Ethnic Minority Development Plan

July 2021

People’s Republic of China: Guangxi Hezhou Environment Restoration and Sustainable Development Project

Prepared by the Hezhou Municipal Government for the Asian Development Bank.

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CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 8 June 2021)

Currency unit – yuan (CNY) CNY1.00 = $0.1563 or €0.1282 $1.00 = CNY6.3974 or €0.8203 €1.00 = CNY7.7989 or $1.2190

ABBREVIATIONS

ACWF – All-China Women’s Federation ADB – Asian Development Bank CDPC – center of disease protection and control DI – design institute EMDP – ethnic minority development plan EMP – environmental management plan EMRB – ethnic minority and religious affairs bureau GDP – gross domestic product GRM – grievance redress mechanism GZAR – Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region HB – health bureau HMG – Hezhou Municipal Government HMIGC – Guangxi Hezhou Mining Investment Group Company Limited HPMO – Hezhou project management office HRSB – human resource and social security bureau km2 – square kilometer LGU – local government unit LURT – land use right transfer m2 – square meter MLS – minimum living security mu – Chinese unit of measurement (1 mu = 666.67 m2) O&M – operation and maintenance PADO – poverty alleviation development office PDG – Pinggui District Government PIU – project implementation unit PMISC – project management and implementation support consultant PMO – project management office PRC – People’s Republic of China PSA – poverty and social analysis PUCIC – Hezhou Pinggui Urban Construction Investment Company Limited RTPA – registered and targeted poverty alleviation SPS – Safeguard Policy Statement TRTA – transaction technical assistance

NOTE In this report, "$" refers to United States dollars.

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Guangxi Hezhou Environment Restoration and Sustainable Development Project EMDP

Table of Contents

1. BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION ...... 1 2. OBJECTIVES AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR ETHNIC MINORITY DEVELOPMENT ...... 3 2.1. Policies on Ethnic Minorities of the People’s Republic of China ...... 3 2.2. Relevant Regulations on Ethnic Minorities in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region ...... 5 2.3. ADB Policy Requirements for Indigenous Peoples ...... 7 3. SOCIOECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS ...... 10 3.1. Summary of Socioeconomic Situation in the Project Area ...... 10 3.2. Ethnic Minority Population in the Project Area ...... 11 3.3. Social and Culture Features of the Yao and Zhuang People ...... 14 3.4. Social Situation of ethnic minority Township/Villages with Project Activities ...... 17 3.5. Poverty Situation in the Project Area ...... 18 3.6. Income and Livelihood ...... 20 4. PROJECT BENEFITS AND ADVERSE IMPACTS ...... 22 4.1. Impacted Population by Outputs ...... 22 4.2. Potential Impacts by Outputs ...... 22 5. CONSULTATION, PARTICIPATION, DISCLOSURE, AND GRIEVANCE REDRESS ...... 25 5.1. Consultations Conducted during the Project Design ...... 25 5.2. Consultation and Participation during the Project Implementation ...... 32 5.3. Stakeholders Analysis and Consultation and Participation Plan ...... 33 5.4. Grievance Redress Mechanism ...... 33 6. ACTION PLAN ...... 36 7. IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS ...... 41 8. COSTS AND FINANCING SOURCES AND SCHEDULE ...... 42 9. MONITORING AND EVALUATION ...... 43 Appendix 1: Template of EMDP Implementation Progress and Results Report ...... 44 Appendix 2: Template of External EMDP and SGAP Monitoring Report ...... 45 Appendix 3: Summary of Consultation Activities ...... 46 Appendix 4: Photos of Field Survey ...... 48

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A. Introduction

E1. The ethnic minority development plan (EMDP) ensures that the ethnic minorities in the project area (Yao and Zhuang are the two main ethnic groups) would participate and benefit from the Guangxi Hezhou Environment Restoration and Sustainable Development Project (project) and that any adverse impacts on them either avoided or mitigated. The EMDP is based on relevant laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Safeguard Policy Statement (SPS, 2009) requirements.

E2. The Government of the PRC has requested ADB to provide financial support for the proposed project. The objective of the project is to help Hezhou to (i) reduce the pollution and improve the environment of the former mineral mining area; (ii) provide essential social services to the population; and (iii) capacitate institutions to make the former mineral mining workers’ living area in Hezhou green, healthy, and sustainable. A total of 131 ethnic minority administrative villages/communities (including 5 community committees and 126 village committees) in one sub- district office and nine townships in one district (Pinggui District) and one county (Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County) are involved in the project, including one ethnic minority township and 24 ethnic minority administrative villages. None of these ethnic minority villages will be involved in the civil works construction of the project, but the project output, especially the township and village-level healthcare capacity building content, will cover these ethnic minority administrative villages. The EMDP has been prepared to focus on potential impacts on these ethnic minority villages.

B. Project Description

E3. The project consists of three outputs: (i) nature-friendly measures to reduce pollution in the Kedashan former mineral mining area implemented; (ii) institutional mechanisms and service quality of health and elderly care in Pinggui District strengthened, including (a) Pinggui Workers’ Hospital in Xiwan Town, (b) Pinggui Integrated Health and Elderly Care Center; (c) service and capacity improvement of town/township clinics—in one sub-district and eight towns in Pinggui District; and (iii) green and health care-related skills development institutions developed, including a Knowledge and Skills Sharing Center.

C. Socioeconomic Characteristics

E4. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR) had a population of 56.95 million, of which 22.2 million were ethnic minorities accounting for 39% of the total population in 2019. The gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was CNY42,964, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was CNY34,745, the per capita disposable income of rural residents was CNY13,676, and the per capita consumption expenditure of rural residents was CNY12,045.

E5. Hezhou's municipal population is 2.4759 million, among which 408,000 are ethnic minorities, accounting for 16.5% of the total population. The GDP per capita was CNY38,300, urban residents’ per capita disposable income was CNY33,179, rural residents’ per capita disposable income was CNY12,737, and rural residents’ per capita consumption expenditure was CNY9,233.

E6. Pinggui District had a total population of 467,500, among which 56,000 are ethnic minorities, accounting for 12% of the total population in 2019. The GDP per capita was i

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CNY38,388, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was CNY31,778, and the per capita disposable income of rural residents was CNY12,820.

E7. Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County had a total population of 341,700, among which 204,000 were ethnic minority people, accounting for 59.7% of the total population in 2019. The GDP per capita was CNY32,422, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was CNY30,968, the per capita disposable income of rural residents was CNY12,196, and the per capita consumption expenditure of rural residents was CNY7,671.

E8. The ethnic minority people in Pinggui district are mainly living in 24 ethnic minority villages, including 17 Yao villages and seven Zhuang villages, accounting for about 50% of the total ethnic minority population in Pinggui district. Other ethnic minority people are living with Han residents in other four communities and 96 administrative villages.

E9. The project area is in a mountainous area, with a small flat land area where urban centers are located. In general, the living conditions of the Zhuang and the Han residents are basically the same. Yao people live together far from the urban city. Poor transport facilities and the lack of arable land limit agricultural development in the area. The reforestation of the mining locality will take a long time. As a result, the Yao villages are relatively poor. In recent years, the living standard of Yao villagers has significantly improved as a result of the planting of tea trees and other economic fruit trees in forest areas and enhanced employment opportunities outside the village.

E10. The out-migration rate is high in the project areas, especially among the younger and productive age groups (especially 40 years and below). The younger generation of Yao and Zhuang people are not attracted to farming but prefer to work in factories and shops and/or commercial and manufacturing establishments in urban areas.

E11. Participation of women in economic activities within the project areas in various sectors is high. Women are active in farming (corn, tea trees, etc.) and raising livestock and poultry, working as cleaners in townships and villages, and engaging in other kinds of unskilled labor. Women also work in government agencies and organizations. There are more men employed in higher positions compared to women.

E12. The PRC has established a public health system at all levels, which includes large comprehensive hospitals in cities, comprehensive hospitals in counties/districts, central hospitals in sub-district offices, township hospitals, and village clinics. Standards for the construction and operation of medical institutions at all levels have been compiled, including the construction of necessary divisions, the number of beds, and the allocation of medical staff. Overall, urban comprehensive hospitals can meet the standards, medical staff allocation, and medical equipment and appliances can meet the requirements. However, township hospitals in rural areas, especially village-level clinics, cannot meet the requirements of medical service capacity and standard because they are far away from urban areas and high medical personnel turnover rate. Rural residents, especially Yao residents, live far away from the urban areas. In most cases, township hospitals are their first choice to seek medical assistant. In village-level clinics, they mainly buy medicines. Therefore, it is very important to ensure that the township hospitals can operate in accordance with the standards. Both ethnic minority residents and Han residents could seek health facilities, and they all enjoy rural medical insurance schemes.

E13. Rural residents first choose their own elderly care at home. The Yao people, in particular, still believe that home elderly care is a virtue that shows filial respect to the elderly. They still ii

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maintain the habit of home-based elderly care and are reluctant to accept elderly care at nursing care centers.

D. Poverty and Social Assessment in the Project Areas

E14. In Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Hezhou City, Pinggui District, and Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County, urban and rural residents who are enjoying the minimum living security (MLS) allowances account for 4.87%, 6.8%, 5.97%, and 8.25%, respectively, of the total population with the vast majority of rural residents. In the 24 ethnic minority villages in Pinggui District, the registered poverty-stricken population accounted for about 50% of all ethnic minority populations. By the end of 2020, even though all these poor people had been lifted out of poverty, according to the current poverty alleviation policies and requirements, these poverty-suffering residents still need to be supported for another three years until they become capable of living and have the ability to maintain their living standards. Those who have lost the ability to work, including the disabled, will be included in the MLS system for urban and rural residents.

E15. The main reasons for rural poverty are: (i) unbalance development between urban and rural areas; (ii) mountainous areas with limited agricultural production and poor transportation; (iii) low productivity due to low skills among the population.

E16. According to the socio-economic survey, the poverty situation of the ethnic minority people in the project area is similar to that of the other residents. All policies related to poverty alleviation apply to ethnic minority residents and Han people. However, in the case of ethnic minority villages, the Central Government and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Governments, through the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, provide special funds each year to help ethnic minority townships and villages build rural roads, drinking water, and other infrastructure in order to promote poverty alleviation in rural areas. From 2014 to 2017, the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau of Pinggui District completed 12 projects for Daping Yao Township, including building rural roads, supporting rural drinking water projects, and providing tea and camellia planting training using the Ethnic Minority Development Fund of CNY1,762,400.

E17. Except for the reimbursement covered by the medical insurance, the medical expenses of families with the MLS also can enjoy a certain discount when consulting doctors. Rural registered poor residents can reimburse at least 90% of total actual medical expenses.

E. Additional Social Assessment in the Project Areas

E18. The field surveys with village leaders, the villagers’ representatives, township hospital in- charges, village clinic personnel found that (i) the villagers see doctors in village clinics and township hospitals for medical treatment for common illnesses; but, in case of serious diseases, residents generally choose urban comprehensive hospitals as the latter provides better service; (ii) ordinary medicines can be obtained from village clinics or township hospitals, but some medicines must be purchased from urban hospitals; (iii) most young villagers go out to work, and there are more elderly residents at home. Once the elderly are sick, they often need their young relatives to come back to take care of them; (iv) some elderly Yao residents use herbs and other local ingredients to treat their diseases. However, such Yao native doctors are not qualified to practice medicine as traditional Chinese medicine; (v) doctors in village-level clinics are generally elders and train young people in medicine. However, village clinics are often remote and poorly- funded, making it difficult to recruit graduates from medical schools; (vi) most village doctors are males, and women find it inconvenient to get medical examinations done, especially in gynecological diseases; (vii) for the same reason, there is a large turnover of medical staff in iii

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township hospitals, and some branches cannot be opened such as obstetrics and gynecology, and ENT divisions; (viii) most Yao people are scattered across the mountainous areas, as a result, have to travel long distances to reach health centers in nearby towns and villages. Ambulances are very important for emergency treatment, and township hospitals are equipped with ambulances.

E19. The ethnic minority residents have expressed their support for the project’s objective of improving the service level and capacity of township hospitals. They understand that the current capacity of township hospitals is limited. But they hope that the project would provide the required medical equipment. Measures are also expected to be taken to ensure that the necessary medical staffs continue to work in township hospitals. The ethnic minority residents were consulted during the social survey and the project design phase, and their suggestions and comments on how to improve rural medical care and elderly care had been incorporated in the project design.

F. Project Benefits and Impacts

E20. The ecological improvement of the Kedashan mountain mines will improve the overall ecological and natural environment of Baisha Town in Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County and will have a positive impact on the living environment of the residents of Baisha Town, including the ethnic minority residents.

E21. The capacity development and improvement of Pinggui’s medical and elderly care services construction in the Pinggui District component of the project will build a new comprehensive hospital and a combined medical and elderly care center to expand local residents’ medical and elderly care resources and facilitate better medical and elderly care. By defining the functions of the new hospital, it can promote assistance to the township hospitals and improve their service level. Through the establishment of the smart medical system, the close ties of township hospitals with urban comprehensive hospitals can be strengthened, the urban comprehensive hospitals can guide directly in diagnosis and analysis, treatment methods and means, and nursing measures to township hospitals, improve the health level of township hospitals, and attract more local residents to see doctors in township hospitals.

E22. The subproject of service and capacity improvement of town/township level clinics in all 9 townships in Pinggui District will provide better services for local residents, including ethnic minority residents, by increasing the number of medical equipment at township hospitals, improving the medical level and capacity of township hospitals, including the Daping Yao Minority Township Hospital. Through the pilot community elderly care component, the elderly care methods in rural areas will be explored, including ethnic minority areas in the formulation of relevant policies. The overall health quality of residents will be improved by enhancing medical and elderly care knowledge and the promotion of health care awareness among residents.

E23. The construction of a technical and vocational skill training center will improve the competitiveness of local laborers and promote their employment by providing vocational skills training and technical knowledge training for laborers in Pinggui District. The development of medical and elderly care courses and nursing and practical skill programs for female laborers will improve their employment opportunities. Yao and Zhuang peoples, like Han people, will have an opportunity to increase their employability and opportunities through vocational skills training.

E24. The project impacts on local residents, whether Han or ethnic minority residents, are generally the same. However, in the design and implementation of the project, active participation

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of local ethnic minority residents is needed to ensure that the ethnic minority residents receive the same services and benefits from the project outputs as the Han residents will do.

E25. During the project implementation and operation phases, especially during the mining area’s ecological improvement and the capacity development, and improvement of Pinggui’s medical and elderly care services will generate new jobs, including temporary jobs in the project areas. Such employment opportunities will be made available for women and ethnic minority households on a priority basis.

E26. The civil works of the project are mainly conducted in the Xiwan Street Office of Pinggui District and Baisha Town of Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County. During civil works construction, dust, noise, solid waste, and wastewater will cause environmental problems. In the project Environmental Management Plan (EMP), specific measures are set out to reduce such potential environmental problems.

G. Consultation and Disclosure

E27. The ethnic minorities, including Yao and Zhuang peoples in Daping Township, Yao, and Zhuang villages in the project areas, have been consulted regarding the likely positive and adverse impacts of the project. They expressed their support to the project, and are willing to participate in project activities, so they can benefit directly. Further consultation and community mobilization activities will be conducted during project implementation. The EMDP will be disclosed on the ADB website, and copies of the report will be distributed to ethnic minority villages.

