2008 World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings

Engendering International Finance-Watcher Workshop

Part of a larger Gender Capacity Building Project for several partner IFI watchers – the Bank Information Center, BankTrack, Bretton Woods Project, CEE Bankwatch, Global Transparency Initiative, and NGO Forum on the ADB – this workshop will share ideas on how to integrate gender analysis into all IFI watcher activities.

Time: 9:00am -- 5:00pm

Location: Suite 1012, 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Gender Action (GA)

By invitation only.

Engendering International Finance-Watcher Workshop (cont'd)

Part of a larger Gender Capacity Building Project for several partner IFI watchers – the Bank Information Center, BankTrack, Bretton Woods Project, CEE Bankwatch, Global Transparency Initiative, and NGO Forum on the ADB – this workshop will share ideas on how to integrate gender analysis into all IFI watcher activities.

Time: 9:00am -- 5:00pm

Location: Suite 1012, 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Gender Action (GA)

By invitation only.

Time: 9:00am

Location: Main Press Briefing Room, Room B-702 (Blue Level), IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St., NW

Is the Concept of Odious Debt Legally and Politically Viable?

Is the doctrine of odious debt legally unclear and a politically unattainable? Professor August Reinisch, of Vienna University, argues that there is legal precedence in international law for recognizing and adjudicating odious debt. In this light, he believes that German government claims against Indonesia may well be illegitimate. You are invited to a panel discussion on this matter.

Panelists: Prof. August Reinisch (University of Vienna), Michael Hofmann (German Executive Director of the World Bank), Dr. Edith Rasell (United Council of Churches), Neil Watkins (Jubilee USA), Doerte Doemeland (World Bank PREM Network), and Maurizio Ragazzi (World Bank Legal Deparment)

Time: 10:00am -- 1:00pm

Location: Room JB1-080, World Bank J-Building, 701, 18th St., NW

Jubilee USA

EED

Church Development Service

Contact World Bank Civil Society Team for permission to enter the building, if you do not have accreditation:

Time: 9:00am

Location: Main Press Briefing Room, Room B-702 (Blue Level), IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St., NW

Youth@Annual Meetings 2008: Partners in Development (Multi-day Event from Oct. 8-10)

Youth@Annual Meetings 2008 is a first attempt by the World Bank to create a conducive space for youth within the Annual Meetings Civil Society Forum. As this is a pilot program, a group of 18 youth leaders, representing 14 nations from the Bank’s Youth for Development and Peace networks and Youth Advisory Groups, in addition to some local youth activists and NGO leaders have been invited to participate in this event. Participants will be involved in a series of plenary sessions covering the themes of youth citizenship and school-to-work transition interspersed with breakout sessions allowing youth leaders to share ideas, network and dialogue with one another, Bank staff, CSO and policy leaders. The event will culminate in the drafting of a central workplan offering participants and the World Bank viable options for future collaboration and coordination.

Time: 9:00am -- 5:30pm

Location: TBD

PLEASE NOTE: This is a multi-day event from Oct. 8-10.

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

World Bank

Friends of Africa International

The Global Partnership for Youth Investment (World Bank/ImagineNations Group)

More information and an agenda can be found here.

Workshop: Resettlement, the IFIs, and Equator Principles: Research and Action

A new major book on resettlement – “Can Compensation Prevent Impoverishment? Reforming Resettlement, Investments & Benefit Sharing – will be launched by one of its Editors, Prof. Michael M. Cernea. After Q & A on the book's novel ideas and proposed solutions, the Workshop will discuss core current policy and strategy issues. The speakers will introduce new state-of-the-art research findings on R&R and give a worldwide overview on crucial "hot" topics, such as:

--Major impoverishment risks, the IRR model,  and the penurie of counter-risk measures;

--the fallacies of "received" compensation theory and practices;

--the absence of a sound resettlement economics and sound financing approaches in PADs, and the under-financing of RAPs;

--the IFI's and National Governments' track record in forced displacements, at  policy and project levels, with examples;

--the 'new poverty" and the growing worldwide resistance to severe pauperization by non-sustainable resettlement;

--the ongoing attempts at ADB to replace its existing R&R policy (discussed by Jen Kalafut and Joanna Levitt, IAP);

--the imperative need for financing by investing in sustainable resettlement and for benefit-sharing w. resettlers.

