The World Bank/IMF Annual General Meetings in Istanbul October 2-7th provide a window of opportunity for civil society to impact ongoing policy reviews.
Press Release
September 29, 2009
World Bank and IFC policy reviews at center of NGO attention
The World Bank and IMF will hold their 2009 Annual General Meetings and the accompanying Civil Society Policy Forum in Istanbul, Turkey October 2nd through October 7th. While the official meetings of the institutions’ Boards of Governors will take place behind closed doors on October 6-7th, the Annual Meetings present an opportunity for global civil society to engage with and exert pressure on the World Bank and IMF. Much of this dialogue will take place during the Civil Society Policy Forum, a series of events that are jointly organized by the World Bank/IMF and civil society. A number of civil society events will also be held outside the official venue.
Civil society will be prepared to challenge the institutions on a number of issues. The Bank Information Center (BIC) would like to highlight three ongoing policy reviews within the World Bank Group that will be up for discussion in Istanbul and that are of high importance for civil society: the World Bank’s Information Disclosure Policy, the World Bank’s Energy Strategy, and the IFC’s Policies and Performance Standards.
World Bank Disclosure Policy
The World Bank began reviewing its disclosure policy in March of this year, publishing an Approach Paper that was used as the basis for consultations with civil society, held in 33 countries during April, May and June which generated substantial recommendations for improvement.
The October 6th meeting in Istanbul between World Bank staff and civil society on the disclosure policy review will likely be the last opportunity to advocate around the policy before it is approved. Also likely on the agenda of the meetings between the Bank and civil society is the implementation plan for the new disclosure policy, which is expected to be publically available by the time the policy becomes effective in January 2010. How civil society will participate in the implementation of the new policy will be a key point of discussion. Lingering concerns remain around transparency of the Board, narrowness of exceptions to disclosure, strength of the appeals function and support for translations.
IFC Polices and Performance Standards
In September 2009, IFC began the revision of its disclosure policy and the environmental and social safeguards laid out in the Sustainability Policy and Performance Standards. These standards govern how communities and the environment are protected during project implementation and stipulate what information is publicly available for IFC-financed projects. The review presents an important opportunity for civil society to push for stronger standards within IFC’s policies, which also serve as an industry standard and influence how other private companies and financial institutions operate.
The IFC will be holding a civil society consultation on the morning of October 5th in Istanbul, the objective of which is for civil society to raise issues that should be covered in the policy review. This is an important opportunity for civil society organizations to raise outstanding concerns early on about IFC’s existing policies and suggestions for improvement before IFC embarks on actual text changes to its standards. Istanbul will provide a space for civil society to demand that IFC not narrow the scope of the review to the exclusion of key issues prior to receiving any external input and to point out gaps in the IFC’s current standards and problems during their implementation.
World Bank Energy Strategy
The World Bank will revise its Energy Strategy in 2009-2010, presenting a significant opportunity to advocate for a greater proportion of low carbon energy options in the Bank’s energy mix. This will be the first full review of the strategy since 2001 and may not happen again for several years. The Energy Strategy serves as a framework for the Bank’s energy portfolio which last year amounted to about US $7 billion, and will also significantly influence the standards of other international financial institutions.
In Istanbul, BIC will facilitate a civil society strategy session on energy. The focus of this meeting and panel discussion will be to learn about the aspects of the Bank’s initial thoughts on its Energy strategy revision, explore key issues and advocacy strategies, and learn about the opportunities for civil society involvement in shaping the Energy Strategy. We will pay particular attention to the need to reduce carbon emissions while increasing energy access for the poor, and to ensure strong civil society input during the planned World Bank consultations on the Energy Strategy.
Contacts:
Rebecca Harris, Information Services Coordinator, Bank Information Center:
rharris@bicusa.org, 202-624-0632