E28. Various methodologies were used in data gathering and in conducting consultations with various stakeholders. Public consultations, meetings with the townships and/or village officials, women, farmers, ethnic minorities, and other stakeholders were conducted in the project areas starting February to April 2021. The technical assistance (TA) consultants have conducted several consultations with concerned government agencies and/or bureaus in Hezhou City, Pinggui District, Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County, sub-district central hospital, township hospitals, village clinics, township governments, village leaders, women, farmers, the Yao and Zhuang ethnic minority. The ethnic minority consultations were conducted by the Hezhou project management office (HPMO) with support from the TA consultants (national and international consultants).

H. Implementation Arrangement

E29. The HPMO will be responsible for supervising and monitoring the EMDP implementation; Guangxi Hezhou Mining Investment Group Company Limited (HMIGC) and the Pinggui District Government, with its project implementing unit (PIU) Hezhou Pinggui Urban Construction Investment Company Limited (PUCIC), will be responsible for implementing the EMDP with the assistance from the social, gender, indigenous people specialists of the project management and implementation support consulting firm, who will be hired by HPMO (the office of executing agency) during project implementation. The Hezhou and Pinggui Ethnic Minority and Religious Affairs Bureaus and its township offices will provide support, coordinate, advise and review the progress of the EMDP implementation. Implementation arrangements of the EMDP are integrated into the specific project activities. Other key agencies for implementation include the Development and Reform Committee, Health Bureau, Finance Bureau, Environmental Protection Bureau, Education Bureau, the All-China Women’s Federation (ACWF), and other concerned agencies.

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E30. Cost and Financing Sources. The costs of EMDP’s actions are either included as (i) part of the project budget or (ii) part of routine administrative expenses of respective authorities. The total cost of implementing the EMDP is about CNY3.89 million.

I. Monitoring and Evaluation

E31. The objective of the monitoring and evaluation is to assess whether the EMDP’s actions have been implemented effectively. The EMDP will be monitored, and the monitoring reports will be submitted semi-annually to ADB. The social, gender, indigenous people specialists in the project management and implementation support consulting team will work with the HPMO to set up an appropriate internal monitoring system and assist with the preparation of monitoring reports. In addition, external monitors will be recruited to perform semi-annual external monitoring of the EMDP, gender, and other social until the project completion.

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1. BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION

The objective of the Guangxi Hezhou Environment Restoration and Sustainable Development Project (project) is to help Hezhou to (i) reduce the pollution and improve the environment of the former mineral mining area; (ii) provide essential social services to the population; and (iii) capacitate institutions to make the former mineral mining workers’ living area in Hezhou green, healthy, and sustainable. The project consists of three outputs: (i) nature- friendly measures to reduce pollution in the Kedashan former mineral mining area implemented; (ii) institutional mechanisms and service quality of health and elderly care in Pinggui District strengthened, including (a) Pinggui Workers’ Hospital in Xiwan Town, (b) Pinggui Integrated Health and Elderly Care Center; (c) services and capacity improvement of town/township clinics— in one sub-district and eight towns in Pinggui District; and (iii) green and health care-related skills development institutions developed, including a Knowledge and Skills Sharing Center.

The project impacts are: Hezhou’s water and soil environment improved, and Hezhou’s health service quality and capacity improved. 1 The project will have the following outcome: Kedashan’s environment and Pinggui’s health capacity improved. The project consists of two subprojects—Kedashan and Pinggui subprojects.

The project will be implemented in one town (Baisha Town) of Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County, and one sub-district office (Xiwan sub-district office) and eight townships, including one ethnic minority township and 25 ethnic minority administrative villages, in Pinggui District, Hezhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR). A total of 482,100 residents in one sub- district office and nine towns will benefit from the project, including 62,400 ethnic minority persons.

The project will be financed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) with a loan of $100 million, accounting for 43.1% of its total investment. The project will be implemented from January 2022 to December 2027. The loan closing date is 30 June 2028.

The Hezhou Municipal Government (HMG) is the executing agency. The Pinggui District Government (PDG) and Guangxi Hezhou Mining Investment Group Company Limited (HMIGC) are the implementing agencies. PDG has its project implementing unit (PIU) Hezhou Pinggui Urban Construction Investment Company Limited (PUCIC), and HMIGC has its own PIU within its organization. HMG has established the Hezhou project management office (HPMO) located in Hezhou City. HPMO is responsible for the overall management of the project on behalf of HMG, supervision of the compliance with Loan Agreement and Project Agreement, and reporting project progress to HMG and ADB. PDG and HMIGC are responsible for implementing subprojects in their administrative areas, engineering design and raising counterpart funds, implementing safeguard plans, and reporting the project progress to HPMO.

The project is classified as category ‘B’ for indigenous peoples following ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement (SPS, 2009). Yao and Zhuang are the two main ethnic groups live in the project area. And there are a Yao township, 17 Yao administrative villages, and seven Zhuang administrative villages in the project area. They will be benefited from medical and elderly care facilities, improved medical and elderly care capability and services, enhanced technical and vocational skill training, and increased household income levels.

The impact of the project on ethnic minority people has been identified, their social situations surveyed and analyzed. To maximize the positive impacts of the project and minimize

1 HMG. 2018. Hezhou City Environment Master Plan, 2016–2030. Hezhou; and GZAR Government. 2017. Healthy Guangxi 2030 Plan. Nanning. 1

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adverse impacts on ethnic minority people, an ethnic minority development plan (EMDP) has been prepared. The EMDP will be implemented in the project areas, and its implementation progress will be monitored and reported to ADB by the HPMO. This EMDP introduces a legal framework based on laws, regulations, and rules of the PRC and GAZR regarding ethnic minority people and their socioeconomic situation, especially regarding the project-affected ethnic minority villages, analyze potential impacts of the project on ethnic minority people, and develop measures for ethnic minority people.

Main methods adopted to prepare this EMDP include (i) secondary data collection and analysis; (ii) site survey for collection of primary data; (iii) discussions with related local government departments and other relevant agencies on details of local socioeconomic status; (iv) interviews with stakeholders, including sampling survey, focus group discussions in affected ethnic minority villages, and (v) key informants interviews with leaders of ethnic minority townships, ethnic minority village committees, doctors of township hospitals and clinics.

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2. OBJECTIVES AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR ETHNIC MINORITY DEVELOPMENT

2.1. Policies on Ethnic Minorities of the People’s Republic of China

The PRC Government defines the coverage of ethnic minorities to include all nationalities except the Han nationality. The word “nationality” as referred to by the PRC here refers to ethnic groups with the small number of populations, which explains why they are called ethnic minorities. The Han population comprises the largest (about 90%) among the 56 recognized ethnic nationalities in the country. The ethnic minority’s rights and culture are well recognized and respected by the national government. The PRC Constitution and Law of Regional Autonomy for Ethnic Minorities clearly stipulate several provisions that (i) guarantee the exercise and respect of ethnic minorities’ rights, and (ii) promote their economic and socio-cultural development.

The key principles of the PRC’s ethnic minority policies can be briefly summed up as (i) ethnic equality and solidarity; (ii) administrative autonomy of ethnic minority regions; (iii) development of economy and cultures of ethnic minority regions; (iv) promotion of ethnic minority cadres; (v) improvement of science, education, civilization, health, and other undertakings in ethnic minority regions; (vi) promotion of the application of ethnic minority languages; (vii) respect for ethnic minorities’ customs and habits; and (viii) respect and protection of ethnic minorities’ freedom to hold their own religious beliefs. On the top of its state-building agenda, the PRC has been taking national unity, ethnic solidarity, ethnic equality, and mutual respect as the basic guidelines of managing ethnic affairs.

The legal framework (national laws and regulations) protecting the ethnic minority’s rights and other legal provisions that may apply for the project outputs and/or components, such as rights as citizens of the country, membership to collectives, utilization of resources, cultural and political rights, and others are summarized as follows.

Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (amended on 11 March 2018)

Chapter I General Principles

Article 4: All nationalities in the People’s Republic of China are equal. The State protects the lawful rights and interests of the minority nationalities and upholds and develops a relationship of equality, unity and mutual assistance among all of PRC’s nationalities. Discrimination against and oppression of any nationality are prohibited; any act which undermines the unity of the nationalities or instigates division is prohibited.

The State assists areas inhabited by minority nationalities in accelerating their economic and cultural development according to the characteristics and needs of the various minority nationalities.

Regional autonomy is practiced in areas where people of minority nationalities live in concentrated communities; in these areas organs of self-government are established to exercise the power of autonomy. All national autonomous areas are integral parts of the People’s Republic of China.

All nationalities have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages and to preserve or reform under rule of law.

Article 9 All mineral resources, waters, forests, mountains, grasslands, unreclaimed land, beaches and other natural resources are owned by the State, that is, by the whole people

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with the exception of the forests, mountains, grasslands, un-reclaimed land and beaches that are owned by collectives as prescribed by law.

The State ensures the rational use of natural resources and protects rare animals and plants. Appropriation or damaging of natural resources by any organization or individual by whatever means is prohibited.

Chapter II Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens

Article 33 All citizens of the PRC are equal before the law.

The State respects and preserves citizen’s rights.

Every citizen is entitled to the rights and at the same time must perform the duties prescribed by the Constitution and other laws.

Article 34 All citizens of the PRC who have reached the age of 18 have the right to vote and stand for election, regardless of ethnic status, race, sex, occupation, family background, religious belief, education, property status or length of residence, except persons deprived of political rights according to law.

Article 36 Citizens of the PRC enjoy freedom of religious belief.

No State organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion.

Section 6 The Organ of Self-Government of National Autonomous Areas

Article 119 The organs of self-government of the national autonomous areas independently administer educational, scientific, cultural, public health and physical culture affairs in their respective areas, protect and sift through the cultural heritage of the nationalities and work for a vigorous development of their cultures.

Article 121 In performing their functions, the organ of self-government of the national autonomous areas, in accordance with the provisions of the regulations on the exercise of autonomy in those areas, employ the spoken and written language in common use in the locality.

Article 122 The State provides financial, material and technical assistance to the minority nationalities to help accelerate their economic and cultural development.

The State helps the national autonomous areas train large numbers of cadres at various levels and specialized personnel and skilled workers of various professions among the nationalities in those areas.

Law of Regional Autonomy for Ethnic Minorities in the People’s Republic of China (2005)

Article 9 State organs at higher levels and organs of self-government in ethnic autonomous areas maintain and develop socialist ethnic relations of equality, unity, and mutual assistance among all ethnic groups. Discrimination and oppression of any ethnic

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groups are prohibited, and acts that undermine ethnic unity and create ethnic divisions are prohibited.

Article 22 In accordance with the needs of socialist construction, the organs of self- government of ethnic autonomous areas adopt various measures to train a large number of cadres at all levels, various scientific and technological, management and other professional talents and skilled workers from the local ethnic groups and give full play to their skills. And pay attention to cultivating cadres at all levels and various professional and technical personnel among ethnic minority women.

Article 23 When recruiting personnel in accordance with State regulations, enterprises and institutions in national autonomous areas shall give priority to minority nationalities and may enlist them from the population of minority nationalities in rural and pastoral areas.

Article 40 The organs of self-government of ethnic autonomous areas independently decide on development plan of local medical and health services and develop modern medicine and ethnic traditional medicine.

Article 65 While exploiting resources and undertaking construction in national autonomous areas, the State shall give consideration to the interests of these areas, make arrangements favorable to the economic development there and pay proper attention to the productive pursuits and the life of minority nationalities there. The State shall take measures to give due benefit compensation to the national autonomous areas from which the natural resources are transported out.

Article 66 Where national autonomous areas make contribution to the ecological balance and environmental protection of the State, the State shall give them due benefit compensation. While exploiting resources and undertaking the construction in national autonomous areas, the organizations or individuals shall take effective measures to protect and improve local living and ecological environment and to prevent and control pollution and other public hazards.

Law of the PRC on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language (2001).

Article 8 All the nationalities shall have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages. The spoken and written languages of the ethnic peoples shall be used in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Constitution, the Law on Regional Autonomy of Ethnic Minorities in the PRC.

2.2. Relevant Regulations on Ethnic Minorities in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

Implementation Opinions of the People’s Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Implementation of the National “13th Five-Year Plan” to Promote the Development of Ethnic Regions and Ethnic Minorities with Relatively Small Population (2017)

By 2020, urban and rural residents will be more fully employed, the number of years of education for the working-age population be significantly increased, social security be fully covered, basic medical and health services be enjoyed by everyone, and the overall quality of people of all ethnic groups and the level of social civilization be improved. National cultural undertakings will be prospered, the excellent traditional culture of ethnic

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minorities be inherited and promoted, cultural activities with ethnic characteristics be extensively carried out, and the construction of the common spiritual home of all ethnic groups will achieve remarkable results.

Speed up the development of secondary vocational education, support the construction of vocational schools with ethnic and regional characteristics, and focus on building a batch of national cultural heritage and innovative vocational education bases. Continue to implement the policy of preferring higher education admissions to poverty-stricken areas, autonomous counties and ethnic communities with small populations, and appropriately expand the enrollment scale of ethnic minority preparatory courses and ethnic minority classes in colleges and universities. Do a good job in special education and continuing education.

Improve basic social service mechanisms and provide guarantees for people of all ethnic groups in terms of elderly care services, social assistance, social welfare, and special care and placement. Strengthen social services for special groups such as left-behind children, extremely poor people, and the disabled. Support the construction of minority-featured elderly care institutions, rural extreme poverty relief and support service institutions, disabled service institutions, and funeral service facilities.

Improve and stabilize the health and family planning service network at county, township, and village levels. Strengthen the construction of weak subjects and key clinical specialties. Newly increased medical and health resources will focus on poverty-stricken counties, autonomous counties, border counties (cities, districts), and counties inhabited by ethnic minorities with small populations. Vigorously develop community health service centers and township hospitals of traditional Chinese medicine and Zhuang-Yao medicine, and comprehensively improve the infrastructure conditions of traditional Chinese medicine ethnic hospitals. Strengthen the construction of national and autonomous region-level Chinese medicine and Zhuang-Yao medicine clinical research bases, regional Chinese medicine, and Zhuang-Yao medicine medical centers and key specialties.

Regulation on Ethnic Minority Languages and Characters in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (2018)

Article 1 In order to strengthen the work of ethnic minority languages, guarantee the freedom of ethnic minorities to use and develop their own languages, scientifically protect and develop ethnic minority languages, promote the common prosperity of all ethnic cultures, and promote ethnic unity and progress, according to the “Law of Regional Autonomy for Ethnic Minorities in the PRC,” “Law of the PRC on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language,” and other related laws and regulations, the regulation is formulated in conjunction with actual conditions of the autonomous region.

Article 4 The autonomous region encourages and supports the use of the Zhuang language and characters identified in the “Zhuang Language Program” approved by the state in areas where the Zhuang people live in concentrated areas on the basis of the unified promotion and use of the national common spoken and written language.

Article 9: People’s governments at all levels encourage and support kindergartens, primary and secondary schools in areas where ethnic minorities live in concentrated areas, or kindergartens and primary and secondary schools dominated by ethnic minority students, to carry out bilingual education in the national common spoken and written language and minority spoken and written languages.