The purpose of this event is to examine up-to-date research-based knowledge on the risks, the handling, and the effects of displacements, and on effective counteractions. The Workshop is interactive: Participants are invited to raise or send in advance questions they'd like to be addressed, and to speak of own experiences. The featured book will be available at a steeply discounted price, on a first come/served basis.

Speakers: Michael M. Cernea; Jen Kalafut and Joanna Levitt, IAP

Time: 9:30am -- 12:30pm

Location: Friends of the Earth-US, Suite 600, 1717 Massachusetts Avenue, NW

Bank Information Center (BIC)

International Network on Displacement and Resettlement (INDR)

International Accountability Project (IAP)

Limited space. Please RSVP to: Sanval Nasim, BIC:

+1 202-737-7752 ext. 101

Time: 12:00pm

Location: Room B-610 (Blue Level), IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St., NW

Launch of Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook

With soaring food prices highlighting the criticality of increased agricultural investment, The Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook has been called a “timely and extremely important document,” and recommended for its “sound analysis and advice on how to ensure that land administration programs can strengthen women’s property rights.” Please join us for the launch of and a discussion on how FAO, IFAD, and the World Bank will apply the principles set forth in the Sourcebook to agricultural operations of their institutions.

Time: 12:30pm -- 1;30pm

Location: Room MC4-800, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

Civil Society Strategy Session: Accountability and the IFIs.

This strategy and planning session is for CSOs only. At this session we will aim to identify strategic areas to push the envelope on accountability and development finance including around Human Rights, the benefits and pitfalls of using accountability processes internal and external to the IFIs, and the need for accountability at equator principle financial institutions. Following this strategy session, from 2:30-3:30, there will be a specific discussion on research being conducted to bring Human Rights claims to the World Bank Inspection Panel.

Time: 1:00pm -- 2:30pm

PLEASE NOTE: Immediately following this, from 2:30pm -- 3:30pm, there will be a discussion on research being conducted to bring Human Rights claims to the World Bank Inspection Panel.

Location: CIEL, Suite #1100, 1350 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)

International Accountability Project (IAP)

For more information, please contact Jen Kalafut, IAP:

CSOs ONLY

Orientation Session on the WBG and IMF

The session will focus on Fund and World Bank Group (IBRD, IFC, MIGA) and history, organizational structure, major policies, and operational work. You will also have a chance to hear from CSO policy advocates who will comment on the presentations to help frame the ensuing discussion. This training is being co-sponsored with World Learning.

Speakers: Aaron Rosenberg, IFC; Jeremy Mark, IMF; John Garrison, WB; Judith Pearce, MIGA.

Time: 2:00pm - 5:30pm

Location: Room MCC1-100, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H Street, NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Teams

Registraion required. Please register by sending email to Tonya Ceesay, World Bank:

Carbon Finance and the World Bank

Time: 3:00pm -- 4:30pm

Location: Friends of the Earth, US, 1717 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 600

Friends for the Earth, US (FoE-US)

For more information, please contact:

Karen Orenstein, FoE-US:  or +1 202 222-0717

Time: 3:00pm

Location: Room 8-200 World Bank I Building, 1850 I (Eye) St. NW

Time: 4:00pm

Location: TBD

Bank Information Center Happy Hour!!!

Time: 6:00pm -- 8:00pm

Location: BIC, 1100 H Street, NW, Suite 650

(entrance is on 11th St.)

