http://www.bicusa.org/en/Region.24.aspx The latest news on Yemen from the Bank Information Center 10 http://www.infodev.org/images/infodev.gif http://www.bicusa.org/en/Region.24.aspx The World Bank announced on January 23rd, 2012 that it would be re-establishing a presence in Yemen after several months of suspended disbursements to the country. The re-engagement is limited however; staff travel to Sana'a is restricted to essential missions, with much of the work continuing to be done out of the Bank's Amman and Cairo offices. A reassessment of the security situation will be done after Yemen's scheduled elections in February. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12594.aspx Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:01:40 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12594.aspx The Bank Information Center welcomes the World Bank’s initative to open up and create a larger space for civil society from the MENA region. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12593.aspx Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:21:27 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12593.aspx MENA civil society representatives met with the Bank’s new MENA Vice President, Inger Andersen, to discuss Bank-civil society relations in the post-revolution era. The Bank responded positively to civil society’s demands for inclusive, equitable and sustainable development with full civil society participation. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12543.aspx Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:46:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12543.aspx BIC/MENA and civil society representatives from across the region engaged World Bank officials at the 2011 Civil Society Policy Forum of the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings, drawing commitments to inclusive and equitable development strategies and greater participation for civil society. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12542.aspx Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:10:45 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12542.aspx Civil society representatives from Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon and Tunisia find Executive Director Merza Hasan receptive to their concerns and willing to break new ground in future engagement with civil society. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12541.aspx Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:54:09 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12541.aspx With goals of achieving greater participation for civil society organizations in World Bank operations alongside a commitment to inclusive and equitable development strategies, BIC/MENA and civil society representatives from Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Yemen among others successfully engaged the Bank at the 2011 Civil Society Policy Forum of the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12539.aspx Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12539.aspx BIC/MENA comments on the string of donors cutting aid to Yemen, including the World Bank which recently stopped disbursing funds to Yemen. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12524.aspx Thu, 18 Aug 2011 17:17:50 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12524.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12334.aspx Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:30:44 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12334.aspx Mahmoud Mohielden, Managing Director of the World Bank Group since October, visited Yemen for exploratory talks about how collaboration across the Arab world can help the agenda of this developing nation between the Red and Arabian seas. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12300.aspx Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:47:11 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12300.aspx More than 100 civil society organizations from around the globe signed on to a letter demanding an end to all fossil fuel projects at the World Bank with aims other than energy access for the poor. Until the Bank halts the financing of such projects, bringing them into line with the G20 and APEC pledges to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, these CSOs will oppose the Bank's recapitalization ask. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11883.aspx Tue, 18 May 2010 17:08:20 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11883.aspx Find out what the World Bank's strategy is in your country. In some instances, there is a Country Assistance Strategy (CAS), and in others, the Bank has used a more collaborative approach in designing and defining the pillars of their development program, to design a Country Partnership Strategy (CPS). http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11805.aspx Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:50:26 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11805.aspx A mining law which the International Financial Corporation has been helping the Yemeni government to draft has recently been completed and will be submitted to Parliament. According to this article, one of the main hindrances for potential investment in Yemen's mining sector is the security issue, leaving us with a few questions: Is the IFC willing and planning to invest? Would the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency provide insurance for investors? http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11798.aspx Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:35:18 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11798.aspx Amy Ekdawi and Nadia Daar of BIC's Middle East and North Africa Program participate in four training sessions for the World Bank's MENA staff on engaging civil society in the region. This training is part of the Bank's Enhanced Action Plan for the MENA region which includes improved consultations, increased translation, and more engagement with civil society. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11787.aspx Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:50:36 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11787.aspx On January 13th, nine executive directors representing China, India, and other countries in the Global South wrote a letter protesting the recently announced guidelines from the U.S. for what coal projects it could support. The directors objected to the United States declaring it wouldn't support coal projects while maintaining its own reliance on coal power. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11758.aspx Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:35:26 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11758.aspx What was at first a seemingly simple and non-provocative Inspection Panel case, has now led the Bank to re-evaluate its relationship with civil society across the MENA region and develop an action plan for engagement. Nadia Daar of BIC's MENA program examines the importance of this development. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11727.aspx Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:02:51 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11727.aspx In December 2009, the World Bank held two consultative meetings on the Social Welfare Fund Institutional Support Project with Yemeni civil society. These meetings come in the context of the Bank's MENA Management's Enhanced Action Plan. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11722.aspx Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:20:14 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11722.aspx The Inspection Panel is to defer its recommendation to investigate into case of the World Bank's "Institutional Reform Development Policy Grant" to Yemen, until after the implementation of Bank Management's enhanced action plan, which seeks to address concerns raised by the Yemen Observatory for Human Rights in their Request to the Inspection Panel in April 2009. