IFC’s appraisal considered the environmental and social management planning process and documentation for the Project and gaps, if any, between these and IFC’s requirements. Where necessary, corrective measures, intended to close these gaps within a reasonable period of time, are summarized in the paragraphs that follow and (if applicable) in an agreed Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP). Through implementation of these measures, the Project is expected to be designed and operated in accordance with Performance Standards objectives.
PS 1: Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts
Environmental and Social Policies and Management Systems:
RGON’s E&S policies and ESMS are in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom of Morocco. The conduct of an E&S impact assessment (ESIA) is only required when the project is expected to have potential impacts on the people and the environment as per law 12-03. The official national bulletin (le bulletin officiel national) outlines E&S policies applicable to projects at the regional level addressing the following aspects: (i) protection of contractor employees; (ii) environmental protection including community engagement; (iii) waste management; (iv) subcontractor management; (v) health and safety measures; and (vi) care, emergency response to workers and employees. Other laws, namely law 36-15, refer to water usage and water quality, and law 13-03 concerns air quality and air pollution. Additional reference is made regarding stakeholder engagement and grievance/concern management.
Identification of Risks and Impacts & Management Programs:
As per national law, most subprojects would not require the completion of an ESIA and an E&S management plan (ESMP). In cases where ESIA is not required, the contractors must respect article 30 on environmental protection in the General Administrative Clauses of Works (CCAGT) which states “the contractor must take all measures to guarantee the health and security of people including with neighboring communities” to the construction sites. The contractors selected for the work must respond to risks and impact via an ESMP.
To complement the Region’s ESMS, RGON will develop a project-specific E&S Management Framework (ESMF) Manual aligned with IFC’s PS and the World Bank Group’s General EHS Guidelines to select, screen, assess, and monitor the E&S risks and impacts of the eligible subprojects. This will include the following key aspects: (i) criteria for only selecting, as eligible subprojects for IFC financing, CAPEX-related investments with limited E&S risks and impacts and excluding subprojects resulting in any degree of involuntary physical and/or economic displacement or impacts on sensitive biodiversity areas; (ii) E&S screening and assessment procedure; (iii) development of mitigation measures to address E&S risks and impacts identified; (iv) project implementation process; (v) roles and responsibilities; (vi) contractor management procedure, including working conditions and worker’s grievance mechanism; (vii) stakeholder engagement and grievance management procedure; (viii) training plan on the ESMF manual components; and (ix) monitoring and evaluation procedure (ESAP #1).
E&S Organization Capacity:
The project implementation branch of the Region is the Regional Agency for Project Implementation (AREP – Agence Regional pour l’Execution des Projets). The overall management of E&S risks and impacts falls under a supervision and control committee supervised by the Director of AREP. At the level of the Region, there are two RGON officers who monitor the work of the committee and the regional entities. These two officers provide the Region with an E&S oversight role, including assessing the feasibility and compliance of eligible subprojects through a committee review considering economic outcome and project impacts and risks (e.g., E&S sensitivities, need for ESIA development, development constraint areas, land acquisition requirements, alignment with the RDP priorities etc.).
There are several ministerial representatives at the regional level including tourism, infrastructure, health, education, agriculture, equipment, and national port agency. Every entity has dedicated Quality, Health, Safety, and Environment (“QHSE”) officer/s who undertake the required compliance checks. Each entity responsible for implementing eligible subprojects will have its own QHSE resources. Prior to the implementation of the ESMF Manual mentioned above (ESAP #1), RGON E&S officers will be trained in all aspects of the ESMF Manual (ESAP #2).
Emergency Preparedness and Response:
Emergency Preparedness and Response on the construction sites are managed in accordance with the provisions of the CCAGT, approved by Decree No. 2-14-394 of 6 Chaabane 1437 (May 13, 2016), which represents the general obligations of the 'entrepreneur’ or contractor performing the construction works. More specifically, Chapter 3 of the CCAGT outlines the responsibilities of the contractor, as stipulated in Article 25. Thus, in the event of an emergency such as an accident on the construction site, the measures and protocols described in these provisions are followed to ensure effective management of the situation. The current procedures and provisions to manage emergency preparedness and response are in line with IFC PS requirements.
Monitoring and Review:
Monitoring and evaluation of E&S performance are carried out by a dedicated team comprising the RGON E&S officers and the QHSE municipal officers from the relevant implementation agency. QHSE officers monitor each contractor’s E&S contract clauses defined in the Terms of Reference (ToR) or the Cahier des Prescriptions Speciales (CPS) to ensure their compliance. For environmental protection requirements, they are mentioned in the CPS of each project and in the CCAG-T (Article 30).
The QHSE officers from each implementation agency will apply the contractor management procedure under the ESMF Manual and conduct regular monitoring visits to the eligible subprojects to ensure compliance against E&S standards defined in the CPS. Targeted monitoring can also be undertaken in response to grievances received (see ESAP #1).
PS 2: Labor and Working Conditions
The project's labor and working conditions requirements will focus on construction workers engaged through contractors for the eligible subprojects. The contracts between the implementation agency and the contractor require that contractors respect HR-related provisions in the CCAGT and local labor law, which are overall aligned with IFC PS2. Per article 23 in the CCAGT, contractors must respect: fair recruitment and payment terms to workers; OHS conditions and insurance coverage in cases of worker accidents; general medical coverage of workers; protection of women in the work environment, and avoidance of child and forced labor.
Per Moroccan labor code, article 398 states “Workers and employers are free to join a professional organization (syndicat) of their own choosing”. Moroccan government contractors may have worker delegates, and when no worker delegates are present, the workers refer to the union representative for work related issues such as overtime, working hours or other worker condition issues that may arise. Non-discrimination and equal opportunity within RGON are largely managed under the auspices of the Moroccan labor code, article 9 which states there is to be no discrimination based on race, color, sex, handicap, marital situation, religion, political opinion, union affiliation, or national or social origin.
The QHSE officer from an implementation agency monitors the contractor’s human resource (HR) performance, such as worker’s insurance, payments to the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) and compliance with the national labor code and take necessary measures in the event of non-compliance.
The ESMF Manual (ESAP #1) will include requirements for contractors of working conditions and worker’s grievance mechanism including an anonymous channel for workers to lodge grievances and a differentiated process for more sensitive grievances regarding sexual harassment and gender-based violence, implementation of which will be monitored as per the ESMF Manual’s monitoring and evaluation procedure (ESAP #1).
Occupational Health and Safety:
RGON has defined an OHS policy aligned with local regulations and its implementation and oversight fall under the relevant implementation agency. As per the requirements of the OHS policy, the construction companies implement actions to safeguard workers against occupational accidents and diseases to ensure the health and safety of contractors employed by the implementation agency.
Key requirements in the articles of the CCAGT include identification of project specific risks, including: worker accommodations, cantinas, hygiene, medical services, security, environmental protection, incident reporting and investigation by the implementation agency, clear guidelines on what is monitored in regard to OHS, provision of monthly OHS reports to an OHS committee, and monthly OHS audits conducted by the implementation agency. Monitoring contractors OHS performance will be done per the monitoring and evaluation procedure to be defined in the ESMF Manual (ESAP #1).