Bank Information Center (BIC)

For more information, please contact Ben Bryan () or Srabani Roy ()

Welcome Breakfast for Civil Society Forum

Staff from the Civil Society Team at the IMF and WBG will welcome CSO participants to the Annual Meetings, present the schedule of the Civil Society Policy Forum, and discuss the policy agenda for the Annual Meetings.

Time: 9:00am -- 9:30am

Location: Room MCC1-100, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H Street, NW

Time: 9:00am

Location: Main Press Briefing Room, Room B-702 (Blue Level), IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St., NW 

Aid-Scaling up Scenarios: The IMF and the UN MDG Africa Steering Group

The UN Secretary General launched the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Africa Steering and Working Groups in September 2007 in order to  bring the leaders of multilateral institutions together to identify practical steps to help Africa achieve the MDGs. The IMF is supporting this initiative by providing macroeconomic assessments of “Gleneagles aid scaling-up scenarios” in 10 country cases (Benin, Central African Republic, Ghana, Liberia, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, and Zambia). The leaders of the G-8 committed to double aid to Africa by 2010 at Gleneagles, Scotland, in 2005. This session will discuss the preparation of these aid-scaling up scenarios.
Speakers: Calvin McDonald (IMF's African Department), Brett House (UNDP)

Time: 9:30am -- 11:00am

Location: Room MCC1-100, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H Street, NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

Local Development Impact Reporting:  Improving IFC and MIGA's Reporting at the Project Level

This CAO session will examine how awareness of, and access to, local development benefits at the project level are key ingredients to improved corporate-community relations. It draws on lessons learned from the CAO’s experience in handling complaints about private sector projects supported by IFC and MIGA, and explores possibilities for preventing conflict by identifying stakeholder concerns early in project development, and reporting thoroughly on risks and benefits. The discussion will be based on CAO's “Advisory Note on Local Development Impact Reporting”, published in June 2008. This note provides advice for IFC/MIGA and project sponsors on opportunities for generating local support for company activities, resolving conflicts before they escalate, and strengthening project performance and local development impacts.

Speakers: Meg Taylor and Amar Inamdar, CAO.

Time: 9:30am -- 11:00am

Location: Room MCC1-200, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H Street, NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

IFC Compliance Advisor Ombudsman

With the launch of the Climate Investment Funds, the World Bank has positioned itself as a major player in international climate funding and policy. Speakers on this panel will discuss the World Bank’s past, current, and potential future role in climate change, including examinations of the Bank from Southern country perspectives. The implications of the World Bank’s role for both U.S. climate policy and the financing mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will also be discussed.

Tentative Panelists: Elena Gerebizza, Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale (Italy); Lidy Nacpil, Coordinator of Jubilee South Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development (Philippines) [invited]; Karen Orenstein, International Finance Campaign Coordinator, Friends of the Earth-US; Chima Williams, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth-Nigeria; Vice Yu, Coordinator, Global Governance for Development Programme at the South Centre.

Time: 10:00am -- 11:30am

Location: Friends of the Earth, US, 1717 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 600

Action Aid USA

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI)

Oil Change International

Sustainable Energy and Economy Network (SEEN)

Campagna per la riforma della Banca Mondiale (CRBM)

Jubilee USA

For more information, please contact:

Karen Orenstein, FoE-US:

Time: 10:30am -- 11:30am

Location: Room L-101, IFC Building 
2121 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Time: 10:30am

Location: Main Press Briefing Room, Room B-702 (Blue Level), IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St., NW

Closed to the public.

How the World Bank Group Gauges 'Broad Community Support' for Projects.

The World Bank and IFC require clients to obtain "broad community support" before beginning high impact projects. This panel will examine the practical experiences and challenges of implementing broad community support in a selection of WBG projects: How does the WBG document and decide whether a client has obtained broad community support? What strategies have clients used to obtain broad community support? In what ways is the policy of broad community support consistent or inconsistent with international law?