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Article 14 Citizens of ethnic minorities have the right to use their own spoken and written languages in litigation.

Regulations on Ethnic Minority Education Promotion of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (2018)

Article 1 In order to protect and promote the development of ethnic education, the regulations are formulated in accordance with the “Law of Regional Autonomy for Ethnic Minorities of the People’s Republic of China," “Education Law of the People’s Republic of China” and other relevant laws and administrative regulations, in combination with the actual conditions of the autonomous region.

Article 9 People’s governments at or above the county level shall strengthen the standardization of compulsory education schools in areas where ethnic minorities live in compact communities, and comprehensively improve the basic conditions for running weak schools and meet the standards set by the state. Ensure that the consolidation rate of compulsory education for ethnic minority students and students of all ethnic groups in areas where ethnic minorities live in compact communities meets national standards. Guarantee the right of minority school-age children and adolescents to receive compulsory education on an equal basis.

Article 19 The administrative education department of the people’s government at or above the county level in areas where ethnic minorities live in concentrated communities shall encourage and support the implementation of national bilingual education in different levels and models of the national common spoken and written language and the local common minority spoken and written language according to the level of educational development and the actual use of language.

Article 24 For ethnic minority candidates and ethnic bilingual students in the autonomous region who apply for colleges and universities, preferential policies of bonus points or targeted admission shall be implemented in accordance with the regulations of the state and autonomous region. Candidates who apply for the ethnic minority preparatory class of colleges and universities and ethnic minority classes of colleges and universities enjoy the appropriate reduction of scores and the admission policy of the best. The preferential policies for bonus points or targeted admission for ethnic minority candidates who apply for high school level schools shall be formulated by the people’s governments of each city divided into districts.

Article 25 The autonomous region implements a tuition reduction or exemption policy for students from the autonomous region who are studying in relevant ethnic majors in colleges and universities in the autonomous region in accordance with the needs of talent training. Students of ethnic minority preparatory classes in colleges and universities and ethnic minority students in colleges and universities enjoy tuition-free and subsidy policies in accordance with national and autonomous region regulations. Students of ethnic minority classes in primary and secondary schools enjoy the subsidy policy treatment in accordance with the provisions of the state and autonomous region.

2.3. ADB Policy Requirements for Indigenous Peoples

ADB defines ‘indigenous peoples’ (IP) as those whose social and cultural identities are distinct from that of the dominant or mainstream society. These distinct social and cultural groups often possess the following characteristics in varying degree:

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(i) self-identification as members of a distinct indigenous cultural group and the recognition of this identity by others; (ii) a distinct language, often different from the official (or the dominant society’s) language of the country or region; (iii) customary, cultural, economic, social, or political institutions that are separated from those of the dominant society and culture; and (iv) collective attachment to geographically distinct habits or ancestral territories in the project area and to the natural resources in these habitats and territories.

ADB’s SPS (2009) sets out the following principles to be delivered in the area of Indigenous Peoples safeguards in projects in which ADB is involved:

(i) Screen early on to determine: (i) whether Indigenous peoples are present in, or have collective attachment to, the project area; and, (ii) whether project impacts on Indigenous Peoples are likely. (ii) Undertake a culturally appropriate and gender-sensitive social impact assessment or use similar methods to assess potential project impacts, both positive and adverse, on Indigenous Peoples. Give full consideration to options the affected Indigenous Peoples prefer in relation to the provision of project benefits and the design of mitigation measures. Identify social and economic benefits for affected Indigenous Peoples that are culturally appropriate and gender and inter- generationally inclusive and develop measures to avoid, minimize, and/or mitigate adverse impacts on Indigenous Peoples. (iii) Undertake meaningful consultations with affected Indigenous Peoples communities and concerned Indigenous Peoples organizations to solicit their participation in (i) designing, implementing, and monitoring measures to avoid adverse impacts or, when avoidance is not possible, to minimize, mitigate or compensate for such effects; and (ii) in tailoring project benefits for affected Indigenous Peoples communities in a culturally appropriate manner. To enhance Indigenous peoples’ active participation, projects affecting them will provide for culturally appropriate and gender inclusive capacity development. Establish a culturally appropriate and gender inclusive grievance mechanism to receive and facilitate resolution of the Indigenous Peoples’ concerns. (iv) Ascertain the consent of affected Indigenous Peoples communities to the following project activities: (i) commercial development of the cultural resources and knowledge of Indigenous Peoples; (ii) physical displacement from traditional or customary lands; and (iii) commercial development of natural resources within customary lands under use that would impact the livelihoods or the cultural, ceremonial, spiritual uses that define the identity and community of Indigenous Peoples. For the purpose of policy application, the consent of affected Indigenous Peoples communities refers to a collective expression by the affected Indigenous Peoples communities, through individuals and/or their recognized representatives, of broad community support for such project activities. Broad community support may exist even if some individuals or groups object to the project activities. (v) Avoid, to the maximum extent possible, any restricted access to and physical displacement from protected areas and natural resources. Where avoidance is not possible, ensure that the affected Indigenous Peoples communities participate in the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of management 8

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arrangements for such areas and natural resources and their benefits are equitably shared. (vi) Prepare an Indigenous Peoples Plan (IPP) that is based on the social impact assessment with the assistance of qualified and experienced experts and that draw on indigenous knowledge and participation by the affected Indigenous Peoples communities. The IPP includes a framework for continued consultation with the affected Indigenous Peoples communities during project implementation; specifies measures to ensure that Indigenous Peoples receive culturally appropriate benefits; identifies measures to avoid, minimize, mitigate or compensate for any adverse project impacts; and includes culturally appropriate grievance procedures, monitoring and evaluation arrangements, and a budget and time-bound actions for implementing the planned measures. (vii) Disclose a draft IPP, including documentation of the consultation process and the results of the social impact assessment in a timely manner, before project appraisal, in accessible place and in a form and language(s) understandable to the affected Indigenous Peoples communities and other stakeholders. (viii) Prepare an action plan for legal recognition of customary rights to lands and territories or ancestral domains when the project involves (activities that are contingent on establishing legally recognized rights to lands and territories that Indigenous Peoples have traditionally owned or customarily used or occupied, or involuntary acquisition of such lands. (ix) Monitor implementation of the IPP using qualified and experienced experts; adopt a participatory monitoring approach, wherever feasible; and assess whether the IPP’s objective and desired outcome have been achieved, taking into account the baseline conditions and the results of IPP monitoring. Disclose monitoring reports.

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3. SOCIOECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS

3.1. Summary of Socioeconomic Situation in the Project Area

The construction content of the project will be implemented in Pinggui District and Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County of Hezhou City, GZAR. The project’s output 1 will be implemented in Baisha Town of Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County. Therefore, Baisha Town is the directly affected area of the project’s output 1. Outputs 2 and 3 will be conducted in the entire Pinggui District. Therefore, one sub-district office and eight townships in Pinggui District are directly affected by the project’s outputs 2 and 3.

GZAR had a population of 56.95 million, of which 22.2 million were ethnic minority people, accounting for 39% of the total population in 2019. The gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was CNY42,964, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was CNY34,745, the per capita disposable income of rural residents was CNY13,676, and the per capita consumption expenditure of rural residents was CNY12,045.

Hezhou City had a total population of 2.4759 million, among which 408,000 were ethnic minority people, accounting for 16.5% of the total population. The GDP per capita was CNY38,300, urban residents’ per capita disposable income was CNY33,179, rural residents’ per capita disposable income was CNY12,737, and rural residents’ per capita consumption expenditure was CNY9,233.

Pinggui District had a total population of 418,400, among which 56,000 are ethnic minority people, accounting for 12% of the total population in 2019. The GDP per capita was CNY38,388, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was CNY31,778, and the per capita disposable income of rural residents was CNY12,820.

Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County had a total population of 274,700, among which 204,000 were ethnic minority people, accounting for 59.7% of the total population in 2019. The GDP per capita was CNY32,422, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was CNY30,968, the per capita disposable income of rural residents was CNY12,196, and the per capita consumption expenditure of rural residents was CNY7,671.

Fuchuan Yao Autonomous county is one of the poorest areas in Guangxi. In the case of per capita disposable income of urban residents, it is the lowest in Guangxi, Hezhou, Pinggui, and Fuchuan. The amount of per capita disposable income of rural residents is not much different from that of urban residents.

The ethnic minority people in Pinggui district live in 24 ethnic minority villages—17 Yao villages and seven Zhuang villages, accounting for about 50% of the total ethnic minority population in Pinggui district. Other ethnic minority people live with Han residents in other four communities and 96 administrative villages.

The project area is mainly located in a mountainous area with little flat land of urban areas. The living conditions of the Zhuang and the Han residents are basically the same. The Yao villages are mainly distributed in mountainous areas which are far from the urban city. The transportation is not convenient, and there is a lack of arable land, which limits the development of agricultural cultivation, while the development of forestry takes a long time. As a result, these Yao villages are relatively poor. In recent years, the living standard of Yao villagers has been significantly improved by planting tea trees and other economic fruit trees, developing the economic plants under the forest, and working outside the village.

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The out-migration rate in the project area is high, especially among the younger and productive ages (especially 40 years and below). The younger generation of Yao and Zhuang people are not attracted to do farming as their primary source of income. They instead prefer to work or look for jobs in factories and shops and/or commercial and manufacturing establishments located in urban areas.

Participation of women in economic activities within the project areas is high. Women are active in the farming of corn and tea trees, and raising livestock and poultry, working as cleaners in the townships and villages, and doing other kinds of unskilled labor. Women also work in government agencies and organizations. There are more men employed in higher positions compared to women. However, the number of women in various sectors is high.

The PRC has established a public health system at all levels, which includes large comprehensive hospitals in cities, comprehensive hospitals in counties/districts, central hospitals in sub-district offices, township hospitals, and village clinics. Standards for the construction and operation of medical institutions at all levels have been compiled, including the construction of necessary divisions, the number of beds, and the allocation of medical staff. Overall, urban comprehensive hospitals can meet the standards, medical staff allocation, and medical equipment and appliances can meet the requirements. However, township hospitals in rural areas, especially village-level clinics, cannot meet the requirements of medical service capacity and standard because the hospitals and clinics are far away from urban areas, and results in a higher medical personnel turnover rate. Rural residents, especially Yao residents, live far away from the urban areas. In most cases, township hospitals are their first choice to seek medical assistant for general diseases. In village-level clinics, they mainly buy medicines. Therefore, it is very important to ensure that the township hospitals can operate in accordance with the standards. There is no difference between ethnic minority residents and Han residents in seeing a doctor, and they can all enjoy rural medical insurance.

Rural residents mainly choose their own elderly care as home. The Yao people, in particular, still believe that home elderly care is a virtue and must be done to show filial respect to their elders. They still maintain the habit of home-based elderly care and reluctant to accept elderly care at nursing care centers.

3.2. Ethnic Minority Population in the Project Area

Guangxi is an autonomous region inhabited by many ethnic groups. There are 12 ethnic groups, including Zhuang, Han, Yao, Miao, Dong, Mulao, Maonan, Hui, Jing, Yi, Shui, and Gelao living here from ancient times, and 44 other ethnic groups including Manchu, Mongolia, Korea, Bai, Tibet, Li, and Tujia. Guangxi has a population of 22.2028 million ethnic minorities, of which 18.1 million are Zhuang people and 2 million are Yao people. The autonomous region has 59 ethnic townships, including 47 Yao townships, 8 Miao townships, and 1 Yao and Miao townships, Hui townships, Dong townships, and Mulao townships.

The ethnic minority population and composition in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Hezhou city, Pinggui District, and Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County are presented in Table 1.

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Table 1: Ethnic Minority Peoples Composition in Project Areas in 2019 Total Among which Proportion of Ethnic minority Project Population Ethnic minorities Population Zhuang Yao Region (10,000 in the Total (10,000 person) (10,000 (10,000 person) person) person) Population (%) Guangxi 5695 2220.28 1810 200 39.0% Hezhou 247.59 40.8 8 30 16.5% Pinggui 46.75 5.6 1.9 2.02 12.0% Fuchuan 34.17 20.4 a few 19.96 59.7% Source: Guangxi and Hezhou Statistics Yearbooks.

Hezhou City. Hezhou is a city where many ethnic groups live. Zhuang and Yao are ethnic minorities living there from ancient times. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the Han nationality in the Central Plains began to move to Hezhou. After the Song Dynasty, especially in the Ming and Qing dynasties, many people moved to Hezhou one after another due to wars or fleeing famine. After the founding of the PRC, other ethnic minorities moved to Hezhou due to work, business, and employment opportunities it offered, but the number of them was small. There are more than 20 ethnic groups living in Hezhou, including Han, Yao, Zhuang, Miao, Dong, Gelao, Hui, Manchu, Mongolian, Tujia, and Li. There are more than 408,000 ethnic minority persons in the city. Among them, the Yao ethnic group has the largest population, mainly living in Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County; followed by the Zhuang ethnic group, mainly living in Babu District and Zhongshan County; the remaining Miao, Dong, Hui, Manchu, and other ethnic minorities have relatively small populations and are scattered. Hezhou ethnic customs and tours include the Yao nationality’s “Panwang Festival,” "Valentine's Day," "Dayou Tea" and "Chang Drum Dance"; Zhuang nationality’s "March 3", "temple fair," "gun period" and "dancing fire cat," and “Dance."

Pinggui District. Pinggui has a population of 56,000 ethnic minorities, of which the Yao ethnic group has the largest population of about 20,200, the Zhuang ethnic group has a population of about 19,000, and the other ethnic minorities total about 16,800. Pinggui District has 1 Yao township (Daping Yao township) and 24 administrative villages inhabited by ethnic minorities, including 7 Zhuang villages and 17 Yao villages.

Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County. Fuchuan has a population of 204,000 ethnic minorities, of which 19.96 are Yao people, accounting for 98% of the total ethnic minority population.

All 1 sub-district office and eight townships in Pinggui District are directly affected areas of project outputs 2 and 3, including the total population of 471,133 and of them 56,891 are ethnic minorities.

Baisha Town in Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County is located at the junction of two provinces (Hunan, Guangxi) and three counties (Jianghua Yao Autonomous County, Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County, and Zhongshan County). The town has a total area of 98.85 km2 and a total arable land area of 9,776 mu. The town governs 1 community and 6 village committees, with a total population of 14,582, including about 6,442 ethnic minority residents. The project’s output 1 will be implemented in Chaqing Village of Baisha Town.

Therefore, the project will directly affect sub-district office and 9 townships, a population of 482,100, including 62,400 ethnic minorities. The construction site of output 1 is far away from

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the residential area and has relatively little impact on the residents. The construction site is located in Chaqing Village, where there are no ethnic minorities living in concentrated settlements. The project outputs 2 and 3 will have an impact on the residents of the entire Pinggui District, including scattered ethnic minority residents living with Han and ethnic minority residents concentrated in one Yao township and 24 Yao or Zhuang villages. A "Social Development Action Plan" and "Gender Action Plan" prepared for this project will be applicable to all people living in the project areas, including ethnic minority residents. This "Ethnic Minority Development Plan" mainly applies to ethnic minority residents in 24 Yao or Zhuang villages where ethnic minorities live as concentrated communities.

