Social and Gender Integration Plan (SGIP) is one of MCA-Mongolia’s main strategic documents focused on ensuring gender equity and social inclusion in achieving lasting economic growth and poverty reduction through the implementation of Compact activities. The plan describes the gender and social inclusion objectives, activities, outputs, responsibilities, and timelines for the Mongolia Water Compact. It also highlights social and gender-based constraints and risks across the sector that need to be mitigated, and it identifies opportunities for enhancing benefits for women and marginalized groups. It also serves as a guiding document for bidders, consultants, contractors, sub-contractors, grantees, and implementing entities to integrate social and gender analysis and activities into the design, planning, implementation, and close-out phases of all Compact activities.

The SGIP has the following main strategic goals:

• Identify actions to mitigate gender and social inclusions related risk throughout the Compact implementation;
• Identify, record and effectively communicate the key GSI impacts, lessons learned, and success stories throughout Compact implementation;
• Facilitate partnership between the Contractor and district and local government to increase local employment in the Compact activities through providing opportunities to local residents especially women and youth;
• Contribute towards achieving MCC’s voluntary target of employing women as 30% of all staff on compact-funded works and its overall commitment to women’s economic empowerment;
• Maximize income generation opportunities for women-owned and locally owned businesses through encouraging contractors for local procurement;
• Encourage contractors to partner with Technical and Vocational Training Centers (TVET) to increase employment, apprenticeship, and internship opportunities for students and graduates;
• Ensure and monitor all Compact funded infrastructure activities’ worksites have safe, healthy, and gender-sensitive working environment;
• Ensure all Compact funded infrastructure activity Contractors have zero-tolerance policies for sexual harassment, child labor, worker exploitation, and trafficking-in-persons, and monitor the Contractor compliance with relevant policies;
• Identify potential negative impacts and implement mitigation measures related to water sector sustainability activities such as cost recovery in the water sector, customer assistance program development, conversion of smart water kiosks, and public awareness and social behavior change activities.

The SGIP has been prepared by the MCA-Mongolia GSI team, which has been approved by MCC and has been in effect since June 29, 2021.