Panelists: Robert Chase, World Bank; Motoko Aizawa, IFC; Amar Inamdar, CAO; Keith Slack, Oxfam America.

Time: 11:30am -- 1:00pm

Location: Room MCC1-100, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H Street, NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

Oxfam America

Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)

World Resources Institute (WRI)

Can "the other Doha" deliver a pro-development agenda? Examining the issues at stake in the upcoming Doha International Conference on Financing for Development.

World leaders will come together in Doha, Qatar in late November, 2008 to assess progress and recommit themselves to the Monterrey Consensus.  This is a set of principles and commitments for generating development finance in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals and stimulate sustainable development.  However, it is not clear whether the strength of the original consensus – agreed 6 years ago – will be upheld, and whether sufficient international agreement will be reached to adequately address the difficult new development challenges that are emerging in today’s world. Please join us for a discussion on the key issues at stake, whether there are  consensual civil society positions emerging, and the Bank's role and perspective on this process.

Panelists: Sasja Bokkerink (Oxfam Novib); Jo Marie Griesgraber (New Rules for Global Finance Coalition); Lidy Nacpil (Jubilee South); World Bank (TBC)

Moderator: TBC

Time: 11:30am -- 1:00pm

Location: Room MCC1-200, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H Street, NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

Oxfam International (OI)

New Rules for Global Finance

IFC's Africa Strategy:  Lunch with Thierry Thanoh

A briefing and Q&A lunch session with Thierry Thanoh, Vice President, Sub-Sahran Africa. This session will focus on growth, strategy, and developmental impact, including IFC's response to the global financial crisis in Africa.

Time: 12:00pm -- 1:30pm

Location: Room L-101, IFC, 2121 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

International Finance Corporation (IFC)

The Global Food Crisis: Time for a Fresh Look at Sustainable Agriculture Policy Alternatives

This panel of experts will take a closer look at some of the causes for the global food crisis and examine them in light of alternative proposals, including those put forward by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) (www.agassessment.org) as well as the EcoFair Trade Dialogue process (www.ecofair-trade.org). The panel will also discuss whether the current crisis might actually create an opportunity to implement policy recommendations that would ultimately lead to a fairer and more sustainable set of global food and agriculture policies.

Panelists: Sandra Polaski, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Trade and Development program; Steve Suppan, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy/ co-author global IAASTD report; Davo Vodouhe, Pesticide Action Network, Benin/ co-author sub-Sahara region IAASTD report; Daniel De La Torre Ugarte, University of Tennessee Agricultural Policy Analysis Center; Arze Glipo-Carasco, Integrated Rural Development Foundation, Philippines; Steven Schonberger, Global Food Crisis Response Program Secretariat, World Bank.

Time: 12:00pm -- 2:00pm

Location: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW

Heinrich  Böll Foundation North America

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Trade, Equity and Development Program

Please, RSVP by October 8th to Evelina Yeghiyan at: 

NOTE: a light lunch will be served starting at 11:45 am

IFC's Renewable Energy/Climate Change Strategy:  Lunch with Rashad Kaldany

A briefing and Q&A lunch session with Rashad Kaldany, Vice President, Global Infrastructure. This session will focus on IFC's renewable energy/climate change strategy, including open Q&A.

Time: 12:30pm -- 2:00pm

Location: Room L-108, IFC, 2121 Pennsylvania Ave., NW 

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Global Financial Stability: What Role for the IMF?

The recent crisis in global financial markets can largely be attributed to a lack of appropriate oversight and regulation, including in the U.S. the accumulation of a more than $8 trillion housing bubble. The bailout for Wall Street approved last week in Congress does not include remedies for preventing another similar crisis. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund has offered "to coordinate the global reform process, which could begin next month when finance ministers and central bankers convene in Washington for the annual IMF/World Bank meetings on October 11-13." This is because, according to IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, "The IMF is the right place to organize a global response to weaknesses in the global financial system."

