Benefit-sharing and enhancing outcomes for project-affected communities

Benefit-sharing refers to the sharing of benefits between a project and its local or host communities so that local communities become beneficiaries of the project. This can be achieved through financial or other arrangements. Most international standards and financial institutions encourage benefit-sharing, and several countries have implemented laws to require this. However, few projects have delivered benefits to any significant extent, and all projects could improve the delivery of benefits to affected communities. Benefit-sharing is an umbrella concept that includes a wide range of actions. The purpose of this chapter is to increase awareness of the expectation that projects should deliver benefits to local communities, and to improve understanding of the range of possible benefit-sharing mechanisms. It also discusses some problematic issues with benefit-sharing.