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The Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region
The Europe and Central Asia Region (ECA comprises 30 extremely diverse countries, with a population of nearly 500 million people, the region spanning from Turkey to Russia and from Western Europe and the Balkans to Central Asia. The ECA Region has highlighted four priority areas of work which consist of Boosting Human Capital; Enabling Markets; Building and Strengthening Institutions; Green Transition. ECA has a strong lending pipeline as well as a large and growing portfolio of projects and Reimbursable Advisory Services. Knowledge is critical to the Bank’s value proposition to client countries in the ECA region in both lending and advisory services. A predominantly middle- and high-income region, ECA continues to be at the forefront in confronting the numerous development challenges that countries face in the evolving global economy.
The Planet Department helps countries tackle their most complex challenges in the areas of Agriculture and Food, Climate Change, Environment, Social Development and Water.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
The Social Development Department helps countries tackle deep rooted social problems stemming from fragility, climate change, exclusion, and the digital age with people centered solutions that build on local values and institutions. The department engages with citizens, communities and governments to deepen resilience, build inclusion, and empower vulnerable and marginalized groups to have influence and voice. It prioritizes participatory, multi-sectoral approaches that build on norms and informal institutions to address social challenges and to build more inclusive, empowered communities. The Social Development Department also works across the Bank’s portfolio to implement the Environment and Social Framework (ESF). The ESF offers an overarching platform for fostering inclusive approaches to ensure vulnerable groups benefit from Bank investments and mitigate against related risks.
Regional Management Unit Context
The ECA Social Development team is responsible for: (i) undertaking social analysis during project preparation and implementation, to mainstream social development issues throughout the Bank’s work in the region; (ii) supporting clients to manage project-level social risk; (iii) ensuring that Bank-financed projects meet the requirements of the ESF, including: social assessment; labor and working conditions; community health and safety; land acquisition, restrictions on land use and involuntary resettlement; stakeholder engagement (with a focus on disadvantaged/vulnerable groups); grievance redress and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse/Sexual Harassment (SEA/SH); (iv) undertaking Analytical and Advisory Activities (ASA) in the form of thematic studies on social development issues, country social analysis, and Reimbursable Advisory Services (RAS); (v) leading the preparation and supervision of lending operations, with a particular focus on promoting the inclusion of disadvantaged/vulnerable groups (including youth, the elderly, Roma, women, internally displaced persons, refugees, etc.), and citizen engagement; and (vi) facilitating partnerships and dialogue with civil society through outreach and engagement with a broad range of actors. To this end, the ECA Social Development Unit works closely with staff across all Country Management Units and Global Practices in ECA.
Türkiye Country Context:
Since Türkiye became a member of the World Bank Group (WBG) in 1947, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has been supporting its development goals as a key international partner. Ever since 1950 when the very first loan to the country was given, WBG’s lending and technical assistance to Türkiye has been in line with programs outlined in the various Country Partnership Frameworks (CPF) and in support of development programs in the energy, urban development, education, financial markets, agriculture, health, disaster risk management, governance, transport, water and many other sectors.
The current Türkiye CPF is the WBG strategy to deliver impactful solutions at greater scale and speed in Türkiye over Fiscal Year 24-28 (FY24-FY28). The CPF is fully aligned with the WBG’s mission of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity on a livable planet and with the Government of Türkiye’s 12th National Development Plan (NDP) 2024-2028. It aims to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and support recovery and reconstruction from recent shocks. The CPF outlines how the WBG will further scale up impact in one of its largest country portfolios to meet priority country and global challenges.
The key focus of the CPF is to help the country mobilize private capital to address key emerging challenges on the growth, poverty and inclusion, and sustainability fronts.
There are 30 active IBRD operations amounting to $11.7 billion. The portfolio also includes one project financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF)and six trust fund-supported projects, including almost $600 million in European Union trust funds through the Facility for Refugees in Türkiye (FRiT).
The ASA portfolio is strategically consolidated around core and extended core ASAs including Country Climate and Development Report, Programmatic Public Finance Review, Pandemic Preparedness and Response, Country Green Growth, Quality Learning and Emergency Response Roadmap, Understanding the Drivers of Regional Disparities in Türkiye and Sustainable, Efficient and Safe Transport for Türkiye.
Roles and Responsibilities
The Extended Term Consultant (ETC) will be based in Ankara, Turkiye and will support the Turkiye portfolio’s work on social risk management including managing issues related to the old Bank environmental and social safeguards policies and the new Environmental and Social Framework (ESF). The ETC will also provide technical support on broad social development themes including gender, social accountability, social inclusion and youth centered activities. The ETC will report to the ECA Social Development Manager and work in close collaboration with the ECA Regional Safeguards Coordinator and the Turkiye Country Management Unit (CMU) ESF Coordinator. The ETC will have the following main tasks and responsibilities:
• Provide guidance to clients on social risk management so that not only the Bank’s social risk management standards are fully complied with, but also the social impact and sustainability of Bank supported operations are enhanced,
• Primarily provide project preparation and implementation support to the Bank’s operations in Turkiye, in the area of ESF and broader social development,
• Advise task teams and clients on the Bank’s Environmental and Social Standards and supporting the conceptualization of approaches to mitigate social risk and maximize social benefits through the preparation and supervision of lending operations across sectors,
• Provide guidance and direct operational support to task teams and staff on responses to social risk issues and ESF related topics and during preparation and implementation on all aspects related to social risk management,
• Ensure that, at any time, the relevant reporting systems are updated with high quality information to allow proactive monitoring, management, and reporting of social risk across the portfolio,
• Build capacity with clients on issues related to social risk management and broader social issues, including clients’ monitoring and evaluation of social development activities and outcomes,
• Support work on the mainstream social development agenda, including providing analytic inputs to operational activities, with an emphasis on social inclusion and cohesion, youth and migration,
• Contribute to the development of learning products/activities such as Technical Assistance, internal events, guidance notes, peer learning events,
• Keep abreast of relevant social regulatory, policy and institutional developments and updates in Turkiye, and inform task teams and management about these issues, and
• Regularly travel to field sites, which may be in remote areas with very limited facilities, as required.