As mentioned above, stakeholder engagement is an important part of the entire project cycle. Gender-sensitive stakeholder engagement during the appraisal stage should include the following steps:
• Female and male stakeholders and their representatives are identified systematically;
• Positive and negative effects of the projects on these groups are defined;
• A stakeholder engagement plan is developed that takes needs and priorities of men and women into account;
• Female and male representatives are included in all analysis and assessments; and
• Formal stakeholder consultations, as well as any other project-related meetings and outreach activities that are conducted, give women the opportunity to participate and raise their voices.
(Also see Box 4, which includes a checklist for gender-sensitive consultations.)
Box 14: Gender-Sensitive Stakeholder Engagement in the Trung Son Hydropower Project The World Bank-supported Trung Son Hydropower Project made extra efforts to include community members, in particular women, in stakeholder consultations. The following measures were taken: • At least three weeks before the consultation meeting, information of appropriate form and in local languages was provided at the district, commune, village and household level. • Information sheets, posters and calendars that included some project information, frequently asked questions and contact details were given to village heads and distributed to all households. • Audio recordings of the project information, frequently asked questions and contact information, with a machine on which they could be played, were provided at the village level. Recordings were in four languages: Vietnamese, Thai, Muong and H'Mong. • Consideration was given to having separate meetings with any group that was reluctant to attend the village meetings, to encourage women and other vulnerable groups to participate. • A short oral summary of the project, its impacts and proposed mitigation measures, was presented at the meeting. All questions, feedback and requests were properly recorded and provided appropriate responses. • Group discussions were held if needed. In addition to Vietnamese, translation of the discussions into local languages was provided as necessary. • At least one observer from a Vietnamese NGO was present at each of the village consultations. Source: Vietnam - Trung Son Hydropower Project (English), World Bank, 2011 (http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/104781468134093713/Vietnam-Trung-Son-Hydropower-Project), annex 11. |