Kananga Emergency Urban Resilience Project

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The project will intervene in two phases, which will start immediately after approval, in collaboration with affected communities: (a) phase 1 – emergency response, which includes activities to restrict access to erosion gullies and surrounding areas, stabilize soils and arrest further erosion, prevent landslides, and to the extent possible improve management of drainage of surface water; and (b) phase 2 – restoring and improving resilience of urban services and strengthening the capacity of authorities and communities to manage and address the underlying causes of erosion. The project has four components:Component 1: Gully Erosion Interventions to Safeguard Critical Infrastructure (US$25 million)This component will finance immediate, emergency gully erosion containment measures at selected priority sites, to help limit existing damage from gully erosions and address immediate threats to houses and critical infrastructure, such as transportation, energy, water and sanitation. Activities will include, inter alia, (i) managing runoff and improving drainage, including nature-based solutions (to divert flow or increase infiltration rates by using trees and deep-rooted perennial pastures), (ii) gully wall stabilization to stop further erosion and prevent landslides (i.e., reshaping or re-profiling of canals using geotextiles, rock barrages, sandbags, and/or wire netting), and (iii) activities associated with restricting access/protecting intervened areas, community monitoring, and preventing dumping of waste in gully areas. This component will also finance technical studies, designs and the supervision of works. Component 2: Integrated Resilient Urban Development (US$68 million)This component is designed to address the underlying causes of gully erosion, landslides and floods by supporting an integrated, holistic and resilient approach to urban development in Kananga. Activities will start immediately after KEURP approval and will aim to support middle to long-term approaches to strengthen institutional capacity for urban management, develop disaster-risk management systems, and finance physical infrastructure that is resilient to the risks of erosion, which will build resilience for the local economy and livelihoods. Activities will be designed in consultation with local citizens to be inclusive, support vulnerable populations, and strengthen communities’ ability to cope with and adapt to disasters. Activities will be linked to and informed by the learnings from emergency activities, and they will be implemented in parallel to those under Component 1. Component 3: Project Management and Implementation Support (Total cost: US$7 million)This component will finance incremental cost related to project management and implementation. This includes, inter alia, payment of salaries for consultants of the Project Implementation Unit, audit cost, implementation of the ESF, payment of resettlement compensation costs, monitoring and evaluation, study tours, communication, outreach, and citizen engagement.Component 4: Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC) (Total cost: US$0 million)This component will provide immediate response to an eligible crisis or emergency, as needed, by financing the implementation of emergency infrastructure rehabilitation and reconstruction. Resources will be allocated to this component as needed during implementation. A CERC Operations Manual will be prepared by the Government during the first year of project implementation and will provide detailed guidelines and instructions on how to trigger the CERC and use funds (including activation criteria, eligible expenditures, and specific implementation arrangements as well as required staffing for the Coordinating Authority).