PROJECT IDENTIFICATION FORM (PIF)
PROJECT TYPE: Full-sized Project
THE GEF TRUST FUND
Submission Date:
PART I: PROJECT IDENTIFICATION
GEF PROJECT ID1:
PROJECT DURATION: 54 months
GEF AGENCY PROJECT ID:
COUNTRY(IES): Egypt
PROJECT TITLE: Integrated and sustainable POPs Management
Project
GEF AGENCY(IES): World Bank
OTHER EXECUTING PARTNER(S): Egyptian Environmental Affairs
Agency (EEAA)
GEF FOCAL AREA (S)2: Persistent Organic Pollutants
GEF-4 STRATEGIC PROGRAM(s): POPs-SP1, POPs-SP2
NAME OF PARENT PROGRAM/UMBRELLA PROJECT (if applicable):
NA
February 20, 2009
INDICATIVE CALENDAR*
Milestones
Expected Dates
mm/dd/yyyy
Work Program (for FSP)
CEO Endorsement/Approval
Agency Approval Date
Implementation Start
Mid-term Evaluation (if
06/15/2009
08/01/2010
09/15/2010
02/15/2011
05/15/2013
planned)
Project Closing Date
08/15/2015
* See guidelines for definition of milestones.
A. PROJECT FRAMEWORK
Project Objective: To assist Egypt meet its obligations under the Stockholm Convention for the sound management of POPs
(PCBs, Dixons and Furans), and (obsolete pesticides under ASP), and contribute to the sustainable development of capacity for
the management of POPs.
Project
Components
1. Institutional and
Regulatory
Strengthening
Measures for
POPs
Management
Indicate
whether
Expected
Investment,
Outcomes
TA, or
STAb
TA
1. GOE’s policy
framework
strengthened to
implement the
Stockholm
Convention.
2. GOE’s overall
capacity for sound
POPs management
enhanced.
2 Management of
dioxin and
furan
emissions
Investment,
TA
1. Development of
national strategy
aimed at future
reduction of dioxin
and furan emissions
from major sources.
2. Increased
awareness on major
sources of dioxin
1
2
Project ID number will be assigned by GEFSEC .
Select only those focal areas from which GEF financing is requested .
Expected
Outputs
1. Policies and
regulations for
PCB and
obsolete
pesticide
management
reviewed and
updated.
Establishment of
regulations for
management of
dioxins and
furans
2. EEAA and MOA
capacity build
for the sound
management of
POPs
1. Demonstrate
BAT/BEP in two
of the most
pollutant
industries in
Egypt with the
aim at enabling
the future
elimination of
dioxin and furan
emissions from
these industries
Indicative GEF
Financinga
($) a
%
Indicative CoFinancinga
($) b
%
Total ($)
c =a + b
324,000
10
3,000,000
90
3,324,000
2,025,000
29
5,000,000
71
7,025,000
1
3. Sound Mgmt
of PCBs
Investment,
TA
and furan emissions
and on potential
management
alternatives
2. Training of
government
officials and
other
stakeholders on
limiting
emissions of
dioxins & furans
from industrial
sources
1. Sound and
sustainable
management of
PCB stockpiles and
off-line PCBcontaminated
equipment.
1. 100% of off-line
PCB
contaminated
electrical
equipment
safeguarded,
decontaminated,
and/or disposed
using
environmentally
sound options
2. Promotion of
environmentally
sound
management,
destruction
and/or disposal
technologies for
contaminated
PCB oils and
equipment
2. Management plan
for on-line PCBcontaminated
electrical equipment
developed
3. All cross
contamination of
lubricating oils
with PCBcontaminated oils
eliminated
3,321,000
45
4,000,000
55
7,321,000
4. 100% of on-line
PCBcontaminated
equipment
identified,
safeguarded (if
needed) and
monitored until
final
decommissioning
5. Training of
government
officials and
other
stakeholders on
sound
management of
PCBs
6. Public awareness
campaign
launched for
sound
management of
PCBs
2
4. Management
(Prevention
and disposal)
of obsolete
pesticide
stocks3 (ASPII component)
Investment,
TA
1. Sound and
sustainable
management of
obsolete pesticide
stocks.
