general, with regard to financial management, social and environmental safeguard issues, and gender-based violence issues in the implementation of World Bank-funded projects, UGPE strives to comply with all regulations imposed by the World Bank, and elsewhere, and on the other hand, “adapt to what is already being done in the country through the National Directorate for the Environment and the ICIEG itself, and avoid collision in the system”, added Gomes.
He also said that on the sidelines of this project, a protocol was signed with ICIEG – UGPE’s partner institution in the dissemination, awareness, and training in the area of gender-based violence and sexual and harassment, for the development of a training set for the projects in the portfolio at UGPE.
The training was aimed at raising awareness and strengthening the capacities of the project’s partner financial institutions regarding environmental, social, and health and safety (NASSS) standards, occupational health and safety (OHS) requirements and preventing/responding to Violence Based on Gender (GBV) as well as Violence Against Children (VCC).
On the occasion, the coordinator appealed to the institutions present, above all, the Commercial Banks, in order to support UGPE in complying with the Environmental and Social Management System of the guarantee fund, as this is a necessary condition for the financing of the World Bank and, consequently, to ensure the continuity of implementation of the Access to Financing Project for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises.
During the training session, UGPE’s environmental specialist, Neiva Centeio, presented the project’s Environmental and Social instruments, namely the project’s Environmental and Social Management Framework, the Environmental and Social Management System, and the Grievance Mechanism to the project’s financial partners access to financing for micro, small, and medium enterprises.