BIC and partners convene at the World Bank to celebrate the implementation of the Bank’s revised access to information policy.
Press elease
July 1, 2010
Revised World Bank access to information policy goes live
All eyes are on the Bank on July 1st implementation deadline
On Thursday, July 1st, the World Bank celebrates the official implementation deadline for its Policy on Access to Information. The Board of Directors approved a revised policy on information disclosure at the institution in November, bringing to a close the nearly yearlong review of the Bank’s transparency standards that began in March 2009.
To facilitate the implementation of the new policy, the World Bank established an Access to Information Working Group (AIWG) equipped with the mandate to develop all necessary policy implementation plans. Recognizing civil society as an important beneficiary targeted by the revised information disclosure policy, the Bank, in a historic move, invited civil society to sit at the table and provide input into the development of the policy implementation plans. A team of representatives of three organizations, Bank Information Center (BIC), International Budget Partnership (IBP), and Centro de Derechos Humanos y Ambiente (CEDHA) of Argentina, met regularly with the Access to Information Working Group in order to provide a perspective of civil society needs and concerns around information access at the Bank.
The Bank Information Center, CEDHA and IBP convened at the World Bank today to celebrate this shift towards greater transparency with a joint event marking the important policy implementation milestone. “We celebrate what we hope will be a new era of openness and civil society partnership at the Bank,” said Amy Ekdawi, Middle East North Africa Program Manager at BIC. She added, “While we congratulate the Bank on this very important milestone, we recognize that there is still additional work that remains in order to translate this cultural change into a tangible reality in the field. BIC looks forward to further cooperation with the World Bank in formulating additional implementation plans that address outreach to affected communities among other lingering concerns.”
While it is understood that the World Bank must first prioritize the implementation of the basics, civil society has expressed concerns that many of the policy implementation tasks, such as those enabling document translation requests, have been delayed, the timeline and plans for which have yet to be disclosed.
The Bank Information Center congratulates the World Bank on a progressive access to information policy and applauds the work of the Bank in implementation preparation over the past several months. “We look forward to continuing to work with the Bank to improve transparency and to ensure that the voice of civil society is reflected in their projects and policies.” said Ekdawi.
Contacts
- Amy Ekdawi, Manager, Middle East North Africa Program, Bank Information Center, aekdawi@bicusa.org, 202-624-0631
- Rebecca Harris, Information Services Coordinator, Bank Information Center, rharris@bicusa.org, 202-624-0632