1. Development of
sound pesticide life
cycle management
practices and
Integrated Pest
Management
2. 100% destruction
of stocks held at
MoA and other
government
agencies, cleanup
and site
remediation
measures to
mitigate the impact
of obsolete
pesticides
1,620,000
39
2,500,000
61
4,120,000
810,000
45
1,000,000
55
1,810,000
3. Development of
sustainable
strategies for future
management of
pesticide-related
wastes
8. Project4
management
4. Capacity
building throughout
the pesticide supply
chain, public
awareness and
communication
campaigns on the
appropriate use of
pesticides
Support EEAA and MOA with Project Management
Total project
costs
a
b
8,100,0005
34
15,500,000
66 23,600,000
List the $ by project components. The percentage is the share of GEF and Co-financing respectively of the total amount for the component.
TA = Technical Assistance; STA = Scientific & Technical Analysis.
B. INDICATIVE CO-FINANCING FOR THE PROJECT BY SOURCE and by NAME (in parenthesis) if available, ($)
Sources of Co-financing
Project Government Contribution
Project Government Contribution
Multilateral Agency(ies)
(Arab Fund)
Private Sector
Type of Co-financing
cash
In-kind
cash
Project
3,000,000
4,000,000
2,500,000
6,000,000
cash
Total Co-financing
15,500,000
C. INDICATIVE FINANCING PLAN SUMMARY FOR THE PROJECT ($)
Previous Project
Preparation Amount (a)6
CIDA
GEF financing
3
4
5
6
250,000
0
Project (b)
0
8,100,000
Total
c=a+b
Agency Fee
250,000
8,100,000
0
810,0007
This component will be financed with GEF resources from the African Stockpile Program (ASP) Phase 2.
Includes US$180,000 towards the ASP component
Includes US$1,782,000 for the ASP component
Include project preparation funds that were previously approved but exclude PPGs that are awaiting for approval.
3
Co-financing
100,000
15,500,000
15,600,000
Total
350,000
23,600,000
23,950,000
900,000
D. GEF RESOURCES REQUESTED BY AGENCY (IES), FOCAL AREA(S) AND COUNTRY(IES)1
Not applicable.
PART II: PROJECT JUSTIFICATION
A. STATE THE ISSUE, HOW THE PROJECT SEEKS TO ADDRESS IT, AND THE EXPECTED GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL
BENEFITS TO BE DELIVERED:
1. The Government of Egypt (GOE) completed its National Implementation Plan (NIP) in mid 2005 and submitted the
finalized document to the Stockholm Convention on March 16, 2006. The country’s priorities in terms of POPs, as
outlined in the NIP, include actions plans to address unintentional releases of dioxin and furans, management and
environmentally sound disposal of PCBs and pesticide wastes, institutional and regulatory strengthening measures,
and awareness building and stakeholder involvement activities. In this regard, the Egyptian Environmental Affairs
Agency (EEAA) has requested the World Bank to prepare a GEF project that will focus as a priority, on the following
critical areas:
i. Institutional strengthening and regulatory support – According to the NIP, although the country is equipped
with institutions/research laboratories, legal mechanisms, data collection/management systems, and environment
welfare organizations, there are still many shortcomings connected to the execution of the NIP. To bolster the
country’s capacity for POPs management, the proposed GEF Project will include a component to review,
strengthen and further develop the legal framework, by including regulations aimed at reducing and ultimately
eliminating releases of PCBs, dioxin and furans, and POPs-pesticides, along the lines established by the
Stockholm Convention. The Project will also explore possibilities for broadening the legislative and policy
framework to incorporate a more integrated and sustainable approach to safe chemicals management.
ii. Management of dioxin and furan emissions – The NIP’s inventory of dioxin and furan emissions was
conducted using UNEP’s toolkit and included the following three major sources:
 The largest sources, contributing to roughly 51% of the estimated emissions were attributed to open
burning of waste. The GOE intends to address these sources primarily through regulatory efforts
combined with sound solid waste management programs, some of which are currently underway financed
by the World Bank. These programs focus, among others, on waste minimization and separation
programs, improved collection and disposal measures in selected hot spot areas in and around Alexandria
and Greater Cairo, all of which will ultimately result in the reduction of open burning practices at waste
disposal sites.