In one sub-district office and nine townships, the main ethnic minority (ethnic minority) people are Yao and Zhuang nationalities, accounting for 13% of the total population. See Table 2 for details.

Table 2: Ethnic Minority People Composition in Project Towns in 2020 Ethnic minority Ethnic Total Subtotal of ethnic minority in Project Town Population minority Population Total (person) (person) Zhuang Yao Population (%) Baisha 14,582 6,442 161 6,243 44.2% Xiwan 26,000 2,974 94 1,850 11.4% Etang 56,000 18,600 15,300 3,300 33.2% Shatian 111,023 6,701 1,046 5,655 6.0% Shuikou 14,986 1,809 74 1,717 12.1% Gonghui 83,000 16,200 5,900 9,100 19.5% Huangtian 79,807 2,400 1,100 1,300 3.0% Wanggao 40,400 2,504 259 2,214 6.2% Yangtou 44,770 1,647 526 1,121 3.7% Daping 15,147 4,056 45 3,996 26.8% Total 485,715 63,333 24,505 36,496 13.0% Source: Provided by the Project town governments.

The affected ethnic minority residents are distributed among 131 administrative villages (or urban communities) in the 10 towns (including one sub-district or street office). However, more than 50% of ethnic minorities are living more concentratedly in 24 ethnic minority administrative villages. Among the 24 ethnic minority villages, the ethnic minority population accounts for 62.6% of the total population, as presented in Table 3 for details.

Table 3: Population of Ethnic Minority Villages in Project Area in 2020

Total Ethnic minority Project Administrativ Zhuang Yao Population in Total Town e Village (person) (person) (person) Population (%) Dongping 2,700 1000 270 47.0% Lugang 2,400 1700 260 81.7% Etang Pangu 4,500 2,100 450 56.7% Mingmei 1,400 50 1,250 92.9% Daming 2,100 60 1,950 95.7%

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Chaodui 1,400 35 1,280 93.9% Songmu 3,614 825 127 26.3% Zhonghui 2,047 821 31 41.6% Shatian Shidong 2,193 0 2,184 99.6% Xinmin 1,533 0 1,533 100.0% Jinzhu 1,800 0 1,780 98.9% Longping 907 1 879 97.0% Shuikou Fangjiang 1,568 11 385 25.3% Zongping 3,679 1,133 27 31.5% Guishan 2,100 950 15 46.0% Gonghui Qingshui 1,847 3 1,797 97.5% Chaping 1,465 10 1,355 93.2% Huangtian Haodong 2,984 24 737 25.5% Chuanyan 1,604 323 1,130 90.6% Wanggao Yutang 2,602 13 776 30.3% Yangtou Mashan 2,875 22 1,810 63.7% Litou 1,297 3 1,189 91.9% Daping Longchao 2,030 3 1,791 88.4% Weizhu 898 3 879 98.2% Total 51,543 9,090 23,885 64.0% Source: Provided by the Project town governments.

3.3. Social and Culture Features of the Yao and Zhuang People

Location of residence: Hezhou City is located in the northeast of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with continuous mountains, undulating hills, many mountains, and few plains, with an altitude of 1,000 to 1,700 m. The forest land in Hezhou City covers an area of 902,000 ha, accounting for 76.53% of the total land area. Pinggui District is also dominated by hills and mountains, accounting for more than 80% of the total land area. The limited flat land is mainly around the city, while the vast rural areas are all in the mountainous area. Therefore, most residents in the project area live in mountainous areas with different heights. Most Zhuang and Han people live in low-lying areas, while Yao and Miao people live in higher mountain areas, which are far away from the urban city, and the transportation is inconvenient. Traditionally, the Han and Zhuang people mainly rely on agricultural production, while the Yao and Miao people mainly focus on agricultural planting and breeding, as well as hunting. At present, the Han and Zhuang people plant rice, corn, and peanuts; the Yao people plant rice, corn, ginger, tea trees, camellia trees, octagonal trees, and forest trees such as fir trees, pine trees, and eucalyptus. Due to the different geographical locations, in general, the living standards of the Yao and Miao nationalities in the project area are relatively lower, while the Han and Zhuang nationalities are better.

Language: Hezhou City is a multilingual area; in addition to Chinese, there are also Zhuang and Yao languages. Zhuang speakers are mainly distributed in Nanxiang Town in Babu District, Etang Town in Pinggui District, Zuma Township in Zhaoping County, and some Zhuang people live in administrative villages in Huangyao Town; most Zhuang people in other places speak the local language. The Pangu Yao people who speak the Yao language are mainly distributed in Babu District, Zhaoping County, and Xiling Mountain in Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County. Pingdi Yao, who call themselves "Bingduoyou," are in Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County

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and Zhongshan County. Zhuang and Yao are used in ethnic community communities. At the same time, a few common dialects are also spoken. Young people can understand and speak Mandarin. Most city dwellers speak one language and also uses multiple dialects. Chinese characters are commonly used throughout the city.

In the project area, most ethnic minority residents can speak and read Mandarin. However, in internal communications, ethnic minority residents still use their own languages to communicate. With the development of society and the continuous movement of minority residents from their original place of residence, and the need to go out for work, it is necessary for ethnic minority residents to master common Mandarin. Many Yao residents believe that the Yao people are relatively adaptable to other language and can quickly master the local languages in different regions, including dialects that are relatively difficult to master.

Education: Students of Yao, Zhuang, and other ethnic minorities receive nine-year compulsory education as Han students do. Ethnic minority students living in scattered areas study in the same schools with Han students. There are no special ethnic schools. However, ethnic schools can be established in counties/districts or townships where ethnic minorities live in concentrated communities. The teaching contents of ethnic schools is basically the same as that of common Han schools. However, it is possible to learn and inherit the culture and language with ethnic characteristics by offering courses related to ethnic traditional culture. In September 2020, a Hezhou Ethnic School was built in Pinggui District, the project area. The Hezhou Ethnic School is very important for effectively solving the educational problems in the deeply impoverished villages of "Tuyao," improving the quality of education in the "Tuyao" settlements, decisively winning the fight against poverty, and promoting ethnic unity and progress. At present, there are 28 classes in the school, including 13 classes in elementary school and 15 classes in middle school, with 1,233 students at school. 796 out of them are from 6 “Tuyao” deeply impoverished villages, including Daming, Caodui, and Mingmei of Etang Town, Jinzhu, Shidong, and Xinmin of Shatian Town in Pinggui District. There are special courses for “Tuyao” students, such as Yao embroidery, Yao language, Yao songs, and Yao drums. There is also an ethnic school in Daping Yao Township, with primary and middle school courses. In addition to teaching the usual cultural courses, it also learns the traditional culture of the ethnic group. Several ethnic cultural education inheritance classes such as the "Yao Embroidery," "Yao Songs," "Suona," and "Yao Long Drum Dance" have been opened, which has effectively increased national unity carrier and elements.

On the entrance score line for minority students from junior high school, compared with Han students, the score line for Yao students is 40 points lower than that of Han students. In admissions to universities, many domestic colleges and universities have set a pre-university score for minority candidates, which is lower than the official admission threshold. Minority candidates can enter the university preparatory course for one year and then transfer to the formal university undergraduate course.

Ethnic customs and beliefs: The religious beliefs of the Yao people are complicated. In some areas, primitive nature worship, ancestor worship, or totem worship occupy a certain position; in other areas, witchcraft and Taoism are practiced. Taoism has a great influence on the Yao nationality. All funeral rituals are basically carried out in accordance with Taoist decree, but it is mixed with some ethnic primitive religions. The Yao people think that dogs are their ancestors, and on major festivals, they can eat foods only after dogs licked.

The Panwang Festival of the Yao nationality is also called Panwang Votive. It is a grand festival for the Yao people to commemorate their ancestor Panwang. It has a history of more than 1,700 years. Every year on October 16th of the lunar calendar, men, women, and children of all

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ages must wear their own national holiday costumes, gather together to sing, dance, and celebrate the festival. The song is based on "The Song of the King of Pan"; the dance is a group dance with a drum that is about 80 cm in length in each person's hand, usually a pair of two or four people.

The Yao people used to have "Guoshan Yao," "Hongtou Yao," "Daban Yao," "Pingtou Yao," "Landian Yao," "Sha Yao," "Baitou Yao" and others call themselves and others because of their different characteristics in residence and clothing. In terms of customs and habits, they have always maintained the traditional characteristics of the nationality, especially in men's and women's clothing. Yao women are good at embroidering with exquisite patterns on the placket, cuffs, and hems. The Yao men and women need to change their flower hats and headkerchiefs when they are fifteen or six years old, which indicates that they are adults.

The wedding etiquettes of the Yao family cover the rich traditions of the Yao ethnic group. Most of Panyao's weddings are after the autumn harvest and before the Spring Festival. There are two types: "marrying a girl" and "marrying a man." Before a formal wedding, one must go through the process of choosing a spouse, proposing marriage, and getting engaged. They practice monogamy, but allow intermarriages with other ethnic groups, such as Han and Miao.

The Yao nationality pays great attention to etiquettes. In daily life, there are many etiquette taboos. When you meet on the road, whether you know each other or not, you must greet enthusiastically. Otherwise, you will be regarded as not being polite; the washbasin cannot be used to wash your feet; you should avoid using dishes and chopsticks with each other when eat; No pigs will be killed on a pig day, no chickens will be killed on a rooster day, and cattle and horses will not be sold on a cow or horse day. When a guest arrives at home, the guest must first greet the housewife. Then the host will be happy; otherwise, he might consider the host as arrogant and rude.

The Zhuang ethnic group is the largest population among the ethnic minorities in the PRC. The Zhuang is a friendly ethnic group. In the past, guests who visited any of the Zhuang villages were considered as the guests of the entire village. Wine must be kept on the dining table for the guests, which was grand. When eating, you must wait for the eldest to be seated before the meal can be served, and the younger generation cannot leave the table, leaving others behind. Respecting the elders and loving the youngers are the traditional virtues of the Zhuang nationality.

The Zhuang people like to build the village at the foot of mountains where there is lots of sun and ventilation. Trees are planted on the back mountain and the village, and it is stipulated that no deforestation is allowed to keep the village’s life safe. Most Zhuang people in the mountainous areas live in Ganlan houses, which are divided into upper and lower floors. The upper layer houses people and stores grain; the lower layer houses various farm tools and keeps livestock. The houses of the Zhuang people living in the plain area and near the town are mostly brick and wood structures, with white and gray exterior walls and decorative patterns painted on the eaves.

The Zhuang people can sing well, and the folk songs of the Zhuang ethnic group have different titles such as "huan," "xi," "jia," "bi," "lun," and so on due to differences in dialects of the north and south. The Zhuang people also regularly hold the folk song festival "Songxu," with the third day of the third lunar month as the grand event with more than 10,000 people participating in the Dashan Songxu. Its content includes invitational songs, begging songs, excitement songs, antithetical songs, polite songs, push songs, pan songs, click songs, farewell songs, love songs, and send songs.

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The marriage of the Zhuang ethnic group takes the form of free love and parental arrangements. Generally, they enjoy full freedom of love before marriage. Zhuang people generally practice monogamy. "Crying marriage" is a custom of marriage among the farmers of the Zhuang nationality. The so-called "crying to marry" is a form of "crying" when a girl gets married, telling her sweetheart and saying goodbye to her relatives. When the girl goes out of the cabinet, she has to eat "leaving mother rice." On the eve of the wine service, the eldest female elder in the family will dress the girl as an adult woman. After the young men and women get married, the bride returns to live in her natal family and only stays at her husband’s house for a short time during major festivals and busy farming seasons and does not stay at her husband’s house until after pregnancy. Therefore, the duration of "not stay at husband's house" ranges from three to five years. Now this custom has changed; love is free, and marriage is autonomous.

Zhuang people have taboos against killing animals on the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar; women are taboo against outsiders entering the country during the first three days (and sometimes the first seven days) after having children. One has to usually take off shoes when going up to the bamboo buildings of the Zhuang people. The fire hearth and stove pond are the most sacred places in a Zhuang family. It is forbidden to step on the tripod and stove on the fire pond with your feet. When Zhuang youths get married, pregnant women are not allowed to participate. Pregnant women especially cannot see the bride. If there are pregnant women in the family, they should hang a sleeve branch or insert a knife on the door to show the taboo. The Zhuang is a rice-growing people and loves frogs very much. Therefore, it is strictly forbidden to hunt and kill frogs and to eat frog meat in Zhuang areas.

3.4. Social Situation of ethnic minority Township/Villages with Project Activities

Daping Yao Township was established in 1984 and is located in the southwest of Pinggui District, Hezhou City, with a total administrative area of 217 km2 and a total population of 14,100. The township has six administrative villages, among which Litou, Weizhu, and Longcao are Yao ethnic minority villages. There are more than 750 households with 4,794 Yao people, accounting for about 34% of the total population of the township. It is the only ethnic minority township in the Pinggui District of Hezhou City. In 2019, the township achieved a total agricultural output value of CNY131 million, a year-on-year increase of 5%, and the annual net income of farmers was CNY8,583. Farmers live in scattered mountainous areas. Agriculture is mainly based on forestry. The average living tree stock of the economic forest in the township is 10 mu per capita, mainly for planting fir. The poverty alleviation work in the past five years has focused on the construction of roads accessing villages and villagers’ groups, and traffic conditions have been greatly improved. Good transport facilities are necessary for rural households who live relatively scattered, especially for villagers who go out to work. More than 50% of the laborers go out of their villagers on work.

The Yao nationality in Daping is the Guoshan Yao, a branch of the Yao nationality. Daping township pays attention to the excavation of Yao cultural artifacts, offers training courses on Yao embroidery, suona, and long drum dance in the ethnic school in the township, pays attention to the collection of handicrafts, ethnic costumes, and cultural books reflecting the production and life of the Yao people, and establishes a base for the inheritance of Yao culture, and a “Homesickness” hall at the ethnic school. The brocade, hand-embroidered, and pattern design of Yao costumes have a profound traditional cultural background and are extremely beautiful. They are called "Yao brocade" and are the most precious folk, cultural and artistic works of the Yao people. Nowadays, only a very small number of elderly women can be seen wearing Yao costumes. There are not many people embroidering "Yao brocade" and making Yao clothes. There are not many Yao

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women under 40 who can embroider Yao brocade. The traditional technique of hand- embroidering Yao brocade is on the verge of being lost.

Longcao Village in Daping Yao Township is one of the three Yao villages in the township. There are about 2,000 people in the village. Yao villagers account for 98% of the total population. They live scattered in six natural villages and 19 villager groups. Longcao Village is a poverty- stricken village and did not achieve poverty alleviation status until 2019. There is very little arable land in the village, and people cultivate mainly in forest land camellia fruit and fir. An average household has more than 30 mu of mountainous land. There is a village clinic at Longcao Village. Both are over 50 years old. The village clinic mainly treats some minor diseases, and other diseases are diagnosed and treated mainly in the township hospital or the urban comprehensive hospital. There are two Yao doctors in the village; one is specialized in treating fractures, and another in midwifery. Yao native doctors usually go to the mountains to collect medicines to make Yao medicines for treatment. At present, most pregnant women give birth in hospitals, and there are not many opportunities for Yao doctors to deliver babies.

