Note No. 67 July 2001 The Influence of Social Analysis on a Solid Waste Management Project: West Bank and Gaza Social Development Best Practice Elements · Attention to adverse impacts · Organizational and institutional analysis · Institutionalized mechanisms for participation in decision-making, implementation, and monitoring The West Bank and Gaza suffer from severe income. Moreover, runoff and leachate environmental degradation, including threaten to pollute groundwater aquifers, the deterioration of groundwater and West Bank's main source of water supply. uncontrolled dumping of solid waste. These These environmental and public health problems have been addressed in Gaza with problems are compounded by weak the assistance of bilateral donors, but until infrastructure and lack of institutional the design of the Solid Waste and capacity. Environment Management Project (SWEMP) in 2000, they were largely Project Objectives neglected in the West Bank. In an effort to address these problems, the Solid waste management practices in the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of West Bank are characterized by infrequent Environmental Affairs requested Bank and inadequate waste collection services, assistance for developing a solid waste improper disposal at open dump sites, and project to benefit more than 200,000 people open air burning. Hospital and household in the impoverished Jenin district. The aim waste are mixed together at sites that are was to protect the aquifers and improve only marginally controlled. Litter and waste public health by closing 84 uncontrolled are dumped in open lots, on the roadside, dumpsites and restoring that land to more and in small village dumps. Odors from protective use; and by developing a these sites discourage tourism, thus controlled regional landfill and institutional depriving residents of a possible source of capacity to manage the solid waste system. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ The task manager for this project is Kanthan Shankar. Mohamed Arbi Ben-Achour, senior social scientist, is a member of the project team and managed the social assessment. This best practice note was prepared by Deborah Davis. The views expressed in this note are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the World Bank. The project was designed by Palestinian advantages and disadvantages and its officials and the project team in a decision-making process, and their degree of participatory manner, using public commitment to the project. The team also consultation techniques such as focus groups produced a socioeconomic profile of the and individual interviews. The project has affected population, including generation established a Joint Services Council (JSC) patterns for different types of waste for Solid Waste Management (a 17-member (organic, plastics, metal, textiles, rubber, representative body with quasi- etc.) in urban and rural areas, attitudes governmental status). A social assessment toward dumping fees, mechanisms for (SA) conducted before implementation community involvement in project highlighted a number of issues that had not implementation and monitoring, and land been adequately taken into account in the issues. original design. Many of the SA's recommendations were incorporated into the Impact on Project Design final project design. The SA influenced the project in the Elements of the Social Assessment following ways: The MNSED Social Team commissioned 1) Site selection. The original proposed site four members of the Palestinian Social was 6.5 hectares of land, 3.5 hectares of Scientists Network to carry out the SA, which was planted with olive trees. During using a variety of methodologies. The local the conduct of the SA a workshop team conducted interviews with key participant suggested moving the southern stakeholders (officials, landowners, boundary of the site to save the olive community leaders, community members); orchards. The team, recognizing the case studies of several villages; a group significant historic, cultural, and economic discussion with members of one village value of the orchards, and the likely council; focus groups with large landowners resistance of landowners to replacing them who would be affected by the project; and a with a landfill, proposed to the JSC that the consultative workshop with representatives southern border of the site be moved to of the municipality of Jenin, the Ministry of utilize uncultivated land. Local Government, the Ministry of Health, and other stakeholders. The SA team also 2) Identifying stakeholder concerns. The SA met with landowners and residents directly identified three distinct groups of affected by the proposed landfill, i.e., those stakeholders, each with its own set of living less than a half kilometer from the concerns: local governments and site. The team conducted an initial round of institutions, landowners and residents living interviews, reviewed the data, and then near the site who could be negatively carried out additional fieldwork to confirm affected by the project, and direct and certain findings and obtain additional data. indirect beneficiaries. These activities explored the attitudes of Representatives of local governments and stakeholders and beneficiaries toward the institutions believed the project would have existing solid waste management system, positive outcomes in terms of health, their knowledge and expectations of the environment, and living conditions, and proposed site, their views of the project's were generally satisfied with the JSC as the structure formed to manage the landfill. 2 However, the SA found that small on developing the organization and technical municipalities and village councils wanted capacity of the JSC and the municipalities more information about the expected and village councils in the Jenin District to benefits of the project, and wanted to deliver and efficient and cost-effective participate more directly in the project's services. The concerns of landowners were preparation and ongoing management. also addressed by increasing the level of compensation and moving the boundaries of The Joint Services Council was designed to the site so as not to disturb the olive respond to community needs and to link orchards. municipalities and village councils in managing the landfill. The JSC incorporates Direct and indirect beneficiaries did not into its governance structure all 13 have a clear understanding of the project's municipalities and 73 villages within the objectives until meeting with the SA team. Jenin District, and gives voice and decision- Most of the public had not been informed of making authority to the affected the proposed landfill site, and many communities. It also places responsibility for beneficiaries were unaware of the health cost recovery in the hands of decision risks involved in current dumping and makers whose communities will benefit waste-burning practices. Once they from the services provided. Under this understood the project, they made a number arrangement, local communities continue to of valuable suggestions for improving waste be responsible for solid waste collection, management in their areas, including and the JSC is responsible for closing increasing the number of waste containers uncontrolled dumps and constructing and and ending the practice of burning waste. operating the landfill. The communities They also offered suggestions concerning collect fees to cover these services, and, in fee collection, participation in decision- turn, pay the JSC. making, and the need for public awareness programs. Landowners and residents believed the project would improve their quality of life, The suggestions of these beneficiaries led to but had negative views of the professional the arrangements for fee collection capacities of municipal management, and described above, and to an intensive focus were concerned about the project not on public awareness campaigns. The proceeding in compliance with campaigns will be carried out by environmental specifications. Landowners community-based organizations, NGOs, were also concerned that the compensation women's groups, and other local groups plan prepared by the project team offered under contract with the Ministry of them 20 percent below market value, and Environmental Affairs and the JSC. did not consider the social dimension of their loss of land. Monitoring Social Development Outcomes Capacity Building The demands of beneficiaries for These findings led to the inclusion of an involvement not only in project preparation, upstream capacity-building activity financed but also in implementation and monitoring, by the West Bank and Gaza Technical led to the inclusion of these responsibilities Assistance Trust Fund. This activity focuses in the design of the JSC. Three social 3 development indicators will be developed the general lack of trust in local government and implemented in the project's monitoring capacity, and the lack of ownership by local and evaluation plan. These are: 1) a well- communities of the problem of solid waste functioning JSC, 2) public knowledge, management. It helped to foster agreement attitudes and practice regarding solid waste among stakeholders with widely differing management, and 3) beneficiary satisfaction interests, identified the key elements for with the project. Beneficiary satisfaction sustainability of the solid waste system, laid will be measured through willingness-to-pay the groundwork for the protection of and satisfaction surveys. Public health and aquifers that are the major source of environmental improvements will be drinking water supply, and helped to measured by the progress in elimination of develop the capacity of local government current nuisances to local communities and community-based groups to carry out through closure of uncontrolled dump sites. similar projects in the future. The SA for the Solid Waste and Environmental Management Project helped to overcome the resistance of landowners, "Social Development Notes" are published informally by the Social Development Family in the Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development Network of the World Bank. For additional copies, contact Social Development Publications, World Bank, 1818 H Street, NW, MSN MC5-507, Washington, DC 20433, USA, Fax: 202-522-3247, E-mail: sdpublications@worldbank.org. Printed on Recycled Paper 4