 The second major emitters, although smaller in relative terms, are significant and of great concern to
EEAA because they involve mostly industrial processes that are not being addressed by any planned
government program. More specifically, metallurgical industries (e.g. iron and steel, copper, aluminum),
fossil fuel fired boilers and thermal processes (e.g. lead, asphalt, brick, and lime production) are primary
sources of dioxin and furan emissions, contributing to roughly 20 gTEQ/yr. Resources from the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA) are currently being used to assess practices from these preidentified industrial sectors and to determine, based on current local practices, which are the worst dioxin
and furan emitters. The top emitting industries will be selected for demonstrations, to be financed under
the GEF Project, of BAT/BEP for dioxin and furan emission reductions. It should be noted that the
magnitude of dioxin and furan emissions from the Egyptian industrial sector that was estimated in the
NIP appears to be relatively low when compared to other countries, particularly given the significant
importance of local, heavy industries. It is therefore expected that current estimates of emissions will
increase considerably after a revised assessment of selected sectors is conducted.
 Finally, medical waste incinerators, of which over 140 in 27 cities were accounted for in the inventory,
were also among the top three categories of emitters, reaching additional 10 gTEQ/yr. Emissions of
dioxins and furans from medical incinerators are being further evaluated using CIDA funds. The GOE has
decided not to include activities that target medical waste incinerators under this Project until more
7
Includes US$162,000 towards the ASP component
4
information is collected. Depending on the results obtained during project preparation, the GOE may wish
to request the GEF that a fraction of the Project resources be redirected to finance activities involving
medical waste incinerators (e.g. management practices, pilot design of pollution abatement technologies).
In light of the emissions scenario and of the current ongoing programs, the GOE has requested the World Bank to
develop a national strategy for the reduction of dioxin and furan emissions. This strategy is expected to leverage
results from government investments on waste management and from bi-lateral donors, while focusing on
reductions of emissions from the most significant industrial sources. Specifically, technical assistance and
investments will be carried out in at least two main industrial sectors8, with the objective of demonstrating how
BAT/BEP can be integrated with other pollution control technologies, in order to reduce and ultimately eliminate
dioxin and furan emissions.
The GOE has requested the Bank to design this component such that it is consistent with the work that is being
done under the second phase of the Egypt Pollution Abatement Project (EPAPII) and the upcoming EPAPIII,
which aim at reducing overall air pollution and improving energy efficiency (see below). In fact, the GOE has
developed and is implementing framework to assist the public and private sectors to finance investments in air
pollution control, and the GEF project offers a timely opportunity to build onto these government efforts by
demonstrating dioxin and furan control technologies that can be later replicated on a wider scale across the
country. The overall impact of this component will be to initiate a process of industrial conversion that will lead
to the future elimination of dioxin and furan emissions from at least two of the major industrial sources in Egypt9.
iii. PCB management – A very limited desktop assessment of national PCB stocks was conducted under the NIP,
which revealed the existence of 26 PCB-contaminated transformers and 3,666 capacitors, containing an estimated
20 tonnes of PCB oils, nation-wide. This work was followed in 2006 by a partial inventory of the Shubra el
Kheirma industrial area in the vicinity of Cairo, which was financed by the Japanese International Cooperation
Agency (JICA). The JICA inventory assessed all the power stations in the area, as well as a sample of public and
privately-owned facilities. The study found over 600 transformers potentially contaminated with PCBs,
containing an estimated 200 tonnes of contaminated oil. The study also exposed local oil recycling practices,
which have surely worsened the PCB contamination problem at a national level. More specifically, companies
licensed to handle hazardous wastes, unaware of potential PCB contamination in transformer oils, traditionally
serviced private and government industries by collecting used oils. These oils included lubricating oils as well as
untested transformer oils, which were mixed together upon collection and transported to central oil recycling
facilities. Recycled oils, still contaminated with PCBs, were then resold and re-used for a variety of purposes. The
practice has been banned since 2007, as a result of the JICA study, but the government is not aware of the extent
of the contamination that may have resulted over the years, nor of the manner in which used transformer oils are
being currently handled by users.
