This Common General Framework for Environmental and Social Management (CGCGES) was prepared for the second phase (SOP2, the Project) of the Harmonization and Improvement of Statistics in West and Central Africa (HISWACA) program covering the Republic of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Chad, as well as the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC). The CGCGES was prepared by the institutions responsible for the national statistical systems (NSS) in the three countries concerned, as well as by the CEMAC. The CGCGES has been prepared to meet the requirements of the World Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework (ESF), including the Environmental and Social Standard for the Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Effects (ESS 1), as well as the laws and regulations of the countries concerned and the CEMAC on environmental and social risk management. The three countries concerned and CEMAC have also prepared a Common General Workforce Management Framework (CGCPGMO) to meet the requirements of the Employment and Working Conditions Standard (ESS 2), as well as a Common General Stakeholder Mobilization Framework (CGCMPP) to meet the requirements of ESS 10 related to stakeholder mobilization and information. The use of an ESMC for the Project in lieu of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) is appropriate and necessary, given that the Project covers three countries and consists of a large number of activities whose scope, location and timing are not fully known at the time of the Project assessment. The CGCGES will therefore ensure that all Project activities meet the requirements of the SRC, including the preparation of the environmental and social risk management instruments required by the ESC during the implementation of the Project. To this end, the CGCGES details how each type of activity will be reviewed in order to assess its potential environmental and social risks and impacts, identify the necessary mitigation measures, and monitor the implementation of these measures, including more specifically the environmental and social performance of the Project’s contracting entities. The Project CGCGES, together with its CGCMPP and the CGCPGMO, will guide the preparation of specific plans by the institutions responsible for NSS in the three countries concerned, as well as by CEMAC. Each of these institutions will have to prepare ESMPs for any building construction or modernization activity, a specific Stakeholder Mobilization Plan (SMPP), and specific Workforce Management Procedures. Similar to this GGP, these instruments will need to be prepared in accordance with the relevant ESS requirements.