Please join economists Dean Baker and Mark Weisbrot as they discuss the current economic crisis and consider the choice of the IMF as a future global finance regulator. The IMF's failure to provide advance warning of most of the major financial crises of the last 15 years and its record of suggesting inappropriate remedies after the fact, raise serious questions about its ability to perform this function.

Speakers: Dean Baker and Mark Weisbrot, CEPR

Time: 1:30pm

Location: Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Conference Center, 1800 Massachusetts Avenue, NW

Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)

To RSVP, please click here, or e-mail

Policy Brief:  IFC's Water and Sanitation Strategy

A conversation with Usha Rao-Monari, Senior Manager, Utilities Department. This session will focus on the development of IFC's water strategy and the role of the private sector and public-private partnerships in providing access to clean water and sanitation in the developing world, including open Q&A.

Time: 2:00pm -- 3:00pm

Location: Room L-101, IFC, 2121 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

International Finance Corporation (IFC)

IFI Transparency and the Global Transparency Initiative Charter

Civil society groups have long advocated for greater transparency at the IFIs. The World Bank and the IMF will soon be revising their access to information policies, providing major opportunities to advance the transparency agenda. The Global Transparency Initiative has developed a “Transparency Charter for International Financial Institutions” and has worked with groups to strengthen access to information regimes at several IFIs. The session will review the principles of the GTI Charter and discuss the upcoming World Bank and IMF reviews.

Panelists: Toby McIntosh, freedominfo.org; Bruce Jenkins, BIC

Time: 2:00pm -- 3:30pm

Location: Room MCC1-100, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H Street, NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

Bank Informaiton Center (BIC)

Global Transparency Initiative (GTI)

freedominfo.org

Mitigating the Impacts of the Global Food Crisis on Poor People: Analyses, Experiences and Perspectives of CSOs, IMF, and WBG

With some 100 million people being pushed into poverty by rising food and fuel prices, the global financial crisis threatens to plunge millions more into malnutrition and poverty, while the doubling of food prices over 3 years could set back the fight against poverty by 7 years. Civil Society Organizations are a critical part of the global response to this crisis, complementing the actions of governments and global institution such as UN agencies, the World Bank Group and IMF. This two-part workshop will hear reports and analyses - from national and international CSOs, the WBG and IMF- of the impacts of the food crisis on poor people, and engage participants in critically examining policy and operational issues, and the response measures being implemented.

Panelists: P. Chengal Reddy, Consortium of Indian Farmers Associations; Leonid Kozachenko, Ukranian Agrarian Confederation; Victor Mhoni, Malawi Civil Society Agriculture Network; Rick Rowden, Action Aid; Bhumika Muchhala, Bank Information Center; Nuria Molina, Eurodad; Patricia Alonso-Gamo, IMF; Mona Sur, World Bank.

Co-chairs: Sam Worthington, InterAction and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, World Bank.

Time: 2:00pm -- 5:30pm

Location: Level1R, Rm 710, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H Street, NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

InterAction

World Bank Group

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Petroleum Engineering Basics - Training Session for NGOs

This training session is open to anyone who has an interest in learning more about the technical process of finding, extracting and transporting oil and gas. The presentation will highlight the risks to communities and the environment at each stage of the process. The presentation covers onshore and offshore projects and is available in English and Spanish. The training will be conducted by Jose Luis de la Bastida, a petroleum engineer from Ecuador.

Time: 3:00pm -- 5:00pm

Location: Oxfam America, Suite 600, 1100 15th Street NW

Oxfam America (OA)

Please contact Ian Gary, OA for more information:

Moderator: Werner Kiene, Inspection Panel

Time: 4:00pm -- 5:30pm

Location: Room MCC1-200, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H Street, NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

World Bank Inspection Panel

Political Cafe: In the Bank we Trust -- Testing the water: How can the right to water and sanitation enhance the World Bank’s policy and practice in the sector?