Based on the information available to date, EEAA estimates that a substantial amount of PCB-contaminated
equipment exists around the country. The Aswan High Dam Power Station, for instance, was built in the 1960s
with technical and financial support from the former Soviet Union, and its electrical facilities comprise one of the
largest potential sites for PCBs contaminated oils and transformer equipment in the country. The Aluminum Mill
at Nag Hammadi, some 350 km to the north from the Dam is also suspected to contain a high level of PCBcontaminated equipment. There are also many other industrial and power network sites around the country that
are believed to have both-online and off-line equipment which contain PCBs10. None of these areas have been
assessed for PCB contamination, to date.
The GOE has received financing from CIDA to extend the coverage of the partial PCB inventory. Work will start
in early 2009 and will provide a more realistic picture of the estimated volume of PCB stocks that exist in the preidentified governorates, as well as on the estimated numbers of PCB-contaminated equipment (on-line and offline). The proposed GEF Project will be prepared on the basis of these results and will include: i) training and
public awareness campaigns at the national level, to educate stakeholders on the risks of PCB exposure; ii)
8
Sectors to be determined as a result of CIDA’s financed assessment.
9
A more specific quantification of the amount of the emissions reduction will be available once the actual industries are defined, during project
preparation.
10
EEAA estimates that the following governorates may be potential PCB hotspot areas, given their important industrial base. In
decreasing order of significance, they include: Aswan, Assuit, Alexandria, Greater Cairo, Hurgada, Tanta and Mansoura. Estimates of
potential PCB stocks are unknown.
5
securing and disposing of all stocks of PCB contaminated oils; iii) demonstrating BAT/BEP for management of
off-line PCB contaminated equipment, including safe storage, treatment and disposal; iv) implementing a gradual
phaseout plan for on-line, publically owned PCB-containing equipment, consistent with the targets of the
Stockholm Convention; and v) developing a management plan for privately owned PCB-contaminated equipment
that may not be decommissioned until 2025. The GEF project will also propose alternatives for current oil
recycling practices.
iv. Management (Prevention and Disposal) of obsolete pesticide stockpiles - Through a joint initiative between
the EEAA and the Ministry of Agriculture, in 2006, a survey of government agencies, private pesticide
distributors and users was conducted, aimed at identifying all known stocks of obsolete pesticides. A public
awareness campaign was conducted and users were compensated for taking their pesticide stocks to government
facilities. Roughly 450 tonnes of pesticides were collected and stored in a centralized safe storage facility situated
about 35 Km south of Cairo, in the El Saff district of the Giza Governorate. The Ministry of Agriculture closely
monitors the facility and will safeguard its contents until a suitable disposal option is made available.
Approximately 750 tonnes of stocks that were held by government agencies (e.g. Ministry of Petroleum, Ministry
of Water and Irrigation), which were either not safe to move, or which were stored in an environmentally sound
manner were identified, classified and stored in their location.
The EEAA has requested the World Bank that Egypt be included for the second phase of operations for the Africa
Stockpiles Programme (ASP-II). This component of the project is an integral part of the second phase of the ASP
partnership and will be considered as such. Project activities in Egypt will be coordinated by the World Bank and
will include: i) strengthening of policy framework related to pesticide management; ii) development of sound
pesticide life cycle management practices and Integrated Pest Management; iii) destruction of stocks, cleanup and
site remediation measures to mitigate the impact of obsolete pesticides; iv) development of sustainable strategies
for future management of pesticide-related wastes; v) capacity building throughout the pesticide supply chain; and
vi) public awareness and communication campaigns on the appropriate use of pesticides.
v. Project Management - EEAA will be responsible for all works related to the Components 1, 2 and 3 of the
proposed Project. Specifically, EEAA will be in charge of the following tasks: i) overseeing all aspects of
operations including implementation progress, procurement, disbursements and financial management matters; ii)
preparation of periodic progress reports, including financial management and procurement, and submitting them
to all the stakeholders; iii) preparing and following up on monitored progress indicators. EEAA will ensure that
all project related funds are used for the purposes intended. The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) will be directly
responsible for all aspects involved in the implementation of Component 4. EEAA will appoint a Project Focal
Point, who will coordinate with MOA on a periodic basis to ensure that all the objectives of the overall POPs
management Project are being met.
