Iraqi Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are actively trying to hold their central and provincial institutions accountable. Like their local counterparts who continue to plan public protests against government corruption, some local CSOs are focusing more of their civic efforts on the development work of the World Bank (WBG or Bank) in Iraq. Five local CSOs from …
Beginning in 2011, much like other Arab Spring countries, Yemen had to face months of mass, oftentimes violent, protests that called for the toppling of Ali Abdallah Salah’s regime. In an attempt to stop the sliding of the country into further chaos, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) brokered an initiative to establish a caretaker government …
The World Bank office in Tunis held a session in June, 2015 to present and discuss its Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD)[1] for Tunisia, following which CSOs and university professors submitted comments on the SCD and the Country Partnership Framework (CPF).
After almost seven years with the Bank Information Center, we are sad to have recently said goodbye to Nadia Daar, MENA Policy Manager and Yemen Program Coordinator who has started a new position with Oxfam International.
Based on a request by a number of Iraqi civil society organizations (CSOs), a meeting was held with the World Bank’s country manager in Baghdad on 9 July 2015. In a promising step, Bank officials have contacted the participants following that meeting to inform them of the Bank’s interest in engaging civil society organizations in Iraq in third party monitoring of World Bank projects in the country.
June 2015 Following a letter that multiple Tunisian CSOs sent to the World Bank office in Tunis with their asks regarding the Tunisian Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) and Country Partnership Framework (CPF) consultation process, the signatories of the letter – along with several other CSOs and academics – were invited to participate in a discussion …
Civil society organizations in Egypt have submitted a parallel Country Partnership Framework (CPF) to the World Bank office in Cairo detailing what they envision should be the strategic priorities for World Bank-financed development projects in Egypt. In addition, the groups also submitted specific comments and proposed amendments to the current CPF draft.
The Bank has commenced with the process of Country Partnership Frameworks in a number of MENA countries. Each country has taken a different path than originally expected.
First and foremost, the organizations are asking that clear information be posted on the Bank’s website regarding the CPF timeline. As it stands, there is no information about the CPF process in Tunisia either on the Bank’s country webpage or on the Bank’s consultation hub.
Egyptian rights groups, community members, and laborers impacted by a hazardous cement plant financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) filed a complaint on April 8, 2015 with the body’s independent grievance mechanism. The grievance mechanism, called the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, or CAO, has now deemed the complaint eligible to move through the grievance process. …