Grids, Right of Ways and Substations (in Rwanda, DRC, Burundi, Uganda and Pakistan)

The electrification grids throughout the developing world need to be maintained, upgraded and even established. People are affected and the impacts need to be properly addressed. I help by reviewing Land Acquisition and Resettlement Plans (LARP) and Livelihood Restoration Plans (LRP) to make sure there is adequate consideration people's livelihoods, national and international standards are aligned (compliance with WB, IFC, EDF, EIB and EBRD standards).

Social Impacts of Large Scale Infrastructure Development (Greece, Albania, Italy)

Sometimes the impacts of infrastructure developments have social impacts on household and businesses may be missed. I developed a framework for a project strategy for resolving economic displacement and project induced vulnerability stemming from project land easement and access. I helped develop a spatial tool (Route Social Impact Register), database (Data Management Protocol, Social Impacts KP Register) and field-based tools (Rapid Field Assessment, Site Files, EPC contractor monitoring) that assisted project staff to identify and assess the level of impacts inside and outside of the Right of Way and develop consistent compensation and mitigation measures. I assisted in the development of Terms of Reference for technical studies that needed to be conducted (with crop, orchard, plantation management, livestock, biodiversity and valuation experts).

Getting projects bankable

I've worked with company leadership, management and implementation staff to develop systems and procedures for social compliance that align with international best practice and align with the social standards of international lending institutions. Involves engagement with communities and households. Prepared a gap analysis and road map to guide the development or updating of:

Community Development Plan

Stakeholder Engagement Plan

Livelihood Restoration Plan

Vulnerable People Programme Development

Local Employment Plan

Local Procurement Plan

 The aim is to develop and sustain a social licence to operate and ultimately secure project financing.

Livelihoods and Community Investment in the Extractives Sector

Making mining a development industry in the Anatolian Highlands. Strategic advisory to senior management of large-scale extractive industry development which includes:

• Stakeholder Engagement Planning
• Community Development Investment Strategy and Planning
• Communication Planning
• Social Action Work Planning
• Trade-off Studies for potential expansion
• Social Risk Assessment
• Impacts and Mitigation Assessment

I developed, updated and monitored these with project staff:

• Stakeholder Engagement Plan
• Grievance Procedure
• Land Access Plan
• Community Development Plan
• Community Relations Management Plan
• Community Relations Organizational Capacity and Training Program
• Local Employment Plan
• Local Procurement and Supply Chain Management Plan 
• Training Management Plan
• Community Health, Safety and Security Plan
• Cultural Heritage Plan
• Livelihood Program Management Plan
• Implementation and Partnerships and Development Plan
• Monitoring and Evaluation Plan
• Social Closure Plan  

I provided training and ongoing capacity support to the Community Relations Department and other departmental project staff and management.

Agriculture and Rural Development Sector Wide Programme Formulations and M&E

Review of the Kenyan Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme Inception Phase and provide recommendations for actions to make programme ready for transition to implementation. Formulation of the comprehensive Western Kenya Rural Development Programme.

Watershed management in Ethiopia and Sudan

Support watershed Monitoring and Evaluation in the Tana-Beles Watershed M&E project. Give technical advice and project management support to WASH project in Beni-Shangul-Gomuz. Project Management support to the Community Watershed Management Project in four watersheds E and S Sudan.

Large scale biofuels development

Advise on impacts of large scale biofuels investments on rural economies, livelihoods and development entitlements in South Africa and large scale Biofuels (ethanol from sugar) in Tanzania.

Rural Development Grants Scheme

Manage the establishment of two Community Grant Funds for building social capital, a Fast Track Delivery Fund and a Building Communities Fund in the Eastern Cape, South Africa funded by the European Union.

Land Reform and Post-Settlement Support in South Africa

I worked in land reform in South Africa over an extended period, starting out in a land rights NGO in the 90s. Hired to make the links between rural development and land reform, I also advocated for sustainability centring on trying to integrate environmental planning guidelines into Restitution, Redistribution and Tenure Reform. This was later transformed into developing guidelines for better planning of post-settlement support in land reform projects. One of the tools developed was an Environmental Sustainability Assessment

Tool for assessing the potential impacts of land use and development and how to mitigate them. I then managed the development of a 10 year strategy for settlement and implementation support for land and agrarian reform in South Africa. My last work in the mid 2000s was doing a Mid-Term Review of the Participatory Settlement and Development Support to Land Reform Beneficiaries Project, which was an important piece of work for me, giving me the opportunity to reflect on the work I had done since I began advocating sustainability in rights-based land reform in SA. The findings, twenty years later, show that it is still a long and complex struggle.

Evaluations, Reviews, Avisory and Formulations for Livelihoods and Resettlement

Mid-term reviews and technical reviews of a range of projects, including:

• review platinum mine's Resettlement Action Planning and advice on land rights in a traditional chieftainship
• livelihoods (rooibos tea and livestock) in the Karoo
• land reform and infrastructure in the Eastern Cape 
• Labour Tenants' Registration in South-east Mpumalanga
• farm dwellers' and labour tenants' rights living in conservation areas (Leeuwfontein Nature Reserve and the Cradle of Humankind)
• project identification for emerging and smallholder agribusiness and entrepreneurship in and Agri-tourism in Limpopo
• Ecological Engineering for Lake Fundudzi Rehabilitation Extended Public Works Programme