B. DESCRIBE THE CONSISTENCY OF THE PROJECT WITH NATIONAL/REGIONAL PRIORITIES/PLANS:
2. The GOE ratified the Stockholm Convention on February 5, 2003 and completed their NIP in 2005. In Egypt, the
elimination of POPs has been declared a national priority. Specific action plans were developed as part of the NIP
process to build national capacity and strengthen institutions responsible for POPs management, and for eliminating
sources of PCBs, dioxins and furans and pesticides. These national priorities are well reflected in the various
components of this proposed Project.
3. The proposed Project will build upon the work carried out by the government and supported by GEF, JICA and
CIDA. The ultimate impact will be the reduction and prevention of POPs releases to the global environment,
specifically PCBs, obsolete pesticides and dioxins and furans pollutants. With enhanced POPs management capacity
and demonstrated approaches to control and prevent exposure risks from key sources of POPs, Egypt will pave the
way for the elimination of PCBs and obsolete pesticides, as well as significant reductions of dioxins and furan
emissions using an integrated and sustainable POPs management approach.
C. DESCRIBE THE CONSISTENCY OF THE PROJECT WITH GEF STRATEGIES AND STRATEGIC PROGRAMS:
4. The overall objectives of the proposed Project are fully aligned with the GEF strategic programs in the POPs focal
area. Specifically, the Project will: (i) strengthen technical capacity of the GOE, at EEAA and other relevant agencies
for NIP implementation; and (ii) provide the GOE technical and financial assistance to respond to the priorities
identified in the NIP in terms of PCBs, dioxins and furans and obsolete pesticides.
6
5. The proposed Project is also consistent with the GEF’s Sound Chemicals Management Framework Strategy. The
development of cross-sectoral regulatory and technical capacity will forge better coordination for integrated and
sustainable POPs management that can eventually be extended to other chemical pollutants and their respective
international agreements.
D. JUSTIFY THE TYPE OF FINANCING SUPPORT PROVIDED WITH THE GEF RESOURCES:
6. Grant resources will be provided to a selected group of industrial facilities that have confirmed high levels of dioxin
and furan emissions. These grants will only cover the costs of demonstration of appropriate pollution abatement
technologies, which would probably never be implemented in these types of facilities unless their potential and costeffectiveness are fully demonstrated. In the case of PCBs, grant resources will be provided to the government to
partially cover the costs of treatment and disposal of publically owned PCB contaminated oils and equipment. In the
absence of these grant resources and of the associated technical assistance, it is very unlikely that the GOE will be
financially able to meet its commitments under the Stockholm Convention.
E. OUTLINE THE COORDINATION WITH OTHER RELATED INITIATIVES:
7. CIDA Grant: Funding from the Canadian government is currently being used by the GOE to complete preliminary
inventories and assessments carried out under the NIP. As noted above, work will be undertaken to evaluate dioxin
and furan emissions form industrial sites and medical waste incinerators, to extend findings of the current PCB
inventory, and to assess the situation of pesticide stockpiles. Findings from these ongoing tasks will become the basis
of this proposed POPs management project.
8. Second Pollution Abatement Project (EPAP-II): After successful completion of the World Bank’s first Egypt
Pollution Abatement Project (EPAP), this project has become a vehicle to support the Government to take advantage
of the opportunities offered by the emerging carbon market established after the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol
in February 2005. The project's main development objective is to demonstrate, in the Egyptian context, the
applicability of market-based financial and technical approaches to achieve significant pollution abatement in selected
hot spot areas in and around Alexandria and Greater Cairo. The project provides technical and financial assistance to
different industries aiming at complying with existing environmental laws. Hence, coordination with EPAP-II will
maximize the effectiveness of this proposed Project in that it will provide a regulatory and financial context in which
the demonstrated BAT/BEP technologies for the elimination of dioxin and furans can later be replicated and
implemented.
9. Promotion of Strategies to Reduce Unintentional Production of POPs in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden
(PERSGA) Coastal Zone: A medium size project was recently approved by GEF (September 2008) which will help
reduce and eliminate unintentional production of POPs in key sectors of industry (cement, incineration, metallurgy
and pulp and paper) through the introduction of BAT/BEP strategies in the industrial sector of the coast in the
PERSGA eligible member countries. Coordination with UNIDO will be critical to maximize the effectiveness of the
proposed Project, by using lessons learnt from their experiences in the proposed demonstrations of BAT/BEP
technologies.
