KP-RIISP organises training on environmental & social safeguards

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rural Investment and Institutional Support Project (KP-RIISP) organised a two-day capacity building workshop for the implementing partners on Environmental and Social Safeguards.

The workshop was aimed at introducing the risks, impacts, and solutions related to potential environmental and social matters with reference to the implementation of the project activities.

The training also covered other key project aspects including stakeholder engagement, grievance redress, and effective monitoring and evaluation. The two-day workshop brought together key officials from partner line departments which are directly involved in the implementation of KP-RIISP.

These departments include Planning and Development, Agriculture, Communication and Works, Irrigation, Public Health Engineering, and Local Government and Rural Development.

It was highlighted during the training that the environmental and social safeguard measures remain consistent with the environmental safeguard guidelines, rules, and regulations of the Government of Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as in line with the World Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework (ESF). The workshop also highlighted key project components which may have adverse environmental and social impacts such as construction of agriculture, irrigation and roads infrastructure.

As the project will be undertaking the construction of district complexes and tehsil offices in all the Merged Districts and the training will help the stakeholders to provide oversight with reference to the environmental and social safeguards of these development initiatives. The Project Director of KP-RIISP Hamid Naveed stressed upon the importance of Environment and Social Management Plan (ESMP) as it was applied as a master planning tool for the implementation of all the suggested mitigation measures to make the project environmentally and socially sustainable. “Environmentally sound, socially acceptable, and long-term sustainable development is the project’s strategic approach”, he said.