AfDB’S Integrated Safeguards System - Policy Statement and Operational Safeguards

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) 1 presents its Integrated Safeguards System, a cornerstone of its strategy to promote growth that is socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable. Safeguards are a powerful tool for identifying risks, reducing development costs and improving project sustainability, thus benefiting affected communities and helping to preserve the environment. With this Integrated Safeguards System the Bank will be better equipped to address emerging environmental and social development challenges. The Integrated Safeguards System not only promotes best practices in these areas but also encourages greater transparency and accountability. It upholds the voices of people who are affected by Bank-funded operations, especially the most vulnerable communities, by providing, for example, project-level grievance and redress mechanisms—a structured, systematic and managed way of allowing the voices and concerns of affected people to be heard and addressed during project planning and implementation.