25620 - Wataniya Palesti

Who We Are
Who We Are

IFC is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. By encouraging growth, IFC advances economic development, creates jobs and improves the lives of people.
More About Us
About IFC

Our Leadership

Development Partners
Accountability

Learn more about accountability
Annual Report

Download the Report
What We Do
What We Do

IFC advances economic development and improves the lives of people by encouraging the growth of the private sector in developing countries. We achieve this by investing in impactful projects, mobilizing other investors, and sharing expertise.
What We Do Overview
SOLUTIONS

Our products and services
OUR PRIORITIES

Climate Business

Fragile & Conflict Afflicted Situations

Gender

Mobilizing Private Capital

Sustainability
SECTORS & EXPERTISE

Agribusiness & Forestry

Creative Industries

Education

Financial Institutions

Funds

Health

Infrastructure

Manufacturing

Public-Private Partnerships

Tourism, Retail & Property

Trade & Supply Chain Finance

Venture Capital

Working Upstream
Where We Work
Where We Work

As the largest global development institution focused on the private sector, IFC operates in more than 100 countries around the globe. We apply lessons learned in one region to solve problems in another.
Overview
By Region

Africa

East Asia and Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and Central Asia

South Asia
Our Impact
Our Impact

Our impact improves lives. IFC brings a clear set of advantages to the world’s most challenging markets. Including a history of innovation, a global mandate, and a determination to achieve measurable development impact.
Our Impact Overview
PRINCIPLES & MEASUREMENT

Impact Investing at IFC

Measuring and Monitoring (AIMM)

Evaluation

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Owned by 186 member countries and consistently rated AAA/Aaa. IFC aims to achieve our mission of promoting development by providing debt and equity to the private sector, through a range of benchmark and bespoke products.

For Partners

For Investors

Get in Touch

Environmental & Social Review Summary

Project Number

25620

Company Name

WATANIYA PALESTINE MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS PSC

Date ESRS Disclosed

Aug 27, 2008

Country

West Bank and Gaza

Region

Middle East

Last Updated Date

Jun 3, 2021

Environmental Category

B - Limited

Status

Completed

Previous Events

Approved : Jan 15, 2009
Signed : Jan 19, 2009
Invested : May 14, 2009

Sector

Mobile Telephony

Industry

Telecommunications and Technology

Department

WBG Digital and AI

Project Description

The project consists of the construction and operation of a greenfield mobile cellular telephone network in the West Bank, Palestinian Territories. The project will be implemented by Wataniya Palestine Mobile Telecommunication Company Limited (Wataniya Palestine or the company), a company owned 57% by Wataniya International FZ LLC, which is turn is 51% owned by the Qatari incumbent Qatar Telecom, and 43% by the Palestine Investment Fund.

Overview of IFC's Scope of Review

The review of this project consisted of appraising technical, environmental and social information submitted by Wataniya Palestine, and a visit by IFC investment staff to the project site, to meet with Wataniya Palestine management and to have a first-hand look at operational activities.

E & S Project Categorization and Applicable Standard

IFC’s environmental and social due diligence indicates that the principal Performance Standards (PSs) to be applied to this investment are:

- PS1: Social and Environmental Assessment and Management Systems
- PS2: Labor and Working Conditions,
- PS3: Pollution Prevention and Abatement
- PS4: Community Health, Safety and Security
- PS5: Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement
- PS8: Cultural Heritage

A condition of IFC’s investment will be that Wataniya Palestine’s operations shall consider all relevant social and environmental risks and impacts, including issues covered in all IFC PSs.

This project involves the development of a cellular network, with construction and maintenance of cellular tower sites, laying and leasing of a fiber network, and leasing of retail outlets. The key issues associated with the project are implementation of a policy and procedures for environmental, health, safety, and social management; and labor and working conditions, including employee and contractor occupational health and safety. The nature of the company’s operations is such that no major adverse environmental or social impacts are expected to result from the project, and that it will be possible to avoid or mitigate any limited adverse impacts that might result. As a result, it has been classified as a Category B project according to IFC’s Procedure for Environmental and Social Review of Projects.

