The Solomon Islands Government and the World Bank designed the Rapid Employment Project (REP) to provide emergency assistance in employment generation in the context of the global financial crisis and ethnic conflicts in the capital city, Honiara. REP engaged vulnerable people in and around Honiara, particularly youth and women for short term employment contracts in roads maintenance, urban services delivery and construction of community access infrastructure.

In 2014, SDF conducted the Mid-Term Review for REP to provide an assessment of operational performance and to identify future priorities for the project. The Mid Term Review involved an evaluation process comprising a desk review of project documentation and a filed mission where key stakeholder interviews were conducted. A follow- up key stakeholder workshop was then conducted by SDF.

In 2015 a review of Social Accountability and Governance Risks for the project was also completed by SDF to map and analyse project risks and to propose mitigation measures to ensure strong accountability, effective risk management and achievement of project objectives. The review comprised a desk review of project documentation, a field visit to Honiara where mapping and analysis of project risk took place working closely with the project team, and a final report in which findings were reviewed.

Following the success of REP and ongoing demand from key stakeholders, a second phase of the project titled Community Access and Urban Services Enhancement Project (CAUSE) was designed throughout 2016 and 2017. CAUSE will build upon the current REP's proven capabilities and will continue to work in Honiara whilst also extending to urban areas in three provinces: Guadalcanal, Western Province, and Malaita Province.

In 2016 SDF was part of a scoping mission for the design of CAUSE. The scoping mission included a review of key documents, and field visits to the Solomon Islands to meet with project staff and key stakeholders to plan for the activities, implementation arrangements and funding sources for CAUSE. Following from this, in 2017 SDF conducted an environmental and social assessment for CAUSE. This involved a document review and field visits to the project areas of Guadalcanal, Honiara, Auki, and Gizo in August 2017 to conduct interviews with key stakeholders and discussions with community groups in the proposed project areas. An Environmental and Social Assessment Report was produced to detail the findings of the assessment in relation to World Bank Safeguards. In addition, SDF completed an updated Environmental and Social Management Guidelines and Community Consultation Framework for CAUSE based on the findings of the assessment.