Armenia - Disease Prevention and Control Project : Additional Financing - Environmental Assessment : Stakeholder Engagement Plan

The objective of the Additional Financing of the Disease Prevention and Control Project is to improve (i) Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services and the prevention, early detection, and management of selected Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) at the Primary Health Care (PHC) level; and (ii) the efficiency and quality of selected hospitals in Armenia. Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: potentially affected parties include local communities, community members, and other parties that may be subject to direct impacts from the Project. Specifically, the following individuals and groups may fall within this category: communities in the vicinity of the Project’s planned activities and health centers; local population and local communes; residents, business entities, and individual entrepreneurs in the area of the project that can benefit from the employment, training and business opportunities; government officials, including municipal administration in the targeted regions, environmental protection authorities, health authorities; health workers. As per the screening conducted in civil works sites, it is not expected that the assets or livelihoods of any citizen or business entity will be negatively affected by project activities. Communities in the vicinity of the project works may be affected by temporary disruptions such as noise, dust, and the moderate influx of project workers during MCs construction. Avoid public gatherings (taking into account national restrictions or advisories), including public hearings, workshops, and community meetings; employ traditional channels of communications (TV, newspaper, radio, dedicated phone-lines, and mail) when stakeholders do not have access to online channels or do not use them frequently. Traditional channels can also be highly effective in conveying relevant information to stakeholders and allow them to provide their feedback and suggestions; where direct engagement with project affected people or beneficiaries is necessary, identify channels for direct communication with each affected household via a context-specific combination of email messages, mail, online platforms, dedicated phone lines with knowledgeable operators; and each of the proposed engagement channels should specify how stakeholders can provide feedback and suggestions.