10. Africa stockpiles project: See above
F. DISCUSS THE VALUE-ADDED OF GEF INVOLVEMENT IN THE PROJECT DEMONSTRATED THROUGH INCREMENTAL
REASONING :
11. Dioxins and furans – Under the business as usual scenario, the current lack of regulations and industrial standards for
dioxin and furan emissions will very likely remain unchanged, due to insufficient technical and technological capacity
in the government, and particularly in the EEAA, for monitoring and enforcement. The situation is probably even less
likely to improve in the local context, where the inventory of industrial emissions may have been severely
underestimated, no resources are available to improve the quality of the data, and therefore where the true scale of the
problem remains unknown. Without the government’s capacity and without the public’s awareness, there are no
foreseeable drivers for industry to upgrade their practices and/or their facilities, following recognized BAT/BEP for
reducing dioxin and furan emissions. With time, emissions are likely to further increase in aging industrial facilities,
and without regulatory incentives for newly established facilities to install pollution control (including dioxin and
furan) technologies.
7
12. Under the alternative scenario, financial and technical assistance from CIDA and from the proposed GEF Project will
be used first to quantify the magnitude of the emissions in the highest dioxin and furan emitting sectors. Second,
capacity will be strengthened within the government and in industry on issues involving pollution control and
BAT/BEP, and this will drive the necessary regulatory changes that will ultimately lead to less polluting industrial
operations. Third, demonstrations of cost-effective and viable practices/technologies in key polluting sectors will not
only aim at achieving reductions in dioxin and furan emissions, but will also lead to greater energy efficiency and
overall sustainability. These demonstrations will be well documented and carefully monitored by the government, and
they will be used across sectors, to demonstrate and to promote the viability and the effectiveness of the upgrades.
The timing of this Project and of the planned demonstrations is right, as the success of the EPAP program becomes
widely known across the industrial sector, and the financial tools developed under that program may be used for the
modernization and upgrade of heavy dioxin and furan emitters.
13. PCBs: Under the current scenario, no regulations are in place that would allow the implementation of a national
phaseout of PCBs by 2025, in line with the targets of the Stockholm Convention. No national baseline is available,
public awareness about the risks of PCBs is low, and no government capacity exists to evaluate potential alternatives
for the safe handling of PCB-containing equipment. Moreover, no alternatives exist for the adequate management
and/or disposal of PCB-contaminated oils and electrical equipment that are currently held in government or private
facilities around the country. Under this scenario, no incentives exist for private or public owners of electrical
equipment to determine whether it contains PCBs, and if contaminated, no there is no motivation for its safe handling.
The situation is made even more critical by local, indiscriminate practices of oil recycling, which may have led to the
cross-contamination of an unknown number of transformers nation-wide. Although recently banned, without
enforcement the practice of opening electrical equipment, draining and mixing oils and ultimately topping up other
open systems will continue, with potentially devastating impacts on human health and the environment.
14. Under a much needed alternative scenario, Project resources will be used to update the regulatory framework such
that it makes it possible to control, manage and ultimately eliminate the use of PCB-containing equipment, along the
country’s commitment to the Convention. The Project will build capacity, both in the public and private sectors in the
use of adequate procedures for the safe-handling of PCBs. Oil recycling practices will be strongly controlled. The
Project will also develop a management plan that will ultimately lead to the treatment and/or disposal of off-line,
government-owned PCB contaminated oils and equipment, and that will also make provisions for the
decommissioning of all on-line PCB-tainted equipment, by 2025. By strengthening regulation, building awareness,
providing training, demonstrating procedures for decommissioning and safeguarding equipment, and putting in place
a plan aiming at eliminating all publically-owned PCB-containing equipment, the government is setting the context to
engage the private sector in a plan that will gradually phase out all PCB-contaminated equipment in Egypt.
