LocationsEnsuring sustainable outcomes through social and environmental safeguards
June 27, 2023
According to UNDP-Ethiopia's SES specialist, Mr Asmare Adegeh, "SES provides an integrated risk management framework, tools and accountability mechanisms".
National partners from various ministries have met to discuss the importance of social and environmental standards (SES) in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation stages of projects supported through UNDP.
The SES is at the core of UNDP's commitment to ensure sustainable development. The discussions looked at challenges faced by the partners, and existing national procedures, and also included experience shared by the World Bank in enforcing SES in Ethiopia.
The standards are underpinned by an Accountability Mechanism with two key components: (i) A Stakeholder Response Mechanism (SRM) that ensures individuals, peoples, and communities affected by UNDP projects have access to appropriate grievance resolution procedures for hearing and jointly addressing project-related disputes; and (ii) A Compliance Review process to investigate and respond to claims that UNDP is not in compliance with the Social and Environmental Standards.
The two-day event in June 2023 was organised through the support of a SIDA pilot initiative in nine countries, including Ethiopia, that promotes building capacity on SES, gender and knowledge management.