Overview


The overarching objective of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is to spur sustainable economic development and social progress in its regional member countries (RMCs), thus contributing to poverty reduction (you can find more information on our work, priorities, and countries of operation here: https://www.afdb.org/en.)

In line with this objective, the AfDB adopted an Integrated Safeguard System (ISS) in 2013, to better address emerging environmental and social (E&S) development challenges. The ISS promotes best practices and encourages greater transparency and accountability to the Bank’s stakeholders including project host communities. The Bank’s ISS is thus a cornerstone of its vision on sustainable development.

The Bank through its Environmental and Social Safeguards Compliance Department (SNSC) has now embarked on a public consultation and participation towards updating the ISS.  The ISS update process has covered environmental and social operational safeguards, a range of key crosscutting themes such as gender-based violence, climate change, and resilience, inclusivity, conflict sensitivity as well as overall the alignment of the updated Integrated Safeguards System (ISS) with the policies and/or standards of other multilateral development finance institutions.

The draft ISS is available under the Consultation Documents tab in English, French, and Portuguese. 

The AfDB invites feedback from individuals and organizations within the 45days period of public disclosure starting from March 21, 2022.

Your feedback in this participatory and inclusive process will allow the AfDB to benefit from the expertise of a wide range of individuals and organizations, thus enriching the content of the final ISS.

The AfDB would also like to encourage you to share the draft updated ISS with other relevant stakeholders you deem fit for their constructive review and feedback. The Consultation calendar and consultation documents are provided in the links below.

Once ready, please click here to proceed to register and submit your feedback.

For additional assistance, please contact the ISS Secretariat on ISSConsultation@afdb.org 

 

Summary of key Timelines for ISS Public Consultation and  External Stakeholder Engagement.

Dates Key stakeholder engagement activities
External Stakeholder Engagement

March 2022

 Publication of Draft ISS on public website for a 45-day disclosure period for public access, and submission of written comments
March 2022 Direct distribution of Draft ISS to a wide spectrum of stakeholders who have been mapped through a comprehensive stakeholder mapping process, with invitation to  share written comments as much as they can.
April-May  2022

Stakeholder engagement with RMCs, Government Agencies, PIUs, CSOs, MFIs, DFIs, Private Sector and general public.

  • Regional session with anglophone countries in East Africa Region and North Africa Region -April 20, 2022

  • Regional session with anglophone countries in West Africa Region, and Nigeria -April 21, 2022

  • Regional session with francophone countries in West Africa -April 27, 2022

  • Regional session with francophone countries in North Africa -April 26, 2022

  • Regional session with lusophone countries -April 28, 2022

  •  Regional session with francophone countries in Central, East and Southern Africa Regions -May 3, 2022

  • Regional session with anglophone countries in the Southern Region -May 4, 2022
  • Session with anglophone Civil Society Organizations  -May 5, 2022

  • Session with francophone Civil Society Organizations -May 6, 2022

  • Session with lusophone Civil Society Organizations  -May 9, 2022

 
April - May 2022 Treatment of comments from external stakeholders
May 2022 Further engagement with Senior Management and Bank Board Committee on Development Effectiveness (CODE) following external stakeholder engagement.
Quarter 2 2022 Expected dates for presentation for Board approval

 

  1. Kindly review the updated Integrated Safeguards System which is under public consultation and the older version which was adopted in 2013. Both documents can be found under the Consultation Documents below.
     
  2. Questionnaires have been provided to help you capture your comments and you can also provide further comments in other written forms as file attachments in pdf.
     
  3. To make a contribution to the public consultation process, you will have to register and create your profile with your name, email address, and other details. Register by clicking on this link :  Add a Contribution
     
  4. You can always use your login details to log on and make changes to your previous comments or add additional comments.