Afshan Khawaja is the Manager of Environmental and Social Standards in the Operational Policy Vice Presidency of the World Bank. She manages the team working on the review and update of the Bank’s safeguard policies as well as providing policy and operational guidance to Bank management and staff, as the corporate advisor on social safeguard policies, on issues of social risks especially those related to involuntary resettlement and Indigenous Peoples. Her experience in the Bank on the operational and policy aspects of social development and safeguards spans over 25 years. She has a strong operational background in the energy, hydropower and infrastructure sectors and has worked across different sectors and regions including Africa, South Asia, East Asia and Europe and Central Asia. As the Lead Social Development Specialist in the Africa region she was responsible for the overall management and coordination of social safeguards work including mentoring staff, building capacity in borrowers, and advising regional management on social safeguard policy issues. In the former Quality Assurance and Compliance Unit of Operational Policy Vice Presidency, she was responsible for leading advisory and operational support activities related to social risk management for some of the Bank's most challenging and complex projects and was involved in a number of high profile Inspection Panel cases. She has led numerous training programs on social sustainability and safeguards in East and South Asia, been a speaker at international workshops/conferences, worked closely with Multinational Financial Institutions and bilateral organizations and as served as an expert for the Environment Management Group of the United Nations and the GEF on social analysis and safeguards.
