Download Introduction This module discusses the involvement of various

MODULE 4:
MANAGING THE
ASSESSMENT AND
REPORTING PROCESS
Introduction
This module discusses the involvement of
various groups of people in the IEA process.
It highlights:
the Importance of the IEA process,
who should get involved and the level of
involvement for different groups of people,
how important issues should be decided,
and
how the IEA process could be managed.
IEA Process
 IEA is a continuous process
 Its organization and management should allow
scientists from various fields of environmental
pursuits (transdisciplinary) to decide the important
issues for analysis in collaboration with a broad but
manageable range of civil society
 The institutional setting that is entrusted with the
leadership should have a legal mandate to conduct
or provide leadership in all aspects of
environmental assessment and reporting, and to
expect the participation of other institutions as an
necessary obligation
Importance of the IEA Process
It is a learning process for all that get
involved assisting to build capacity on
knowledge about the environment
It provides a broad basis for:
Supporting sustainable development
 Exploring linkages between policy, the
economy, society and environment
 Developing appropriate policy packages
 Encouraging good governance and ownership
of the report
 Bringing together fragmented knowledge and
streamlining issues of policy formulation
 Facilitating cooperation of policy makers
across government and beyond

Involvement in the IEA process
Communication in Africa with different
social groups is particularly difficult.
Involvement in the IEA process should
not be taken for granted for any social
group
Planners of the process should make
extra effort to include poorer
communities which are commonly
overlooked
Contribution of poorer marginalized
communities may be unique, e.g may
add indigenous knowledge.
Involvement in the IEA process
may be on three major levels
Information dissemination – civil society is
informed of environmental policies either
already made or about to be made and is
allowed to comment. Their comments may not
influence the outcome.
Consultation – at some time before or after
the environmental policy is drawn up, the
opinions of civil society are solicited. Its
opinions and views are expected to influence
the final policy formulated.
Participation – continuous communication
between civil society, policy drafting groups and
decision makers. Final environmental policy is
the outcome of direct and complete involvement
of the three groups.
Involvement in the IEA process in
practice
 Different groups of civil society are involved at
different levels depending on their level of
interest and relevance for a particular issue of
the report
 Only a number of manageable representatives
are involved, not everybody relevant
Some suggestions on levels of involvement in different issues:
Issue
Section of civil society
Level of involvement
Agriculture
Farming communities
Taxi drivers
Participate
Inform
Water resources
All
Participate
Deforestation
School teachers
Urban communities
Mining communities
Participate
Consult
inform
AEO Process uses all three levels
In the development of the AEO, all three
levels are used
Participation – special working groups
(e.g on policy, capacity-building, data, etc.)
Consultation – with thematic groups
Information dissemination – general
public
Deciding important issues in the
process
 The whole range of issues relevant to
environmental assessment cannot be included
in a report. Early selection of a manageable list
of the most important issues is important.
 Importance of issues will differ with scale of
analysis (regional, sub-regional, national, etc.)
and among different countries or other regions
of analysis
 It is advisable to start with a long list of relevant
issues drawn up by experts from which a
manageable list may be selected by a wide
range of stakeholders.
 This process was used to decide on important
issues for AEO-2
Management of the process at the
national level
Existing structures at the national level
may be difficult to modify to accommodate
the IEA process; the process normally is
made to fit into existing structures.
No overall “best” management structures
are agreed on but best practices in many
African countries show the importance of a
key existing department in a ministry or a
new department or authority.
The coordinating role of the key
department or authority requires a level of
clout over other departments
Possible organizational chart
PARLIAMENT
CABINET
Ministry of Environment
Other relevant ministries
ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORIY
Advisory Groups
Advisory Groups
Stakeholder or focus groups
Stakeholder or focus groups
Possible organization
At the national level in an African country, it has
been considered appropriate to put environmental
assessment and reporting directly under cabinet
responsibility. One possible organization:
 Parliament – legislative, policy making body
 Cabinet – final decision making authority
 Relevant Ministry – e.g. Ministry of Environment,
champions the cause of the IEA process but works
in close collaboration with other ministries
 Environmental Authority – the workhorse on
environmental matters in the Ministry of
Environment
 Expert technical advisory groups – participants with
specialised knowledge
 Stakeholder focus groups – representatives of
various social organizations
Management of the process at the
sub-national level
More analytical assessment of an
independent or semi-independent agency
may be made because it may have more
advantages than would be the case at the
national level:
 Will start with a clean slate avoiding
inter-departmental bickering
 May be more independent in getting
funds in addition to funds from
government
 May more easily link with NGOs
The legal mandate
IEA requires that many departments and
organizations work together attending to
specific responsibilities under tight time
budgets
Each participant must have the legal
responsibility to carry out what is
expected and the authority to demand
others’ inputs
Legislation at the national level required
to define relationships, responsibilities,
authority and expectations for a
successful IEA process.
Beyond national level, governments
should provide mandates to the
appropriate reporting institution.
Legislation could be particularly used
at the national level for:
Setting the stage for collaboration
expected between government agencies
Encouraging data sharing and
harmonization
Defining rules for external consultation
and participation
Defining the rules for sustainable local
capacity building to replace external
assistance