Etang Town and Shatian Town are two towns where Tuyao people live in a concentrated manner. Tuyao is a branch of the Yao ethnic group. There are more than 9,000 people living in 6 administrative villages of Mingmei, Daming, Caodui in Etang Town and Jinzhu, Xinmin, and Shidong in Shatian Town. Tuyao has formed a unique Tuyao culture with its unique living environment, living customs, language, clothing, and ethnic customs, and has always maintained its national personality and characteristics. Among them are traditional Tuyao wedding customs, food, singing, and dancing, etc. The wedding customs include "human feelings" room, "human feelings" chopsticks, wine and singing, wedding worship, etc.; the long table banquet in the diet is to sing dishes and toasts to the guests. "Song of Respecting Vegetables," "Song of Toasting Wine," host and guests feeding each other dishes, etc. There are "Shigong Dance" for festival sacrifices, "Song of Coming in Stockade " for welcoming guests, "Song of the Sun," and "Singing the Sun" in daily life. "Singing the Moon Song" and so on, these are the characteristics of Tuyao that are different from other Yao nationalities.

Etang Town is also a place where the Zhuang people live concentratedly. Among them, the ancient buildings and folk customs of Lugang Village have distinctive northern Zhuang cultural characteristics and belong to the northern Zhuang cultural system. The village has 2 natural villages, 15 villager groups, 530 households, and a total population of 2,400 people, among which there are more than 1,700 Zhuang people. The ancient Zhuang Village in Lugang Village has a more complete, older, and larger scale of Zhuang’s all-inhabited ancient Zhuang buildings in Guangxi and even the whole country. There are more than 100 ancient houses intact, among which the oldest ones are 400 years of history. Villagers’ income is mainly from migrant workers, and more than 60% of families have migrant laborers. Most unmarried young people go to work in Guangdong Province. Most of the married workers in downtown Hezhou (Babu and Pinggui District) and most of them are engaged in the construction industry, such as house decoration. Villagers’ agricultural income is mainly from planting horseshoes, oranges, vegetables, etc. There is not much arable land, the income is not high, and there is no collective industry in the village.

3.5. Poverty Situation in the Project Area

The PRC has established a social security system suitable for its national conditions, including a minimum living security (MLS) system, a rural registered and targeted poverty alleviation (RTPA) system, a security system for the disabled, a security system for other special groups, and a disaster relief system.

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The MLS system is divided into two categories: urban resident MLS and rural resident MLS. When the average monthly income of family members is lower than that of the local MLS line, they can apply to enroll in the MLS system. By the end of 2020, 8.053 million urban residents (accounting for 0.95% of the urban population) from 4.89 million households nationwide had enjoyed the MLS, and the average MLS standard was CNY677.6/person-month; 36.215 million rural residents (6.56% of the total rural population) from 19,851 million households were covered by the MLS system with the average MLS standard of CNY5,962.3/person-year. In Guangxi, Hezhou City, Pinggui District, and Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County, the number of people enjoying the MLS of urban and rural residents accounted for 4.87%, 6.8%, 5.97%, and 8.25% of the total population, respectively, of which rural residents accounted for the vast majority. The number of urban residents and rural residents in the project area with MLS is shown in Table 4. The proportion of the rural population with MLS in the total rural population of the city/district/county is significantly higher than the national average and even higher than the average of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Table 4：Number of Residents with MLS in Project City/district/county in 2019 Permanent population at Number of Urban and Rural Residents with MLS in the end of the year Residents with MLS Project Total Population Area (10,000 person) (10,000 person) Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Guangxi 2534 2426 30.51 247.05 1.20% 10.18% Hezhou 97.7 110.83 0.87 13.32 0.89% 12.02% Fuchuan 11.19 16.28 0.2628 2.0022 2.35% 12.30% Pinggui 20.98 20.86 0.2947 2.2046 1.40% 10.57% Source: Guangxi and Hezhou Statistics Yearbooks.

Since the PRC launched the rural registered and targeted poverty alleviation (RTPA) in 2014, as of the end of 2020, 98.99 million rural poor people (7% of the total population) in the RTPA system under the current standard have all been lifted out of poverty and achieved the poverty reduction target of the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainability Development Agenda in advance of 10 years. At the same time, a total of 19.36 million people with the RTPA nationwide were included in the MLS system, accounting for 19.6% of the total RTPA population. At the end of 2020, the per capita net income of the RTPA population reached CNY10,740, far exceeding the international extreme poverty standard. According to the requirements of the current poverty alleviation policy, from 2021 to 2023, the current poverty alleviation policy will remain unchanged. It is necessary to track and monitor the RTPA population for three years to ensure the sustainability of poverty alleviation. Therefore, in the current rural areas, the RTPA people are still the targets of poverty alleviation. Guangxi has 6.3514 million RTPA people, of whom 1.86 million people are included in the rural MLS system. The MLS allowance standard has reached more than CNY5,000 per person-year.

Of the 24 ethnic minority villages in Pinggui District, 18 villages are impoverished, accounting for 45% of the 40 poor administrative villages in the district. Among them, Qingshui and Chaping villages in Gonghui Town are two Yao villages out of 100 extremely poor villages identified in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 2019. Six Tuyao villages are all deeply impoverished villages with a poverty incidence rate of more than 65%. Nine out of the 14 poor villages declared poverty alleviation achievement in March 2020, and the remaining 5 villages did not declare poverty alleviation until October 2020, which are the last batch of administrative villages in the entire autonomous region to be lifted out of poverty. In the poor villages, the RTPA people account for 50% or more of all ethnic minority populations. Among the 33,000 Yao and

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Zhuang populations in 24 ethnic minority villages, more than 16,500 are the RTPA people. By the end of 2020, although the poor people have all been lifted out of poverty, in accordance with the current poverty alleviation policies and requirements, the poor residents need to continue to be supported for three years until they have the ability to live and are able to maintain their own standard of living. For those residents who have lost the ability to work, including the disabled, they will be included in the MLS system for urban and rural residents. For example, among Tuyao residents of nearly 9,000 people, nearly 3,000 people have been included in the rural MLS system and enjoyed an MLS allowance of more than CNY5,000 per year.

The main reasons that caused the rural poverty are (i) unbalanced development between urban and rural areas; (ii) mountainous areas with limited agricultural production facilities; (iii) mountain areas with poor and difficult transportation; (iv) low productivity due to low skill and technique abilities.

Local governments analyzed poverty reasons of poor families in the project area and summarized as (i) lack of skills and technological knowledge; (ii) lack of laborers in families; (iii) sickness, disability, low level of education; and (iv) the lack of initiatives for development.

According to the survey, the poverty situation of the ethnic minority people in the project area is similar to that of Han residents. All policies related to poverty alleviation to ethnic minority residents are the same as in the case of Han people. However, for ethnic minority villages, the Central Government and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Governments, through the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, have a certain amount of special funds each year to help ethnic minority townships and villages build rural roads, drinking water, and other infrastructure, so as to promote poverty alleviation in rural areas. From 2014 to 2017, the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau of Pinggui District completed 12 projects for Daping Yao Township, including building rural roads, supporting rural drinking water projects, and providing tea and camellia planting training by using the Ethnic Minority Development Fund of CNY1,762,400.

Except for reimbursement covered by the medical insurance, medical expenses of families with the MLS also can enjoy a certain reduction when seeing doctors. Rural registered poor residents can be completely exempted from medical expenses.

3.6. Income and Livelihood

Before the 1990s, rural residents in the project area mainly depended on agriculture for their livelihoods. As the project area is dominated by mountainous areas with little plain land, agricultural planting is restricted by small few arable lands, and the level of agricultural pursuits is low. Therefore, the income of farmers is very low. With the PRC's social and economic reforms and opening up of the economy, rural laborers began to go out to work, increasing non-agricultural income. However, because roads to the city are very poor, the transportation for farmers to work in the city is very inconvenient, which seriously affected the increase of farmers' income. In fact, the change in incomes in the project area has mainly benefited from the RTPA strategy initiated by the PRC since 2014. The construction of rural infrastructure has made it easier for more rural surplus laborers to work in cities and increase wage income.

In the project area, more than 60% of laborers go out of their villages to find work. The younger generation, including the Yao and Zhuang ethnic groups, do not rely on agriculture as their main source of income. They prefer to work or look for jobs in urban factories, shops and/or commercial and manufacturing places.

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According to the survey conducted from February to March 2021, the main sources of income of household heads include: (i) temporary non-agricultural work, (ii) relatively stable wages work, (iii) income from agriculture; (iv) self-employment such as operating a small shop and/or enterprise; and (v) government subsidies or family subsidies. The income level range is presented in Table 5. The income levels of Han and ethnic minority residents living in the same area are basically the same, and overall are relatively low, while the proportion of Han residents in the low-income range is slightly higher.

Table 5: Monthly Average Income Range Distribution of Sample Households Ethnic minority sample Han sample households Income range households CNY/month) Number of Number of % % households households <1000 32 18.39% 142 26.35% 1000-2000 21 12.07% 111 20.59% 2000-3000 51 29.31% 119 22.08% 3000-4000 40 22.99% 105 19.48% 4000-5000 19 10.92% 31 5.75% >5000 11 6.32% 31 5.75% Source: The EMDP preparation team.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, ethnic minority laborers in the project area who went out from their hometown to work was mainly male, and most of the women were responsible for raising children and caring for the elderly at home. At the same time, they engaged in agricultural activities or raising poultry and livestock on only a small amount of farmland. Family cash income mainly comes from men. However, women undertake many kinds of labor in family life, and men’s cash income is mainly used by women in family daily life.

Since the beginning of this century, more and more young women have gone out of rural areas and come to cities to do various non-agricultural jobs, mainly in service industries, such as catering and household services, and in labor-intensive enterprises, such as garment making and equipment assembly, which has increased their personal wage income and at the same time improved their family overall income. Compared with the male ethnic minority laborers who go out to work, the majority of women return to their hometown to have children when they reach the reproductive stage. Apart from the fact that a small number of female laborers can return to work in cities after breastfeeding, most ethnic minority women stay in the countryside, raising children and caring for the elderly. Both men's and women's cash incomes are used together for family life.

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4. PROJECT BENEFITS AND ADVERSE IMPACTS

4.1. Impacted Population by Outputs

The project will directly affect one sub-district office and nine townships with a total population of 485,700, including 63,300 ethnic minority residents (mainly Yao and Zhuang). There are 24 ethnic minority villages in the project area, where ethnic minorities and Han people live together. Ethnic minority residents in some villages are more than 95% of the village population. For a long time, the Yao and Zhuang peoples have been in close contact with the Han people. They communicate in Chinese and use Chinese characters. There is no restriction on intermarriage. There is no difference in living habits except in festivals, costumes, and some cultural customs. Therefore, the possible impact of the project on the Han nationality and ethnic minority populations will be similar.

Table 6: Impacted Population by Output of the Project

Affected Affected ethnic Subtotal Output Affected Town Han (10000 minority (10000 (10000 person) person) person) (1) Nature-friendly measures to reduce pollution in the Kedashan Baisha 0.814 0.6442 1.4582 former mineral mining area implemented (2) Institutional mechanisms and service quality of health and Xiwan Street Office 41.4242 5.6891 47.1133 elderly care in Pinggui District and 8 towns strengthened (3) Green and health care-related Xiwan Street Office skills development institutions 26.5115 3.641 30.1525 and 8 towns developed Project management and Xiwan Street Office 0.035 0.015 0.05 implementation support and 8 towns Total 42.2382 6.3333 48.5715 Note: People affected by Output 3 are local labor; People affected by Output 4 are related beneficiaries involved in project management and implementation.

4.2. Potential Impacts by Outputs

The Kedashan mountain abandoned mineral mining area’s environment improvement subproject will improve the overall environment of Baisha Town in Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County and will have a positive impact on the living environment of the residents of Baisha Town, including its ethnic minority residents.

The capacity development and improvement of Pinggui’s medical and elderly care services construction in Pinggui District will build a new comprehensive hospital and a combined medical and elderly care center to expand local residents' medical and elderly care resources and will further facilitate medical and elderly care services. By carefully defining the functions of the new hospital, it is possible to promote its assistance to township hospitals and to improve their services. Through the establishment of a smart medical system, the close ties of township hospitals with urban comprehensive hospitals can be strengthened. Urban comprehensive hospitals can guide township hospitals directly in diagnosing and analyzing treatment methods

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and means and nursing measures and attract more local residents to see doctors at township hospitals.

The subproject on service and capacity improvement of town/township level clinics in all nine townships in Pinggui District can provide better services for local residents, including ethnic minority residents, by increasing medical equipment in township hospitals, improving medical service level and capacity of township hospitals, including the Daping Yao Minority Township Hospital. Through the pilot community elderly care program, the elderly care methods in rural areas will be explored, including in ethnic minority areas with left-behind elderly people, for the formulation of relevant policies. The overall health quality of residents will be improved by enhancing the campaign of medical and elderly care knowledge and promoting health awareness of residents.

The construction of a technical and vocational skill training center will improve the competitiveness of local laborers and promote the employment of laborers by providing vocational skills training and technical knowledge training for laborers in Pinggui District. Through the development of medical and elderly care training courses, nursing knowledge and vocational skills for more female laborers will be increased. Such training will provide more employment opportunities for all populations, including Yao and Zhuang people.

Project impacts on local residents, whether Han or ethnic minority residents, are generally the same, and there is no special policy that distinguishes who should get what benefits based on the ethnicity. In the design and implementation of the project, the active participation of the local ethnic minority residents is needed to ensure that ethnic minority residents receive the same services and benefit from the project outputs as the Han residents do.

During the project implementation and operation, Kedashan mountain abandoned mineral mining area’s environment improvement, and capacity development and improvement of Pinggui’s medical and elderly care services will generate new jobs, including temporary jobs for ethnic minorities and women and others during the project construction, and in project operation phases for facility management, operation and maintenance of long-term job positions.

With regard to land requirements for the project, 487.53 mu collective lands owned by Baisha Community in Baisha Town will be leased during the project implementation period of 6 years on payment on annual lease for output 1 in accordance with the voluntary land use rights transfer framework prepared for the project. The land is an abandoned mining area and is not cultivated land or economic forestry land and not contracted to farmers and no villagers will be directly affected. There will be no house demolition impacts nor will it affect any commercial or business establishments. For outputs 2 and 3 in Pinggui District, the land acquisition activities have been initiated not in anticipation of ADB financing. Due diligence concludes that the land acquisition and resettlement activities are in accordance with the PRC laws and regulations and ADB Safeguard Policy Statement. Land acquisition and resettlement activities are still ongoing and will be subject to internal and external monitoring as specified in the resettlement due diligence report.

The civil works of the project will mainly be conducted in the Xiwan Street Office of Pinggui District and Baisha Town of Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County. In civil works construction, dust, noise, solid waste, and wastewater will be produced, which will cause some environmental problems. In the project Environmental Management Plan (EMP), specific measures are set out to reduce these potential environmental problems.