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11488.aspx Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:51:56 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11488.aspx For the first time in Inspection Panel history, an Eligibility Report is being held for board discussion. With little information, we are left wondering what is happening with the investigation into the Yemeni DPL case. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11415.aspx Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:32:51 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11415.aspx Read a BIC opinion piece from the FP blog, The Argument, explaining why the World Bank must reconsider its current policies on translation and information disclosure in order to promote substantive civil society engagement. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11281.aspx Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:38:35 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11281.aspx BIC highlights the work of Yahya Saleh Mohsen of the Yemen Observatory for Human Rights. Yahya played an instrumental role in bringing a case to the World Bank Inspection Panel involving the Bank's translation policies in Yemen and beyond. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11280.aspx Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:43:56 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11280.aspx The meeting took place during the Inspection Panel's trip to Sana'a to determine the eligibility of a complaint about Yemeni civil society's inability to access a translation of a key Bank document. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11257.aspx Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:20:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11257.aspx 1.5 years after the Yemen Observatory for Human Rights first requested a translation of the World Bank's 2008 Development Policy Loan for Yemen, the Bank has finally made this translation available. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11253.aspx Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:16:27 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11253.aspx Yemeni group files complaint with the World Bank's Inspection Panel and now change might already be in the air? http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11188.aspx Wed, 20 May 2009 17:29:35 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11188.aspx Trends in the relationship between World Bank and IFC technical assistance policies and the IFC’s investment portfolio raise questions over possible conflicts of interest. Disclosure at the IFC remains opaque, making details of projects and policies hard to come by. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11117.aspx Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:06:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11117.aspx Yemeni civil society group take their complaint regarding the World Bank's refusal to translate a key program document, to the Inspection Panel http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11116.aspx Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:21:14 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11116.aspx The workshop discussed the World Bank’s Disclosure Policy Review, and introduced the World Bank’s Inspection Panel to our regional partners. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11093.aspx Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:30:04 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11093.aspx On March 11 and March 14 2009, the World Bank will be consulting with civil society in Yemen to discuss their new Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) 2010-2013. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11063.aspx Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:07:25 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11063.aspx As the World Bank launches a review of its policy on access to information, the Global Transparency Initiative will track the review process and provide analytical support to civil society groups concerned with transparency standards at the Bank. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11062.aspx Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11062.aspx Meanwhile, the IFC’s advisory services in revising the region's mining policies reinforce concerns over the lack of transparency of these types of operations. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10991.aspx Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:36:49 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10991.aspx A recent meeting between the World Bank and the Yemeni Planning Minister focused on preliminary negotiations on a proposed water sector project. However, the central question remains whether the Bank is ensuring water access for the poor. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10967.aspx Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:22:04 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10967.aspx The World Bank Group is adhering to its pledge for greater engagement in the Middle East and North Africa. However, data on the development impacts on the poor are lacking, while other data suggest that many Bank projects in the region are at risk. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3936.aspx Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:27:01 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3936.aspx Jeddah-based development institution announces $1.5 billion contribution toward food security programs in its member countries. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3799.aspx Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3799.aspx The World Bank announced today that it has set up a financing facility in the order of $1.2 billion to assist with the global food crisis. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3784.aspx Thu, 29 May 2008 15:16:41 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3784.aspx While IFC meeting with government and private sector is expected to lower corporate taxes, World Bank and IMF conditions will double the General Sales Tax in 2009. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3703.aspx Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:03:37 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3703.aspx Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) presents investment opportunities that could hurt the poor, who have already been hit by increasing food prices. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3695.aspx Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:00:37 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3695.aspx Policy conditions attached to the $50 million grant include a reduction of the civil service, land reform, and lower corporate taxes. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3635.aspx Wed, 02 Jan 2008 13:55:47 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3635.aspx The World Bank approved the $50 million grant yesterday without disclosing relevant project documents. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3609.aspx Fri, 07 Dec 2007 13:47:58 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3609.aspx The workshop introduced BIC's work to Yemeni media and civil society organizations, and focused on the activities of the international financial institutions in the country. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3591.aspx Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3591.aspx Partners and readers from the Middle East and North Africa region can now access information on BIC's MENA Program in Arabic. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3589.aspx Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:35:03 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3589.aspx