ID: 2132
Presenting Author: Tosin Oso
Session: 668 - Spreading the Deliberative Approach to Impact Assessment and Decision-making
Status: pending
Negotiating reforms that disrupt livelihoods of operators is achievable using Stakeholder Engagement principles. A negotiation process led by a Resettlement expert discusses Kaduna BRT experience
Stakeholder Engagement in Impact Assessment is traditionally focused on understanding concerns of groups affected by infrastructure projects. Regulatory reforms cause disruptions to key environmental and social receptors but stakeholder engagement not implemented in the same manner as Infrastructure projects.
This paper discusses an ongoing work on how stakeholder engagement best practices aligned to World Bank ESS10 is being applied in designing and implementing the process of negotiating inclusion and compensation measures for existing paratransit operators in Kaduna, Nigeria. Kaduna, the eight largest city in Nigeria with a growing population is implementing regulatory reforms on transport operations with the introduction of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) network to remove traffic snarls and support mobility needs of it growing population. As urbanization demands changes in transport systems to support population expansion, there is an increasing need to impose new operational regulations on existing transport operators in cities with historically unregulated transport systems.
The relationship between government and Transport Unions is usually marked by distrust. Using a 4-stage program beginning with Stakeholder Analysis, through back-and-forth deliberations, a negotiation process built trust despite previous rumors on planned regulatory reforms designed to support the BRT scheme. This led to a two-fold agreement covering integration of existing operators into BRT services and a fleet-scraping program of affected paratransit bus fleet.
Tosin is a IA professional with experience working on complex social issues on MDB-financed projects in Africa
Coauthor 1: Taiwo Olukoya