Power Beyond the Grid: How Communities Turned a CASA Transmission Line into Shared Gains and Development

Development Challenge

Communities along the CASA-1000 transmission corridor are often remote, rural, and have limited access to infrastructure, services, and jobs. Historic tensions, climate vulnerability, and gender gaps have constrained development, particularly for women, youth, and vulnerable households. For complex cross-border projects, sustaining community trust is essential. CASA-1000 recognized that regional energy integration succeeds only when directly affected communities are meaningfully engaged and receive tangible, timely, and locally relevant benefits.

Approach

The World Bank Group integrated the Community Support Program (CSP) into CASA-1000 as a strategic benefit-sharing mechanism, aligned with the transmission investment and anchored within national energy institutions. This strengthened government ownership while enabling a flexible, community-driven development (CDD) model at the local level. The features of CSP included:

• Benefit sharing planned from the outset of project design and construction, linking community investments such as local infrastructure, services, and livelihood support to the timing and scope of the transmission line,.
• Continuous and inclusive community engagement for local priorities such as participatory planning, grievance redress mechanisms, and social accountability tools
• Gender-focused design for women's meaningful participation and decision making.
• Livelihoods support
• Digital reach: Online platforms and mobile-based communication

Monitoring and learning: Systematic data collection, feedback loops, and iterative adjustments supported evidence-based decision-making and reinforced program effectiveness. This integrated approach ensured that CSPs functioned not as a standalone social project, but as a core operational instrument supporting the effectiveness, acceptance, and resilience of CASA-1000 transmission line.

Results

Across the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, CSPs delivered visible, inclusive, and locally valued outcomes (2019-2025):

• Enhanced public support for the transmission line, 83 percent of beneficiaries in the Kyrgyz Republic and 86.5 percent of beneficiaries in Tajikistan reported that the CSP was an effective solution to the local impacts of the CASA-1000 transmission line with communities increasingly viewing CASA-1000 as a source of shared opportunity rather than disruption.
• Improved access to essential services and local economic infrastructure, with 594 community subprojects implemented across 303 communities. These investments expanded access to safe water, improved irrigation and agricultural productivity, enhanced rural connectivity, and upgraded education and health facilities addressing critical service gaps. Stronger and more sustainable livelihoods were supported through integrated packages combining skills training, mentoring, grants, and market access generating over 1,700 jobs while broader livelihood support reached approximately 4,000 additional people, strengthening income generation and economic resilience in project communities.
• Broad and inclusive participation, with almost one million people from the local communities engaged in consultations and decision-making, including a majority of women who played a decisive role in shaping local priorities, influencing the selection of 73 percent of community investments.
• Women's meaningful participation improved the relevance, effectiveness, and sustainability of community investments. Across both projects, women accounted for almost 500,000 people (50 percent of those consulted). Digital platforms enabled participation of more than 800,000 people (51 percent women and 47 percent youth) including mobility-constrained groups, while youth support helped bridge digital literacy gaps.
• Strengthened social cohesion and trust, particularly in fragile border areas, where transparent benefit sharing, clear communication, and grievance mechanisms helped build acceptance and reduce tensions in 50 communities.
• CSP's flexible and adaptive delivery approach ensured continuity and credibility amid external shocks such as COVID-19 and the price hike of construction materials due to the war, reinforcing community confidence and institutional learning.

Contribution to the World Bank Group Targets and Jobs

CSP contributed directly to expanding access to income-generating opportunities. Through integrated livelihoods support combining market-relevant skills training, tailored technical assistance, access to finance, and value-chain linkages-the program enabled job creation and enterprise growth. These interventions supported both self-employment and local job creation, strengthened the productivity and resilience of household enterprises, and helped communities translate infrastructure investments into sustained economic gains. The experience also demonstrates how community-driven development (CDD) platforms can contribute meaningfully to the WB's targets by strengthening women's voice and leadership, expanding decent work opportunities, and improving access to services in rural settings.

Beneficiary Quote

"Before the project began, women in our village rarely participated in decision-making. Thanks to the CASA-1000 Community Support Project, women like me gained the confidence and skills to take part in discussions that shape our lives. Navdi village has become a model of balanced, community-led development. Through focus groups and village priority meetings, access to clean drinking water was identified as a top priority, as women and children previously had to walk long distances to fetch water. Now they dedicate time to their families and education shaping the future of their community". - Woman member of the Village Project Committee.

Lessons Learned

The CSPs demonstrate that community benefit sharing can be a powerful strategic tool for large, complex infrastructure projects when embedded early, well-coordinated, and designed for adaptability. Integrating benefit sharing into overall project design strengthened public support, built trust, and reinforced the social license required for cross-border transmission investments. Continuous and transparent community engagement including participatory planning, grievance redress mechanisms, and two-way communication-proved critical for managing expectations and fostering acceptance, particularly in fragile and border-affected areas. The use of both digital platforms and face-to-face engagement broadened participation, while targeted measures supported the inclusion of vulnerable groups.

Strong government ownership and institutional coordination enabled the effective integration of community-driven development approaches within a sector-led infrastructure program. Ensuring women's meaningful participation improved the relevance and sustainability of local investments. In addition, combining skills training, mentoring, access to finance, and market linkages helped expand livelihood opportunities in rural areas. Linking construction-period support with longer-term benefit-sharing mechanisms further strengthened the sustainability of community development outcomes.

Next Steps

The CSP experience under CASA-1000 in Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic offers a replicable model for future transmission and large-scale infrastructure projects. Building on this experience, the project has established the foundation for the future Community Development Fund (CDF) - a revenue sharing mechanism that will be activated once the CASA-1000 transmission line becomes operational. The CDF is intended to channel a portion of project-related revenues into community-driven local development initiatives in project-affected areas.

These lessons are also contributing to the design of emerging benefit-sharing frameworks for large hydropower investments in Central Asia, including the Rogun Hydropower Project in Tajikistan and the Kambarata-1 Hydropower Project in the Kyrgyz Republic. Applying CSP experience to these projects can help ensure that large-scale energy infrastructure generates tangible local development benefits, strengthens community trust, and supports inclusive and sustainable sector development.