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Project impacts were identified as both positive and negative impacts. Table 7 presents the summary of potential positive and adverse impacts including among ethnic minorities:

Table 7: Project Impacts by Output Direct Impact Indirect Impact Output Positive Adverse Positive Adverse New employment Construction safety, Future land None (1) Kedashan mountain opportunities; eco- and waste, dust, and utilization; economic abandoned mining natural environment noise; local traffic development area’s ecological improvement; residential increased during improvement environment improvement construction Employment opportunities; Land acquisition; Residents’ health; None medical and elderly care construction safety, Promotion of local (2) Capacity facility improvement; rural waste, dust, and medical and elderly development and medical and elderly care noise; local traffic care development improvement in system improvement; increased during Pinggui’s medical and public awareness-raising in construction elderly care services medical, elderly care, and health More employment Construction safety, Laborers’ Income None (3) Improvement of opportunities; enhancing waste, dust, and increase people’s technical and laborers’ competitiveness noise; local traffic vocational skills increased during construction Enhancing management Risks due to poor Guidance for other None Project management capability of the project and O&M of facilities projects in planning, and implementation public facility management management, and support implementation

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5. CONSULTATION, PARTICIPATION, DISCLOSURE, AND GRIEVANCE REDRESS

5.1. Consultations Conducted during the Project Design

The project consultants from February to March 2021 consulted 843 persons (438 women and 224 ethnic minority persons). They include (i) more than 50 representatives from local government units or non-government organizations (e.g., All-China Women’s Federation) (including 20 women and 15 ethnic minority persons); (ii) 20 township, village or village group leaders (including 5 women and 10 ethnic minority persons); (iii) 60 participants in focused group discussions (including 25 women and 25 ethnic minority persons); and (iv) 713 respondents in the online household survey using mobile phones (including 388 women and 174 ethnic minority persons). The consultation activities are detailed in the poverty and social analysis report (PSA) and its summary is in Appendix 3 of this EMDP.

Consultations served as a venue for all stakeholders, especially the affected households and/or communities, to express their perceptions on potential adverse impacts, as well as suggestions to improve project planning and implementation. They were also an effective strategy to raise public awareness and gain the support of interested stakeholders, including ethnic minorities, by providing them the information about the projects’ benefits or positive impacts, mitigation measures to address the potential negative impacts, and details on project implementation and monitoring, including institutional arrangements. It is expected that once the affected stakeholders are well informed and engaged in the decision-making process, it can prevent misconceptions on project impacts, avoid conflicts, and clarify doubts about the project, which may cause delays during implementation. The HPMO, implementing agencies, PIUs, and design institutes have conducted consultation with the affected stakeholders during the improvement of the project design, and have integrated their comments into the project design.

According to the survey, participation of women in economic activities within the project areas in various sectors is high. Women are active in farming (corn, tea trees, etc.) and raising livestock and poultry, working as cleaners in townships and villages, and engaging in other kinds of unskilled labor. Women also work in government agencies and organizations. There are ethnic minority more men employed in higher positions compared to women.

Understanding and Opinions on Medical Services in the Project Area

A sample survey on medical services was conducted on 244 households, including 58 ethnic minority households. All ethnic minority families have participated in medical insurance or new rural cooperative medical care, and 97.85% of Han families have participated too. Answers to other questions of the ethnic minority group and the Han group in the sampled households are as following tables. The first selection to see doctors for normal diseases is township hospitals for both Han and ethnic minority residents, and then village clinics, as presented in Table 8. One reason is that residents think the township hospital can treat normal diseases, and another is for residents who are living far away from urban areas, they have to select township hospitals first. For village clinics, most of the residents think the doctors’ capacity is low and no medicines they need. More than half of sampled households see doctors once or two times every year. More than 96.5%of the ethnic minority households see doctors within 5 times every year, while it is 88.2% for the Han households, as presented in Table 9. The time to see doctors of Han households is more than ethnic minority households.

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Table 8: Preferred Place to Visit Doctors in Case of Minor Illness Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Place Number of households % Number of households % Village clinics (or clinics 15 25.86% 42 22.58% near working place) Township hospital 31 53.45% 91 48.92% Urban hospital 11 18.97% 37 19.89% Private clinics 0 0.00% 11 5.91% Others 1 1.72% 5 2.69% Source: The EMDP preparation team.

Table 9: Average Number Patients Seeing Doctors per Year for Minor Illnesses in the Past 3 Years Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Time Number of households % Number of households % 1-2 35 60.34% 99 53.23% 3-5 21 36.21% 65 34.95% 6-10 2 3.45% 14 7.53% >10 0 0.00% 8 4.30% Source: The EMDP preparation team.

It is shown that Han households spend more to see doctors than ethnic minority households, as presented in Table 10. Most ethnic minority households spend CNY100–500 per year, while for Han households, one-third spend within CNY100, but for expense in CNY500 per year and more, Han households are more than ethnic minority households. About one-third of households do not need to take rest at home when they are sick. However, 50% of ethnic minority households need to take rest for 1–5 days at home, while it is 35.5% for Han households, as presented in Table 11.

Table 10: Average Annual Cost of Routine Medical Care (except for major cases) in the Past 3 Years Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Cost Number of households % Number of households % <100 10 17.24% 62 33.33% 100-200 19 32.76% 29 15.59% 200-500 17 29.31% 33 17.74% 500-1000 6 10.34% 30 16.13% 1000-2000 5 8.62% 17 9.14% >2000 1 1.72% 15 8.06% Source: The EMDP preparation team.

Table 11: On Average, How Many Days Did You Affect Your Work Each Year due to Illness in Past 3 Years Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Day Number of households % Number of households % 0 18 31.03% 64 34.41% 1-2 16 27.59% 37 19.89% 3-5 13 22.41% 29 15.59% 6-10 8 13.79% 29 15.59% >10 3 5.17% 27 14.52% Source: The EMDP preparation team.

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50% of sampled households have medical knowledge on common diseases for both Han and ethnic minority households. In addition, they also have knowledge of infant care and elderly care, as presented in Table 12.

Table 12: What Kind of Medical Knowledge Do You Like to Learn Most? Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Knowledge Number of Number of % % households households Infant health 6 10.34% 21 11.29% Prevention of common 10 17.24% 26 13.98% gynecological diseases Elderly care 13 22.41% 45 24.19% Prevention of common diseases 29 50.00% 94 50.54% Source: The EMDP preparation team.

When asked about current problems in the village clinics and township hospitals, the main problems that the ethnic minority households answered are (i) poor facilities, (ii) poor service quality, (iii) lack of medicines, etc. The Han households answered the question in the same pattern, as presented in Table 13. 88% of ethnic minority households are satisfied with the current service medical system, while it is 78% for Han households, as presented in Table 14. It is shown that the current medical service system can provide basic medical services that can meet the basic need of residents. However, it still needs to be improved. Especially, service qualities in village and township levels, expensiveness in medical services, and access to good hospitals need to be improved, as presented in Table 15.

Table 13: Current Problems in Village Clinics or Township Hospitals Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Problems Number of Number of % % households households Poor facilities 26 44.83% 73 39.25% Poor service quality 25 43.10% 63 33.87% Urban hospital nearby 16 27.59% 42 22.58% Lack of medicines 24 41.38% 49 26.34% Others 14 24.14% 47 25.27% Source: The EMDP preparation team.

Table 14: Are You Satisfied with Current Medical Service System

Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Number of households % Number of households % Yes 51 88. 146 78 No 1 2 11 6 Not sure 6 10 29 16 Source: The EMDP preparation team.

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Table 15: Current Problems with Medical Service Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Cost Number of Number of % % households households Too expensive 27 46.55% 108 58.06% Poor services at low level hospitals 33 56.90% 63 33.87% Difficult to access to good hospitals 23 39.66% 58 31.18% Others ______9 15.52% 37 19.89% Source: The EMDP preparation team.

Understanding and Opinions on Elderly Care Services in the Project Area

A sample survey on elderly care services was conducted on 222 families, including 41 ethnic minority families. Answers to the questions of the ethnic minority group and the Han group in the sampled households are summarized and analyzed in the following tables.

For elderly care methods, 82.93% sampled ethnic minority households selected “Rely on children at home,” while it is 72.38% for Han households, as presented in Table 16. About 15% of households selected “Independent at home.” They are healthy now and can take care of themselves for daily life. Another reason is they have no children but do not like to go to a collective care center. None of the ethnic minority households selected “Rely on community or village,” while it is 7.18% for Han households. It is a traditional virtue for ethnic minority households that the young generation to take care of the elderly generation. They find it difficult to accept the elderly care relying on community or village now, as presented in Tables 16 and 17.

Table 16: What Kind of Elderly Care Method Do You Like to Take Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Method Number of Number of % % households households Independent at home 6 14.63% 31 17.13% Rely on children at home 34 82.93% 131 72.38% Rely on community or village 0 0% 13 7.18% Nursing home 1 2.44% 6 3.31% Source: The EMDP preparation team.

Table 17: What Elderly Care Method Is Your Nationality More Willing to Choose Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Method Number of Number of % % households households Independent at home 6 15 34 19 Rely on children at home 33 80 132 73 Rely on community or village 2 5 10 6 Nursing home 0 0 5 3 Source: The EMDP preparation team.

For elderly care at home, about a half sampled households do care if sons or daughters take care of them. However, nearly half of the households (44% for ethnic minority and 48% for Han) like to live with sons, as presented in Table 18. They don’t like to stay in nursing homes for elderly because they think that nursing homes have poor facilities and poor services. Also, their 28

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children do not allow them to go to nursing homes, as seen in Table 19. It is necessary to improve nursing service quality and living conditions. At the same time, residents’ opinions on nursing homes for the elderly need to be changed. They understand that nursing homes for elderly care are good for them and their children, as presented in Table 20. However, they still like to stay at home with their children.

Table 18: On Whom Do You Rely on When Enjoy Elderly is received at Home?

Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Number of households % Number of households % Son 18 44 87 48. Daughter 2 5 15 29 Either 20 46. 79 44 Source: The EMDP preparation team.

Table 19: Why Do not You Want to Live in a Nursing Home? Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Number of Number of % % households households Poor facilities 24 58.54% 71 39.23% Poor services at center 21 51.22% 57 31.49% Poor quality of food 11 26.83% 38 20.99% Cannot afford 13 31.71% 74 40.88% Children do not allow 16 39.02% 95 52.49% Lack of communication with 31 75.61% 89 49.17% relatives Source: The EMDP preparation team.

Table 20: Is It Good for You and Your Children if You Live in a Nursing Home?

Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Number of households % Number of households % Yes 25 60.98% 80 44.20% No 4 9.76% 35 19.34% Do not know 12 29.27% 66 36.46% Source: The EMDP preparation team.

Opinions on Technical and Skill Training in the Project Area

A sample survey on technical and skill training services was conducted on 247 households, including 75 ethnic minority households. The responses of the ethnic minority group and the Han group in the sampled households to the questions are as following tables. In the past four years, the sampled Han households had received training related to employment more than the ethnic minority households, as presented in Table 21. For training courses received, most of the households selected others than courses listed in the survey questionnaires, as presented in Table 22. 45.33% of the ethnic minority households think that the training courses are related to their current jobs, while 58.72% of the Han households think it is related, as presented in Table 23. It is necessary to conduct a demand analysis before making the training plan during the project implementation.

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Table 21: Have You Received Any Employment Skill Training during the Past 4 Years Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Number of Number of % % households households Yes 34 45.33% 101 58.72% No 41 54.67% 71 41.28% Source: The EMDP preparation team.

Table 22: What Skill Training Have You Received Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Content Number of Number of % % households households Home services 5 6.67% 20 11.63% Carpenter 3 4.00% 10 5.81% Electrician 5 6.67% 12 6.98% Stone processing 1 1.33% 3 1.74% Tailor 7 9.33% 1 0.58% Cooking 5 6.67% 4 2.33% Medical care, hospital patient escort 6 8.00% 14 8.14% Elderly care 6 8.00% 9 5.23% E-commerce 16 21.33% 16 9.30% Others 49 65.33% 122 70.93% Source: The EMDP preparation team.

Table 23: Is Your Current Job Relevant to the Previous Training?

ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Number of households % Number of households % Yes 31 41.33% 101 58.72% No 44 58.67% 71 41.28% Source: The EMDP preparation team.

More than 80% of the sampled households like to participate in skill training, 88% for the ethnic minority households, as presented in Table 24. They hope to have a stronger capability in the employment market. For the ethnic minority households, they like to receive training on (i) e- commerce, (ii) cooking, (iii) electrician, (iv) home services, (v) medical care, hospital patient escort, and (vi) tailoring, etc. In case of Han households: (i) e-commerce, (ii) medical care, hospital patient escort, (iii) home services, (iv) cooking, (v) elderly care, and (vi) electrician, etc., as presented in Table 25.

Table 24: Would You Like to Participate in Skills Training? Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Number of Number of % % households households Yes 66 88.00% 139 80.81% No 1 1.33% 8 4.65% Not necessary 8 10.67% 25 14.53% Source: The EMDP preparation team.

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Table 25: What Kind of Skills Training Do You Like to Receive? Ethnic minority Sample Han Sample Content Number of Number of % % households households Home services 12 16.00% 24 13.95% Carpenter 6 8.00% 12 6.98% Electrician 14 18.67% 15 8.72% Stone processing 8 10.67% 10 5.81% Tailor 10 13.33% 7 4.07% Cooking 19 25.33% 22 12.79% Medical care, hospital patient escort 10 13.33% 27 15.70% Elderly care 9 12.00% 17 9.88% E-commerce 19 25.33% 45 26.16% Others 29 38.67% 88 51.16% Source: The EMDP preparation team.

During field surveys with village leaders, villagers' representatives, township hospital in- charges, village clinic personnel, it is found that:

(i) the villagers see doctors for normal disease in village clinics and township hospitals for medical treatment, but, once the disease is considered as a serious disease, or to diagnose the disease residents can choose urban comprehensive hospitals for fear of the poor quality of township hospital medical level and service capacity; (ii) ordinary medicines can be obtained from village clinics or township hospitals, but some medicines must be purchased from urban hospitals; (iii) most young villagers go out to work, and there are more elderly residents at home. Once the elderly persons get sick, they often need their young relatives to come back to take care of them; (iv) some elderly Yao residents can identify some medical plants to be used, make their own herbs, and treat diseases by themselves. However, Yao doctors are not qualified to practice medicine as traditional Chinese medicine, and usually treated some diseases voluntarily by villagers; (v) doctors in village-level clinics are generally elders and there is a need to train young people in the profession. However, village clinics are often remote and poorly-funded, making it difficult to recruit graduates from medical schools; (vi) most village doctors are men, and women find it inconvenient to get men to do their medical examinations, especially in case of gynecological diseases; (vii) for the same reason, there is a large turnover of medical staff in township hospitals, and some specialized divisions cannot be opened, such as obstetrics and gynecology, and ENT divisions; (viii) most Yao people are scattered across mountainous areas. People have to travel long distance from health centers in nearby towns and villages to urban health centers. Ambulances are very important for emergency treatment, and township hospitals are equipped with ambulances.

The ethnic minority residents have expressed their support for the project as it would improve the service level and capacity of township hospitals. They understand the current capacity of township hospitals is limited. However, they still hope to be able to increase the

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necessary medical equipment and facilities at township hospital through the project to maintain the necessary service units to be able to operate normally. Measures are also expected to be taken to ensure that the required number of medical staff would work at township hospitals. The ethnic minority residents were consulted during the social survey and project design, and measures to improve rural medical care and elderly care were incorporated into the project design.

