This post is also available in: Spanish
From January 28 to February 1, 2013, BIC and DAR, a Peruvian nonprofit, co-organized a Training Seminar on the Implementation of Social and Environmental Safeguards held in Washington, DC. Fourteen colleagues from eight countries in Central and South America (Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama) participated in the seminar. The seminar was designed as a three-day training course on safeguard policies, accountability mechanisms, access to information and consultation mechanisms, and planning and environmental management tools. These included Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental and Social Management Frameworks at the policy, planning, and program stages, as well as the criteria for risk classification and defining areas of influence for indirect impacts. The seminar was designed and coordinated so that attendees would have the opportunity to share their experiences and expertise in different areas, with the support of experts from the World Bank and other civil society partners in DC.
The objectives of the seminar were to:
- Strengthen capacity and practical skills related to management and implementation of social and environmental safeguard policies at different stages of the project cycle (including the program, planning, and policy stages)
- Strengthen understanding of environmental management tools that facilitate the application of safeguards, as well as the challenges related to national frameworks as opposed to the World Bank’s safeguard policy framework
- Strengthen the understanding and analysis of potential conflicts, problems, and resistance related to the implementation of safeguards, as well as the possible outcomes, especially for those directly affected. The seminar also aimed to prepare partners for informed participation during the regional World Bank consultations on the safeguards review process.
For more information and materials used in the seminar, see this post in Spanish.