Environmental and Social Mitigation Measures

The proposed project will upon implementation of the specific agreed measures comply with applicable standards including host country laws and regulations, IFC Performance Standards, and IFC environmental, health and safety guidelines. Information provided by Wataniya Palestine is summarized as follows:

- PS1: Environmental, Health, Safety and Social Management:

To manage environmental and social risks and impacts, comply with applicable standards, and as a condition of IFC’s investment, Wataniya Palestine has agreed to develop a formal and integrated Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) to IFC’s satisfaction. This ESMS shall include policies and procedures to manage all relevant functions covered in IFC’s PS2 through PS8.

Wataniya Palestine will outsource construction of new tower sites and security services to reputable companies with high quality management standards. The company will ensure prior disclosure of the development of new tower sites to local communities, as site conditions warrant. Wataniya Palestine will include environmental, health and safety terms in all new contracts for its outsourced construction and security services, and will monitor compliance with those terms. For renewal of present contracts and also for future new material tenders for work by any contractors, Wataniya Palestine will require submission of environmental, health and safety management plans with bids, and the strength of these plans will be considered in tender evaluation. Wataniya Palestine will appoint its own staff to supervise contractors’ compliance with the environmental, health and safety management plans, and shall require improvement in the event that non-compliance is identified. The Company will realize energy savings through the latest generations of hardware design for its network, energy usage, and cooling needs.

- PS2: Labor and Working Conditions:

Wataniya Palestine has been working to comply with all applicable local labor laws and regulations. In addition, the company has agreed to implement an employee recruitment and selection policy and procedures satisfactory to IFC, including a procedure to ensure that no employee is below the legal employment age. This policy and procedures shall promote the fair treatment, non-discrimination and equal opportunity of its employees, and shall include written procedures for handling employee grievances. Wataniya Palestine will ensure that all of its employees are provided with appropriate personal protective equipment and health and safety training for the type of work in which they are engaged. For all of its offices, operational sites, switching centers, and retail outlets, appropriate measures for life and fire safety will be included in Wataniya Palestine’s policy and procedures.

Wataniya Palestine shall make commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that no contractors’ employee who performs work related to core functions of Wataniya Palestine for a substantial duration is below the legal employment age. Wataniya Palestine shall also make commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that contractors’ employees who perform work related to core functions of Wataniya Palestine for a substantial duration shall be provided a safe and healthy work environment, including appropriate training, protective clothing and equipment.

- PS3: Pollution Prevention and Abatement:

The company will oversee waste management by contractors performing construction to ensure compliance with PS2 and IFC’s Telecommunications Guidelines.

- PS4: Community Health, Safety and Security:

The company will develop and implement procedures to mitigate risks to local community members from the potential use of force by any security service provider, and will ensure compliance with PS4.

- PS5: Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement:

The company plans sixty tower sites requiring construction, with others to be collocated with other operators or on rooftops. It will not undertake any construction in sensitive areas, and will ensure that nobody will be physically or economically displaced by any of its construction activity. Rather than purchase sites, the company will lease them from landowners only when they can prove their ownership rights. The company has discussed with local authorities how best to address their requirements and approval processes. A process has been developed for site engineers to document locations of sites and surrounding areas.

- PS8: Cultural Heritage:

Wataniya Palestine will ensure the protection of cultural heritage according to PS8, through measures including the development of procedures to manage any chance find of cultural property at any construction site.

Stakeholder Engagement

Wataniya Palestine recognizes the importance of community engagement. For acquisition of tower sites, Wataniya Palestine shall consult with relevant municipalities or local village councils, obtain required authorizations, and comply with local environmental codes and IFC Performance Standards. For all aspects of community engagement, Wataniya Palestine has agreed to develop to IFC’s satisfaction any further procedures needed to comply with IFC Performance Standards, including disclosure of relevant facts to community members regarding proposed new sites, and provision for handling and resolving complaints or grievances received from community members regarding any tower site.