The results of stakeholders' consultations conducted in the project areas have been taken into account in preparing the project.

Female ethnic minority residents are very concerned about improving the current rural health service level, including (i) improving departments of township hospitals, especially obstetrics and gynecology (Daping Yao Township Hospital). Because there is no obstetrics and gynecology department at present, Yao women need to go to county hospitals or Hezhou hospitals to give birth, which requires hospitalization preparation for several days in advance. Although medical conditions of urban hospitals are better, it takes a long time to prepare and the cost is relatively high; (ii) because ethnic minority people live in mountainous areas and are far away from township hospitals and urban hospitals, it is necessary for township hospitals to be equipped with ambulances, which can send patients to hospitals in time; (iii) women spend a long time raising children at home, and pay more attention to the ability of township hospitals to treat children's diseases than men, including necessary examination equipment; and (iv) women spend more time caring for the elderly than men, and most residents tend to support the elderly at home, hoping to learn more nursing knowledge.

In view of the concerns of ethnic minority residents, Pinggui District Health Bureau has fully considered the issues in the project design, and the project content includes the purchase of necessary ambulances and related medical equipment for examination. At the same time, Daping Yao Township Hospital has started to prepare for obstetrics and gynecology, increase related equipment and recruit doctors. Other township hospitals also put forward the medical equipment to be purchased to improve the medical level, improve departments, and establish remote consultation and skills teaching channels.

5.2. Consultation and Participation during the Project Implementation

General objective. To provide reliable project information and engage the stakeholders in meaningful consultation through meetings, workshops and/or training, and other participatory approaches.

Specific Objectives:

(i) To ensure that all stakeholders are well-informed, consulted, and participate in decision making in all phases of project implementation (detailed design. Implementation, and operation) to ensure that the Yao and Zhuang and other ethnic minorities could benefit from the proposed projects by providing them equal opportunities for public awareness activities, capacity building/livelihood training, employment and other benefits relevant to the project. (ii) To increase the level of awareness of various stakeholders in the project areas by engaging them in meaningful consultations, decision making, and active participation through various communication strategies in discussing and addressing key issues that may be raised during project implementation relevant to the nature and/or design of the project by component and/or subcomponents; and address concerns raised by the Yao and Zhuang ethnic minorities.

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(iii) To promote the spirit of cooperation, responsible information sharing, and decision making necessary to facilitate developing the sense of ownership among the concerned government agencies and/or local government units (LGUs) and households who will be affected by the proposed project.

5.3. Stakeholders Analysis and Consultation and Participation Plan

Among the stakeholders consulted are the LGUs (township government officials, government agencies, and village leaders), the Yao and Zhuang ethnic minorities, women, and other sectors in the villages. The LGUs are aware of the proposed project and/or subprojects as they already attended meetings conducted by HPMO. However, at the mobilization of the TA consultants, their level of awareness about the project was low as they admitted that they did not know the details about the subprojects. During the project preparation assisted by the TA consultants, the PMOs, design institutes, resettlement plan preparation institute, gender, ethnic minority, and social impact analysis team, and environment impact assessment teams conducted a wide range of consultations and discussions with different levels of local governments and residents representatives on the project contents, objectives, potential impacts, and supports from local governments and residents as well as comments and suggestions from relevant stakeholders. Other means of information dissemination about the proposed project were media TV news during the ADB mission, government website, and key government agencies and/or bureaus. The local people, including women, farmers, and the Yao and Zhuang ethnic minorities, have understood the purpose and positive impacts of the proposed project. Also, details of each specific project components and/or subcomponents that will be implemented in the project areas are clear among the township and/or village officials working on relevant aspects (i.e., mining waste treatment and ecological environment rehabilitation, construction of medical and elderly care facilities, and improvement of technical and skills training facilities).

Overall, the stakeholders consulted are in favor of the project components and/or activities. The consultation and participation plan for further consultations with the project stakeholders has been prepared for the project implementation period, as presented in the project administration manual, which covers the ethnic minority people in the project areas. Specific for ethnic minorities, key activities include but not limited to timely disclosure of project information, consultation meetings, and conduct of awareness training will be carried out in a locally acceptable manner, eliciting feedback from ethnic minority communities so they continue to participate during final design, implementation, and monitoring; culture, customs and traditions of ethnic minorities are taken into consideration during planning and implementation of trainings and provision of access to job opportunities. Please see ethnic minority action plan presented in Table 27.

Measures to respond to pandemic restrictions: In the event of any restrictions due to COVID-19 outbreak or other unforeseeable phenomena, virtual meetings (videoconference, telephone calls, WeChat, etc.) will be carried out. The HPMO, implementing agencies, PIUs, relevant agencies, project staff, and consultants will strictly adhere to social distancing and wearing protective masks/equipment during in-person meetings in line with government protocols and guidelines.

5.4. Grievance Redress Mechanism

Prior to the implementation of the project, a transparent and effective channel for complaints and appeals will be established for the benefit of all affected persons, including ethnic minorities. The grievance redress mechanism (GRM) is the channel and it will ensure that problems, concerns, and grievances are identified, recorded, discussed, and resolved in a timely

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and effective manner as they arise and to ensure that the project is implemented in compliance with the PRC’s laws and regulations and the ADB safeguard policy requirements, as set out in this EMDP. The GRM will ensure that the Yao and Zhuang people, through the village leaders and/or the Yao and Zhuang community cadres, are represented in all communication channels. The Yao and Zhuang people should feel comfortable raising their concerns, grievances, and complaints and/or feedbacks to the Yao and Zhuang village leaders and/or the village cadres. The Yao and Zhuang village has both male and female cadres to ensure that the concerns of both sexes are addressed. The GRM that will be implemented is identical to the existing government channels of complaint letters, visits in local government at all levels and is based on meeting with the Yao and Zhuang village leaders and/or community cadres, as outlined below:

(i) Complaints regarding any aspects relevant to the implementation of the EMDP will be first submitted to the village committee and/or leader. The Yao and Zhuang villages or communities are headed by a Yao and a Zhuang, respectively, and also have a Yao and Zhuang female community cadre; The complaints should be replied within two weeks. (ii) If the complaints are not adequately resolved at the village level, a complaint may be submitted to the township government office, with a copy to the HPMO after two weeks; the complaint is to be resolved within two weeks; (iii) If not resolved at township government office, a complaint may then be submitted to the HPMO. The HPMO shall reply to the complaint in two weeks. The HPMO will be assisted by the social specialist, who will also be tasked to ensure that the EMDP and other plans prepared for the project are implemented every six months.

The HPMO will monitor the process and ensure adequate explanations and solutions have been provided in a timely manner. Most grievances are expected to be resolved at the lower levels, but affected persons have the right to appeal to higher levels if they are not satisfied with the decision. The HPMO will be informed and will retain a record of all complaints. The appeal channel stated above will be explained to the affected people through meetings or in other ways so that they are fully aware of their rights to appeal.

Table 26: Contact Persons AT Relevant Agencies Contact Agency Full name Position number Hezhou PMO Li Ying Staff 15177683058 Pinggui District PMO Liu Fangting Staff 18907847101 Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County Director of Baisha Town of Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County Yang Jun arms 18978432889 department Xiwan Street Office of Pinggui District Lai Jiaqiang Vice sector 13321742178 Etang Town of Pinggui District Mai Qingmiao Staff 13635083237 Shatian Town of Pinggui District Li Yuquan Director 07745321061 Shuikou Town of Pinggui District Gao Xingke Staff 17707844761 Gonghui Town of Pinggui District Huang Yi Staff 13347548870 Huangtian Town of Pinggui District Wu Zhiqiang Director 15078159166 Wanggao Town of Pinggui District Feng Xiaolan Staff 13237841072 Yangtou Town of Pinggui District Lu Xingcheng Staff 18878488018 Vice Daping Yao Township of Pinggui District Guo Miao 13925180215 director Zhongping village of Gonghui Town Tang Jialiu Director 15078171476

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Contact Agency Full name Position number Guishan Village of Shatian Town Xu Mingfeng Director 13607841367 Qingshui village of Gonghui Town Pan Lianzhou Director 18878490826 Chaping village of Gonghui Town Li Jinjun Director 18778438668 Songmu Village of Shatian Town Wei Xiaotang Director 18070656719 Zhonghui Village of Shatian Town Li Cuizheng Director 13978434992 Shidong Village of Shatian Town Feng Qiubao Director 13737432173 Xinmin Village of Shatian Town Zhao Jinwen Director 15078174196 Jinzhu Village of Shatian Town Li Chengyou Director 18378442824 Dongping Village of Etang Wei Huoping Director 13978444524 Lugang Village of Etang Wei Zhongxiu Director 18877490096 Pangu Village of Etang Wei Xingxiu Director 13878443088 Mingmei Village of Etang Feng Mulin Director 13517640096 Daming Village of Etang Zhao Shicun Director 13669444228 Caozhui Village of Etang Zhao Zhuangui Director 18207840811 Longping Village of Shuikou Zhao Youhong Director 18278408800 Fangjiang Village of Shuikou Zhu Minggui Director 18978461608 Party Haodong Village of Huangtian Tang Dingguo Branch 13669837582 Secretary Chuanyan Village of Wanggao Luo Wanli Director 18278473889 Yutang Village of Wanggao Zhou Jiake Director 13737489492 Mashan Village of Yangtou Xu Tujie Director 18376438560 Litou Village of Taping Deng Guipeng Director 13635080430 Longcao Village of Taping Zhao Jieyou Director 14795304230 Weizhu Village of Taping Zhao Jinjing Director 13635084082

Grievances can also be submitted directly to the HPMO. If the aggrieved person is not satisfied, they may also submit a complaint to the ADB project team. If good faith efforts are still unsuccessful and if there are grievances that stem from non-compliance with ADB’s safeguard policy requirements on indigenous peoples, the aggrieved person(s) may submit a complaint to ADB’s Accountability Mechanism.

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6. ACTION PLAN

The action plan for ethnic minorities, especially for the ethnic minority administrative villages, is summarized in Table 27, showing the activity, indicators and/or targets, responsible implementing agency, timing, and budget source. The budget arrangement details are given in Section 8.

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Table 27: Ethnic Minority Action Plan Responsible Budget and Actions Targets and Indicators Timeframe Agencies Sources A. Output 1: nature-friendly measures to reduce pollution in the Kedashan former mineral mining area implemented—Affected town in Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County A.1 Ensure ethnic minorities' participation in Targets: 2021–2026 City/county PMOs, Government ecological protection awareness. • At least 80% of ethnic minority residents in implementing counterpart fund, Baisha Town participated and understood the agencies approximately CNY importance of ecological protection 20,000 (Baseline: 2021:0) Assisting agencies: EMRB, and PMISC specialists B. Output 2: Institutional mechanisms and service quality of health and elderly care in Pinggui District strengthened—Pinggui District B.1 Ensure ethnic minorities’ participation in the Targets: 2021–2026 City/district PMOs, Government public consultation on preliminary and detailed • At least 20% ethnic minority representatives street/town counterpart fund, design of Pinggui Worker Hospital and Medical are among the participants in design consultation governments approximately CNY and Elder Care Center for integrating local ethnic meetings/activities 50,000 minorities requirement. Assisting agencies: • At least two ethnic minority villages conducted EMRB, implementing B.2 Ensure ethnic minorities’ participation in the the elderly care pilot agencies, CB, DIs, design of community elderly care for integrating and PMISC local ethnic minorities' requirements. • 100% ethnic minorities HHs participate in the specialists awareness-raising activities at least two times B.3 Ensure development of community elderly (Baseline: 2021:0) care pilot in ethnic minority villages.

B.4 Ensure ethnic minorities that they receive medical care and elderly care awareness.

C. Output 3: Green and health care-related skills development institutions strengthened—Pinggui District C.1 Ensure ethnic minorities’ participation in the Targets: 2021–2026 City/district PMOs, Government public consultation on the preliminary and • At least 20% ethnic minority representatives implementing special training detailed design of Pinggui TVET Center for are among the participants in design consultation agencies fund integrating local ethnic minorities' requirements. meetings/activities Assisting agencies: C.2 Ensure ethnic minorities’ participation in the • At least 20% ethnic minorities are among the EMRB, HRSB, PADO, public consultation in the design of course participants who design development related DIs, town activities; activities governments, and PMISC specialists C.3 Ensure ethnic minorities’ participation in • 100% ethnic minorities laborers know training awareness activity on technical and skill training; activities of TVET center

C.4 Ensure ethnic minorities’ participation in • At least 20% of trainees are ethnic minority

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Responsible Budget and Actions Targets and Indicators Timeframe Agencies Sources related training laborers (Baseline: 2021) D. For All Outputs: Project management and implementation support—All the above outputs Targets: 2021–2026 City/county/district Government D.1 Ensure social specialists are included in • Two social, gender, indigenous people PMOs counterpart fund, PMISC to guide the implementation of EMDP and specialists (one international, one national) are approximately CNY provide training to PMOs, implementing agencies, recruited to guide and assist in implementing Assisting agencies: 100,000 PIUs, and town governments. EMDP’s Action Plan EMRB, implementing ADB loan, (baseline: 2021:0) agencies, PMISC approximately CNY specialists 200,000 • At least one staff member from each PMO, D.2 Ensure PMOs, implementing agencies, town implementing agency, town, and ethnic minority government each assign at least one staff to village is appointed to undertake the EMDP undertake the EMDP activities activities (baseline: 2021:0)

D.3 Recruit one external monitor by PMO to carry • One external monitor is recruited by PMO out timely monitoring of the implementation of during project implementation to monitor EMDP’s EMDP monitoring, which will be reported semi- performance and report the progress. annually to PMO and ADB (baseline 2021:0)

• Semi-annual monitoring reports prepared and submitted to PMO and ADB. D.4 Provide training to PMOs and implementing agencies on (i) ADB safeguard policy; (ii) how to • All staff in the PMOs and implementing implement and monitor; (iii) importance of agencies received training on indigenous participation and meaningful consultation during peoples safeguard policy requirements of ADB EMDP implementation and monitoring; and and how to implement and monitor EMDP (iv) ethnic minority issues on relevant project (baseline: 2021:0) components. • All affected villages/households, including D.5 Provide guidance on EMDP to ethnic minority ethnic minorities, know about the grievance village committee staff to implement and monitor redress mechanisms EMDP more effectively (Baseline: 2021: 0) E. For All Outputs: Generating Job Opportunities E.1 At the construction stage, 205 temporary job Targets: 2021–2026 City/county/district Covered by ADB positions, to be created; • At least 20% of jobs under the project are PMOs, implementing loan, approximately given to ethnic minorities during the construction agencies, contractors CNY 3,000,000 E.2 At the operation stage, 900 positions, xxx stage and the operation stage of the project. skilled and xx unskilled (maintenance of facilities (Baseline: 2021:0) Assisting agencies: and landscaping of rivers and wetlands), to be EMRB, HRSB; PMISC created; • 100% contractors and workers trained about specialists

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Responsible Budget and Actions Targets and Indicators Timeframe Agencies Sources ethnic minorities’ religious belief and customs on E.3 Ensure timely advertisement of job sites vacancies, and give priority to ethnic minorities in (Baseline: 2021: 0) job hiring;

E.4 Ensure contractors and workers respect ethnic minorities’ religious belief and customs through training at work sites

F. For all Outputs: Comply with labor laws and core labor standards F.1 Ensure contractors comply with labor laws Targets: 2021–2026 City/county/district Government and core labor standards, including no child labor, • 100% workers, including ethnic minority PMOs, implementing counterpart fund, minimum wages, equal pay to equal work, and workers, receive relevant training and information agencies, contractors approximately CNY occupational health and safety for ethnic minority (baseline: 2021:0) 20,000 workers Assisting agencies: • 100% of contractors comply with relevant EMRB, HRSB, CDPC, Covered by ADB F.2 Ensure participation of workers including labor standards HB, ACWF loan, approximately ethnic minority workers in public health (Baseline: 2021: 0) CNY 500,000 knowledge promotion and training regarding prevention and control of HIV/AIDS, STI, and • 100% of workers received publicity materials other infectious diseases (Baseline: 2021: 0)

F.3 Ensure contractor construction personnel involved in HIV/AIDS and STI publicity activities

F.4 Distribute local information and publicity materials (e.g., posters and brochures) regarding the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and STI

F.5 Distribute among construction workers brochures regarding festivals and activities of ethnic minorities

Notes: AB = agriculture bureau; ACWF = all-china women federation; CB = construction bureau; CDPC = center of disease protection and control; DI = design institute; ethnic minority = ethnic minority; EMRB = ethnic minority and religious affairs bureau; HB = health bureau; HRSB = human resource and social security bureau; PADO = poverty alleviation development office; PIU = project implementation unit, PMISC = project management and implementation support consultant; PMO = project management office.

