Overall, the share of KESSP (document available here) devoted to infrastructure is 1.7%. As part of the project preparation, the World Bank/DFID has requested for a Strategic Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (S-ESIA) [“the Study”] to be undertaken in order to assess these potential impacts and their strategic implications and to recommend appropriate measures to address them in the design and operation of the Project. In order to address the specific impacts related to the infrastructure component, a set of guidelines for screening, mitigating and monitoring these activities has been developed.

This Operational Manual has been developed to ensure that the World Bank, DFID and Kenyan environmental and social safeguard requirements have been properly reviewed in terms of their application to the proposed Project.

It outlines a step-by-step approach to processing safeguard requirements for the Project and provides resources and templates to support each chapter in the manual. This document is a work in progress and should be treated as such. The manual should be updated as necessary during the course of the Project to incorporate new findings or recommendations that may apply (for example as and when NEMA update their guidelines for SEA screening and license issuance). The main part of the manual is aimed at MOES&T officials at national level, and sets out the legal framework and implementation arrangements for KESSP. However, the actual screening process should be led by District Education Officers.