To understand the current social impact of China's overseas investment and provide insights and tools for future investments, UN Environment Programme - International Ecosystem Management Partnership Programme (UNEP-IEMP) completed two case study reports and one toolkit with checklist between October 2021 and April 2024, namely Case Study of High-Speed Railways in Indonesia: An Analysis to Integrative Aspects of Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion in Infrastructure Development, Case Study of Pokhara International Airport in Nepal for Developing Social and Gender Inclusive Toolkit for Chinese Overseas Investments, and Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Toolkit: A guide for improving the social impact of infrastructure development projects from gender equality and social inclusion perspectives.
With the combination of desk study, small group discussions, key informants interview, expert consultation and household surveys, the reports review the status of Chinese investment in Indonesia and Nepal, and systematically analyzes the impact of large-scale infrastructure investment projects on local economies, societies and livelihoods, taking the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway and Pokhara International Airport as examples. Based on this study, a toolkit with checklist to enhance the social impact of China’s overseas infrastructure investment is proposed from the perspective of gender equality and social inclusion. During the study period, Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway and Pokhara International Airport were operated for a short term. Therefore, the impact of these two infrastructure constructions on local economic and social development and the improvement of residents' livelihoods is still an important research topic in the future.
The research work of these two case study reports was strongly supported by Women Research Institute (WRI) in Indonesia and Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD) in Nepal.
The summaries of two case study reports and the toolkit are as attached. Please contact Dr. Yunli Bai (yunli.bai@unep-iemp.org) for the full case study reports.