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The proposed actions will be revisited and improved during project implementation. Hezhou municipal government, through the HPMO, HMIGC, Pinggui PMO, and PUCIC, in coordination with the concerned agencies, will ensure that the proposed activities and/or plans are implemented for the benefit of the ethnic minorities.

Before and during the capacity building/skills training programs for ethnic minorities are held, HPMO, implementing agencies and PIUs with the assistance of PMISC’s social specialists, will: (i) conduct further extensive public consultation with ethnic minorities to learn about their demands and concerns on the proposed activities; (ii) develop detailed and culturally appropriate capacity building/skills training courses which are discussed with and accepted by ethnic minorities; (iii) provide reasonable training subsidies to the ethnic minorities who participate in these training courses; and (iv) regularly monitor and evaluate the performance and satisfaction of these training activities through participatory methods, and make necessary adjustments and improvement in subsequent training courses, based on the views and comments received from ethnic minorities.

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7. IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS

The HPMO will supervise and monitor the EMDP implementation; HMIGC and Pinggui PMO, with its PIU PUCIC will be responsible for implementing the EMDP. HPMO, HMIGC, and PUCIC will be assisted by “social, gender, and indigenous people’s specialists” (one international and one national consultant), who HPMO will hire as members of project management and implementation support consulting firm (PMISC) during the project implementation. The PMISC’s specialists will support HPMO to ensure that the EMDP is implemented in a timely manner. The HPMO, HMIGC, and PUCIC have appointed officers who are in charge of ethnic minorities’ safeguards. The TA consultants have provided basic training and orientation to them in April 2021 on the important functions to perform, ADB’s safeguard policy, etc. The Baisha Town of Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County, and Xiwan Street Office, and eight townships of Pinggui District will provide support to coordinate, advise, and review the progress of the EMDP implementation. Implementation arrangements for the EMDP are integrated into the specific project activities. Other key agencies for implementation include the Development and Reform Committee/Bureau, Finance Bureau, Ecology and Environment Bureau, Human Resource and Social Security Bureau, the All-China Women’s Federation (ACWF), and other concerned agencies, in coordination with the township heads and the Yao and Zhuang village leaders and/or cadres who shall be the focal persons to facilitate linkages at the village level.

Capacity building and/or training. The measures in the EMDP are continuous activities of the respective line agencies; therefore, capacity-building measures will focus on awareness on the ADB policy requirements (i.e., ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement (2009); the government policies protecting the ethnic minority, including the Yao and Zhuang people) provided by PMISC’s specialists. To ensure smooth implementation of the EMDP and to achieve the expected objectives, the following policy awareness training are needed for HPMO, HMIGC, Pinggui PMO, and PUCIC and relevant township-level officials to enhance their project management skill:

(i) Participation principles and skills. Government officials need awareness of the importance of public or community participation and/or mobilization, especially when communicating with rural residents. This will ensure the participation of the local people. (ii) ADB safeguards principles. Government has relevant experiences in domestic projects, but they need to be familiar with the requirements of the ADB policies also. The project will provide the information through workshops or training to orient them on relevant safeguard policies. The awareness training program will start to be held when the PMISC is mobilized in 2022.

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8. COSTS AND FINANCING SOURCES AND SCHEDULE

Necessary funds to conduct the EMDP activities have been estimated in the Action Plan of the EMDP (see details in Table 27). They include the following: (i) the funds covered by ADB loan, approximately CNY3.7 million in total; and (ii) the remaining funds for the implementation of EMDP and to be disbursed by the counterpart funds of local governments, approximately CNY190,000 in total. HPMO will coordinate with the project implementing agencies and PIUs to allocate adequate and separate counterpart funds for EMDP implementation during the project implementation stage.

Implementation of the activities in the EMDP will commence as soon as the loan is approved. HPMO, HMIGC, Pinggui PMO, and PUCIC expect to start project implementation in November 2021. The schedule of EMDP actions and the proposed budget sources are included in Table 27 (see Section 6).

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9. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

The objective of the monitoring and evaluation is to assess whether the EMDP actions have been implemented effectively. The HPMO will ensure the implementation of the EMDP, monitor and semiannually report to ADB on the implementation progress. The HPMO will hire project management and implementation support consulting firm (PMISC), including social, gender, and indigenous people’s specialists (one international, and one national consultant), who will work with HPMO, HMIGC, Pinggui PMO, and PUCIC and set up an appropriate monitoring system and assist with the preparation of reports. The executing agency (HMG), through HPMO with the support of the consultant, shall ensure that the activities included in the EMDP are implemented. The consultants will assist the HPMO, HMIGC, and PUCIC’s social officers in implementing the plans, conduct monitoring and assist the HPMOs in preparing the reports required for submission to ADB.

The objectives of the monitoring and evaluation are

(i) to ensure there is meaningful consultation with and participation of Yao and Zhuang people in project activities; (ii) to investigate and report the EMDP implementation progress based on the action and monitoring indicators in Table 8; (iii) to recommend adjustments or improvements to the Action Plan, if required; and (iv) to evaluate the effects and impacts to ensure the EMDP objectives have been met and that the Yao and Zhuang ethnic minority people are satisfied. The EMDP’s monitoring ensures that the HPMO, implementing agencies, and PIUs supervise, understand, and report on the EMDP implementation progress. The HPMO, with the assistance of the specialists of PMISC, is responsible for monitoring and reporting the progress of the EMDP to ADB semiannually. The HPMO will (i) report significant issues or updates on EMDP implementation in the quarterly project progress reports, with the support from PMISC, (ii) prepare and submit HPMO’s internal semiannual EMDP monitoring reports to ADB by 15 July (covering January–June) and 15 January (covering July–December), with the support from PMISC, (iii) submit external monitoring report on the EMDP progress, evaluated and reported by the external EMDP/SGAP monitoring agency.

External monitoring will be performed semiannually by an external agency (together with the SGAP implementation monitoring) until the project completion. The EMDP monitoring reports (together with the SGAP implementation monitoring report) will be submitted semiannually to HPMO and ADB by 15 September (for verifying the HPMO’s EMDP reporting covering January– June) and 15 March (for verifying the HPMO’s EMDP reporting covering July–December).

During the internal and external monitoring of the EMDP implementation, field investigations will be conducted using household surveys, village surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant meetings with relevant agencies, focusing on the target groups and issues set out in the plan.

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Appendix 1: Template of EMDP Implementation Progress and Results Report

Template of EMDP Implementation Progress and Results Report (HPMO’s internal semiannual report)

The EMDP shall be implemented during the project implementation in January 2022 to June 2028. The implementation progress and results of the EMDP shall be monitored and reported to ADB.

The objective of the monitoring and evaluation is to assess whether the EMDP’s actions have been implemented effectively. The EMDP will be monitored, and the monitoring reports will be submitted semi-annually to ADB. The social, gender, and indigenous people specialists in the project management and implementation support consulting team will work with the HPMO to set up an appropriate internal monitoring system and assist with the preparation of monitoring reports.

The internal monitoring report as one of chapters of the project progress report will be prepared by the HPMO with guidance of the social, gender, and indigenous people specialists. The content of the internal semiannual report shall cover:

1. Introduction Brief introduction of the project components related to impacts on ethnic minority people development in the project area; summary main actions designed in the EMDP. 2. Internal Monitoring Methodology Introduction of internal monitoring methods based on requirements of different actions. 3. EMDP Implementation Status Report on detail procedures and results of each action implemented during the report period. Incorporation of the results with those conducted in previous reports, and presentation of current status of each action. 4. Institutional Arrangement Brief description of institutions involved in the EMDP implementation and their responsibilities and contact persons. 5. Grievance Redress Mechanism Checking and reviewing implementation of the GRM set up in the EMDP, any complaints and problems occurred and how to solve them during the EMDP implementation. 6. Conclusions and Recommendations Brief conclusions of the EMDP implementation in the report period, and recommendation on any improvement of the EMDP implementation.

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Appendix 2: Template of External EMDP and SGAP Monitoring Report

Template of External EMDP and SGAP Monitoring Report (External monitoring and evaluation agency’s external semiannual report)

The EMDP and SGAP shall be implemented during the project implementation in January 2022 to June 2028. The implementation progress and results of the EMDP and SGAP shall be monitored and evaluated, and reported to ADB.

The objective of the monitoring and evaluation is to assess whether the EMDP’s and SGAP’s actions have been implemented effectively. The implementation of the EMDP and SGAP will be monitored and evaluated, and the monitoring reports will be submitted semi-annually to ADB. External monitors will be recruited by the HPMO to perform semi-annual external monitoring evaluation of the EMDP and SGAP until the project completion.

The external monitoring and evaluation report as a standalone report will be prepared by the external monitors with guidance of the social, gender, and indigenous people specialists in the project management and implementation support consulting team. The content of the external semiannual report shall cover:

1. Background Brief introduction of the project components related to impacts on ethnic minority people development, gender and social development in the project area; a map marked with the project components. 2. Summary of Actions and Indicators Summary actions and indicators designed in the EMDP and SGAP, and potential impacts of the actions on the project area. 3. Implementation Arrangement and Monitoring Methodology Brief description of institutions involved in the EMDP and SGAP implementation and their responsibilities and contact persons; the EMDP and SGAP implementation schedule and arrangement; monitoring and evaluation methods. 4. Implementation Status Report on detail procedures and results of each action implemented during the report period; incorporation of the results with those conducted in previous reports, and presentation of current status of each action. 5. Grievance Redress Mechanism Reviewing implementation of the GRM set up in the EMDP, any complaints and problems occurred and how to solve them during the EMDP implementation based on field survey. 6. Lessons Learned and Recommendations Description of any challenges and problems faced in the EMDP and SGAP implementation and results to solve the problems; any recommendations on improvement of the EMDP and SGAP implementation for next work.

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Appendix 3: Summary of Consultation Activities

Summary of Consultation Activities Undertaken for Poverty and Social Analysis

Date Location Organizer Agencies Issues consulted Issues raised by participants Responses consulted February Baisha Design IA, Baisha Follow-up Project and subproject designs Designs briefed 2021 Township institute, township, development Project preparation process Process briefed TA Baisha activities after consultants community rehabilitating abandoned mining area Land tenure and resettlement impact February Pinggui TA IA, PADO, Integrating ongoing Project and subproject designs Designs briefed 2021 District consultants EB, WF, skill training Project preparation process Process briefed EMRAB, activities into SGAP HRSSB Specific matters likely to be addressed by SGAP Dibao program March Pinggui TA HB, MIB Medical insurance Establishment medical consortium by The consortium was 2021 District consultants scheme the project accepted by the project (a key output of the Pinggui Community outreach Subproject) of district medical resources and services Specific issues likely be addressed by SGAP

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Date Location Organizer Agencies Issues consulted Issues raised by participants Responses consulted February Pinggui TA 6 villages Needs and Residents, including ethnic minorities Measures to improve rural –March, District consultants difficulties on have expressed support for the project; medical care and elderly 2021 medical services understand the current capacity of care were incorporated into and skill training township hospitals is limited and hope the project design. to increase the necessary medical Left behind equipment and facilities at township population hospital through the project. Pinggui District Health Cases of poverty Bureau has fully considered resulted from illness Female ethnic minority residents raised the issues in the project concern that because there is no design, and the project February Pinggui TA 10 township Improvement needs obstetrics and gynecology department content includes the –March consultants and village District and difficulties at the township hospital at present; Yao purchase of necessary 2021 , surveyors clinics Needs towards women need to go to county hospitals ambulances and related Large project or Hezhou hospitals to give birth; medical equipment for number of medical conditions of urban hospitals examination. At the same individuals are better but requires preparation and time, Daping Yao Township cost is relatively high; they hope that Hospital has started to township hospitals be equipped with prepare for obstetrics and ambulances, which can send patients gynecology, increase related to hospitals in time; women spend a equipment and recruit long time raising children at home, and doctors. Other township pay more attention to the ability of hospitals also put forward township hospitals to treat children's the medical equipment to be diseases than men, including purchased to improve the necessary examination equipment; and medical level, improve women spend more time caring for the departments, and establish elderly than men, and most residents remote consultation and tend to support the elderly at home, skills teaching channels. hoping to learn more nursing knowledge.

Source: TA consultants. EB = education bureau, EMRAB = ethnic minority and religious affairs bureau, HB = health bureau, HRSSB = human resource and social security bureau, IA = implementing agency, MIB = medical insurance bureau, PADO = poverty alleviation and development office, SGAP = social and gender action plan, TA = technical assistance, WF = women’s federation.

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Appendix 4: Photos of Field Survey

Photo 1: Group Discussion in Shidong Yao Photo 2: Group Discussion in Lugang Zhuang Village of Shatian Town Village of Etang Town

Photo 3: Group Discussion in Daping Yao Photo 4: Visiting Longcao Village Clinic of Township Hospital Daping Yao Township

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Photo 5: Group Discussion in Qingquan Village Photo 6: Group Discussion in Etang of Gonghui Town Township Hospital

Photo 7: Visiting Shatian Township Hospital Photo 8: Discussion with Governmental Departments of Pinggui District

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Photo 9: Public Consultation with Yao People at Photo 10: Public Consultation with Female Yao Longcao Village of Daping Township People at Longcao Village of Daping Township

Photo 11: Yao People Participate in Online Survey Photo 12: Focus Discussion with Township through Mobile Phone Leaders

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Photo 13: The Survey Team Visited a Yao Photo 14: Village Committee Located in Village of Daping Township Convenient Service Center Building

Photo 15: Yao People’s Settlement Photo 16: Yao Rural Resident House in Traditional Style

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