IFAD's Social, Environmental and Climate Assessment Procedures (SECAP) - 2017

IFAD remains committed to mainstreaming social, environmental and climate change solutions. IFAD’s first Social, Environmental and Climate Assessment Procedures (SECAP) were reviewed by the Executive Board in December 2014 and became effective on 1 January 2015.

These procedures refined IFAD’s guiding values and principles, and defined an improved course of action for assessing social, environmental and climate risks to enhance the sustainability of results-based country strategic opportunities programmes (RB-COSOPs), country strategy notes (CSNs), programmes and projects.

This update to the SECAP (hereafter referred to as “edition”), along with the guidance statements, sets out the mandatory requirements and other elements that must be integrated throughout the project life cycle. The procedures apply to all investment projects and supersede the ones in the version.

This edition describes how to better mainstream environmental, social and climate change considerations into the project cycle, and demonstrates IFAD’s commitment to go beyond “doing no harm” to maximizing development gains. It also takes into consideration the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other international relevant agreements.2 It seeks to ensure that IFAD’s policies and strategies and its investments are designed to leave no one behind since sustainable development must be achieved for all – especially the poorest and most vulnerable to climate change.