Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, please visit www.worldbank.org.
The Global Department for Social Development 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 for more inclusive, empowered communities. Social Development Practice also works across the World Bank’s portfolio to implement the World Bank’s sustainability standards, namely Environment and Social Framework (ESF) standards, which apply to all Investment projects financed by the World Bank. The ESF offers an overarching platform for fostering inclusive approaches to ensure vulnerable groups benefit from Bank investments and mitigate against related social and environmental risks and impacts. The ESF covers 10 standards ranging from social impact assessment and non-discrimination, labor and working conditions, pollution control, biodiversity, resettlement, Indigenous Peoples, Cultural Heritage, financial intermediaries, and stakeholder engagement.
Relatedly, one of the Environmental and Social Framework's (ESF) central goals to strengthen the countries’ own environmental and social (E&S) risk management systems. Strong country systems for environmental and social (E&S) risk management help minimize and mitigate the risks inherent in development projects and build confidence and legitimacy among stakeholders. Robust E&S systems can also help de-risk private investment and help countries attract private capital. The ESF implementation has highlighted that social risk management and sustainability systems are often weak to adequately assess and manage social risks and impacts, even more so compared to environmental risks and impacts. Even in countries with robust rules, implementation and enforcement often present challenges.
The Global Department of Social Development’s work program on social risk management was launched in September June 2023. Its vision is to turn the World Bank into a leading provider of global knowledge, policy advice and technical expertise to improve regulatory systems and national capacity to manage social risks and impacts of development projects. Social risk management (SRM) is the process of identifying social risks, assessing their impact, and designing appropriate measures to mitigate, manage, and monitor such impacts in development projects. The objective of the Social Risk Management Global team is to facilitate knowledge sharing and support regional and country teams for developing consistent and effective approaches to strengthen country systems and build public sector capacity for social risk management (SRM). The Social Risk Management Team collaborates with regional and country teams in the World Bank working on E&S risk management, offering guidance and sharing knowledge. It also has a wide range of external clients and partnerships, such as other multi-finance organizations, International Labor Organization, the UN, civil society, academic associations as well as professional training institutes to coordinate efforts on sustainability-linked capacity building. As part of its global partnerships, Social Development team is also gauging the interest of the clients in the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia, for the World Bank to provide technical assistance on a sustainability developing a sustainability- linked capacity building program in Saudi Arabia, inspired by the World Bank/s Environmental and Social Standards.
In this light, the Saudi Fellow will provide support to the SD Global Department’s work program on SRM.
Saudi Fellow Tasks and Responsibilities
Support to Analytical Work/Taking Stock of Good Practice Examples
• Support the analytical work on ESF and social risk management topics and themes, including the 10 topics mentioned as well as cross-cutting themes such as social risk management in protected areas, security risk management in fragile and conflict affected states, use of technology/AI for social risk management etc.
• The support will likely involve compiling and synthesizing good practice E&S analytics in the form of repositories, databases, Terms of Reference, PowerPoint presentations and templates and make it available on a dedicated webpage for World Bank staff and external audience.
Operational support
• Provide support to a MNA initiative targeting Saudi Arabia on a capacity building program for youth on sustainability topics.
• Help respond to requests from the senior management and regional teams building Environmental and Social Risk Management components in development projects in different sectors
• Under the direction of the team leader, provide support to setting up E&S Learning Centers, in partnership with universities and training institutes around the world, likely support required next year will cover Central Asia, Brazil, Ghana and Turkiye.
• Support regional teams in Environmental and Social Framework (ESF)’s implementation in connecting them to available international and external knowledge and staff networks.
Knowledge sharing
• Works closely with the Knowledge Management and Learning (KML) and Communications Team
• Help roll out the training program on E&S systems strengthening that has started this year.
• Support the organization of weekly Sustainability Impact meetings, which invites speakers to discuss topics covered under the ESF, which include social impact assessments, labor and working conditions, community health and safety, resettlement, cultural heritage, stakeholder engagement and others, etc.
• Help update the Social Risk Management website
• Contribute to the organization of the World Bank-led events in large global conferences, including the upcoming International Association for Impact Assessment Conference to take place in Canada next year.
• Respond to ad hoc information requests from internal and external clients.
• Any other tasks as requested by the Coordinator for ESF/Social Risk Management or Practice Manager.
Reporting requirements
The Saudi Fellow will be a member of the Social Risk Management team and will report to Asli Gurkan (Senior Social Development Specialist / Coordinator for ESF/Social Risk Management) and Nikolas Myint (Practice Management for the Social Development Global Department. He/she will work closely with other team members.