The project is expected to take six years to complete. The Qinghai component, which involves the voluntary move of 57,750 farmers from heavily eroded hillsides in the east of the province, will begin with a small pilot phase if the government proceeds to implementation after the Inspection Panel review. The pilot phase will involve only about 200 households and will allow close monitoring to ensure that the environmental issues, irrigation systems and health and education services achieve their stated goals before any further investment is made in the project. The pilot phase will also allow an opportunity to establish a basis that the overall status of the ethnic groups is protected and preserved in the new shared surroundings. The Chinese government, before the Board meeting, pledged its full support for the Inspection Panel review, and said it would use the pilot phase as a time to monitor and evaluate the entire project.
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