15. Obsolete pesticides: An independent evaluation of the ASP confirmed the multiple benefits added value of the
Regional Programmatic approach adopted for implementation. It was noted that the Program approach that will be
pursued under ASP-P2 and that will include all Component 4 activities to be implemented in Egypt, will provide for
better leverage towards harmonization of policies and regulations across the Region. This approach will also provide
better leverage for mainstreaming of global environmental concerns into decision-making.
G. INDICATE RISKS, INCLUDING CLIMATE CHANGE RISKS, THAT MIGHT PREVENT THE PROJECT OBJECTIVE(S) FROM
BEING ACHIEVED, AND IF POSSIBLE INCLUDING RISK MITIGATION MEASURES THAT WILL BE TAKEN:
16. The following risks have been identified at this early stage of Project preparation:

Poor coordination among national and international stakeholders. To mitigate this risk, particularly under
Component 3, the Project team will fully engage all stakeholders, including public and private sectors. In
addition, a multidisciplinary National Steering Committee (NSC) will be set up under a Ministerial decree, which
will consist of experts and senior staff from various Ministries and research organizations connected directly to
POPs, as well as competent authorities of the governorates.

Accidental spillage of PCBs and/or obsolete pesticides during handling, treatment or disposal. To avoid this risk
the Project will ensure that a sound environmental management framework is developed to include all needed
safeguarding provisions, in line with World Bank safeguard procedures.

Resources may not be sufficient to support BAT/BEP adoption for dioxins and furans emissions reduction and/or
for PCB management and disposal. The GOE is fully committed to its obligations under the Stockholm
8
Convention, including the total phaseout of PCBs by 2025 and the reduction of dioxin and furan emissions. The
government is well aware that private sector participation in activities involving PCB phaseout and pollution
abatement is essential to its ultimate objective. Demonstrating cost-effective, as well as viable technologies for
treatment and disposal of PCBs and for dioxin and furan emissions reduction will be the first step in the process
of achieving private sector support. The government will also focus on developing the appropriate regulatory
environment and the enforcement structure that will ultimately help drive the conversion of the private sector.
H. DESCRIBE, IF POSSIBLE, THE EXPECTED COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PROJECT:
17. The Project cost-effectiveness will be determined during Project preparation based on the estimated PCB to be
managed and collected; dioxins and furans releases to be reduced, and obsolete pesticide waste to be addressed.
Through Project demonstration activities, potential alternatives will be assessed and the least cost option will be
selected. Estimates of cost-effectiveness for alternatives will be provided at Project submission.
I. JUSTIFY THE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE OF GEF AGENCY:
18. Under the GEF IV, the World Bank has demonstrated its ability to manage complex, multi-stakeholder investment
projects under the POPs focal area, in particular on PCB management and elimination in China and Moldova.
Relevant lessons learned from implementation of those projects will be built-in to the design of this FSP. Moreover,
approximately 80% of the GEF resources requested for this Project will finance investment activities, which fall
within the comparative advantage of the World Bank. The remaining resources will be used to finance strengthening
of regulatory frameworks, capacity building and awareness raising, all critical Project components that, in the interest
of sustainability, cannot be excluded from the overall approach. These elements reinforce the Bank’s goal of
promoting institution strengthening, infrastructure development and policy reform.
9
PART III: APPROVAL/ENDORSEMENT BY GEF OPERATIONAL FOCAL POINT(S) AND GEF
AGENCY(IES)
A. RECORD OF ENDORSEMENT OF GEF OPERATIONAL FOCAL POINT (S) ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT(S):
(Please attach the country endorsement letter(s) or regional endorsement letter(s) with this template).
NAME
Dr.Mawheb Abou
El Azm
POSITION
Chief Executive
Office, EEAA
MINISTRY
EGYPTIAN
ENVIRONMENTAL
DATE (Month, day, year)
AFFAIRS AGENCY
B. GEF AGENCY(IES) CERTIFICATION
This request has been prepared in accordance with GEF policies and procedures and meets the GEF criteria for
project identification and preparation.
Agency Coordinator,
Agency name
Steve Gorman
GEF Executive
Coordinator
The World Bank
Signature
Date
(Month, day, year)
Project Contact
Person
Kanta K. Rigaud
MNA Regional
GEF
Coordinator
Telephone
Email Address
X34269
Kkumari@worldbank.org
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