COMPLIANCE WITH SAFEGUARD POLICIES OF THE WORLD BANK AND AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK*

The World Bank (WB) and AfDB environmental and social safeguard policies are the cornerstone of the two Banks ’ support to sustainable poverty reduction. The safeguards aim at preventing and mitigating undue harm to people and their environment in the development process. They provide guidelines for the banks and borrowers in the identification, preparation, and implementation of programs and projects. Compliance with the safeguards by the banks and the borrowers is one of the challenges of their effective implementation. The main purpose of the paper is to assess the effectiveness of complying with WB and AfDB safeguards. The paper reviews the safeguards and examines the challenges of implementing them. Evolution of Social and Environmental Safeguard Policies The need for social and environmental safeguards emerged in the 1980s following the controversy that surrounded several major World Bank projects. Such projects included the Polonoroeste highway project in the Brazilia