Questions or comments can be directed to:

Brent Muckridge
Chief Financial Officer
Wataniya Palestine Mobile Telecommunication Company
brent.muckridge@wataniya-palestine.com

**Information on IFC's Policy and Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability can be found at www.ifc.org/sustainability

IFC supports its clients in addressing environmental and social issues arising from their business activities by requiring its real sector clients to set up and administer appropriate grievance mechanisms and/or procedures to address complaints from Affected Communities in relation to environmental and social issues arising from IFC's clients' business activities. Since 2012, IFC's Financial Intermediary clients applying the Performance Standards are required to develop External Communications Mechanisms to receive and review inquiries or complaints from any interested party regarding the E&S risks and impacts of their operations.

For IFC projects that are active or under consideration, individual(s), or their authorized representative(s), who allege they have been or will be adversely affected by E&S risks or impacts arising from IFC's clients' business activities, may submit a complaint to IFC directly for consideration. When receiving an E&S complaint, IFC engages with complainants and works with its clients to find solutions to E&S concerns as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Complaints can be submitted to IFC online at www.ifc.org/escomplaints or by email to EScomplaints@ifc.org.

IFC complaint response is separate from and complementary to IFC’s clients’ project level grievance mechanisms and IFC’s Independent Accountability Mechanism (CAO). Lodging a complaint directly with IFC does not, at any time, restrict access to CAO.

Affected communities have unrestricted access to the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the independent accountability mechanism for IFC and MIGA. CAO facilitates the resolution of complaints related to IFC and MIGA projects and sub-projects, undertakes reviews of IFC’s and MIGA’s environmental and social compliance, fosters public accountability for their commitments, and enhances the environmental and social performance of IFC and MIGA.

Independent of IFC and MIGA management and reporting directly to the IFC and MIGA Boards of Executive Directors, CAO helps resolve issues raised about the environmental and social impacts of projects through a neutral, collaborative, problem-solving approach via its Dispute Resolution function. It also reviews IFC’s and MIGA’s compliance with environmental and social policies, assesses related harm, and recommends remedial actions through its Compliance function. Additionally, CAO provides advice to IFC, MIGA, and their Boards to enhance environmental and social sustainability performance and minimize the risk of harm.

Complaints may relate to environmental and social harm regarding any aspect of the planning, implementation, or impact of a project or sub-project, and can be made by any individual, group, community, entity, or other party affected or likely to be affected by the environmental or social impacts of an IFC- or MIGA-financed business activity.

Complaints can be submitted by any of the following methods:

Online form: available at https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/
Mail/Hand Delivery to: 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA
Voice mail: +1 202 458 1973
Email: cao@worldbankgroup.org
SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal: +1 202 650 2627

CAO receives and addresses complaints in accordance with the CAO Policy, which can be accessed at: https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/policies-guidelines.

This Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS) is prepared by IFC to disclose its findings and recommendations related to environmental and social considerations regarding potential investments. Its purpose is to enhance the transparency of IFC's activities. For any project documentation or data included or attached herein, whether prepared by the project sponsor or otherwise, authorization has been given for public release by the project sponsor. IFC considers that this ESRS is of adequate quality for release to the public, but has not necessarily independently verified all of the project information therein.
It is distributed in advance of IFC Board of Directors' consideration and may be periodically updated thereafter. Board dates are estimates only and this document should not be construed as presuming the outcome of the Board Directors’ decision. The following ESRS is disclosed in accordance with IFC's Access to Information Policy (AIP).

The map is for illustrative purposes and does not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of the World Bank, concerning the legal status of any country or territory or concerning the delimitation of frontiers or boundaries. Country borders or names do not necessarily reflect the World Bank Group's official position. In some cases, available project location information is limited to the country of the project's activities. Locations are approximate.

Projects

Environmental & Social Review Summary

Project Description

Overview of IFC's Scope of Review

E & S Project Categorization and Applicable Standard

Identified Applicable Performance Standards

Environmental and Social Categorization and Rationale

Environmental and Social Mitigation Measures

Environmental and Social Mitigation Measures

Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholder Engagement

Local Access of Project Documentation

Press-Release

Related SII

Similar Projects

Information on E&S Complaints and Grievance Mechanisms

Disclaimer