The World Bank’s policies, programmes and projects have never been explicitly or deliberately aimed towards the realisation of human rights. The Bank rather sees its role in treating conditions that allow

the attainment of the right to water and sanitation in developing countries. However, in practice the formal use of human rights principles can strengthen existing approaches to water supply and sanitation delivery. There are many good reasons for the World Bank to include the right to water and sanitation in an overall package aimed at increasing access to these essential services.

Panelists: Mr. Herman Wijffels, Dutch Executive Director to the World Bank; Ms. Hameda Deedat, Gender, Trade and Water Activist, Umzabalaso We Jubilee; Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Managing Director of the World Bank; Ms. Mary Robinson, Honorary President of Oxfam, Former President of the Republic of Ireland, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; Mr. Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank Group.

Time: 5:00pm -- 6:45pm

Location: Overflow room for Preston Auditorium, World Bank Headquarters, 1818 H Street NW

Both ENDS

Fresh Water Action Network (FWAN)

Center on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE)

RSVP by October 6th, 2008 to:

For more information, please click here

CSO Discussion: "World Bank and IMF governance reforms: Where are we at, where are we going?"

This is a planning and strategy meeting for CSOs only is to update groups on current Bank and IMF proposals around governance reforms, identify emerging opportunities and discuss possible responses and initiatives.

Time: 5:15pm -- 6:30pm

Location: Conference Room, Friends of the Earth, US, Suite 600, 1717 Massachusetts Avenue, NW

Bank Information Center (BIC)

Bretton Woods Project (BWP)

Campagna per la riforma della Banca Mondiale (CRBM)

Eurodad

Halifax Initiative Coalition

New Rules for Global Finance

Please contact Fraser Reilly-King, Halifax Initiative, for more information:

CSOs ONLY

CSO Agriculture Caucus:  Role of the World Bank in Agriculture in the context of the Food Crisis

The World Bank is now playing a more prominent role in agriculture following the call to address the global food crisis.  Apart from emergency funding through its Global Food Crisis Response Program (GFRP), Zoellick is making public commitments to raise agriculture investment in the years to come including a doubling of lending in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Given the problematic role the Bank has historically played, a discussion about CSO responses in this current context would be timely.

Objective: The aim of the caucus is to provide an informal space for a CSO discussion about the various concerns, potential responses and follow up action to the Bank’s response to the global food and agriculture crisis.

Time: 5:45pm

Location: Action Aid US Office, Suite 900, 1420 K Street, NW

Action Aid International

Please RSVP to Shefali Sharma (AAI) at:

IMF/World Bank Townhall Meeting and Reception with CSOs

Dominique Strauss-Khan (Managing Director of the IMF) and Robert B. Zoellick (President of the WBG) will host this townhall and reception for CSO representatives accredited to the Annual Meetings.  The townhall will begin with brief comments by Mrss. Strauss-Khan and Zoellick and followed by a question and answer period.

Time: 6:45pm -- 9:00pm

Location: IMF Headquarters, HQ1
Meeting Hall A&B

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Teams

Chad-Cameroon Oil and Gas Pipeline Project: What went wrong and where do we go from here?

This session will examine the underlying reasons which led the Bank to terminate the Chad - Cameroon Pipeline project and what lessons can be drawn from this experience for other extractive industry projects worldwide.  It will also discuss next steps in Chad, as the Bank is committed to continue providing support for poverty reduction efforts in that country.

Panelists: Korinna Horta, EDF; Obiageli Ezekwesili, Michel Wormser, World Bank; Samuel Nguiffo, Center for Environment and Development in Cameroon; Delphine Djiraibe, Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights in Chad.

Time: 9:00am -- 10:30am

Location: Room MCC1-200, World Bank, Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)

World Bank Group

Please contact Korina Horta, EDF for more information:

Time: 9:00am

Location: TBD

2008 Program of Seminars: High Food and Fuel Prices

The Program of Seminars creates a forum during the Annual Meetings for private sector representatives, government delegates, representatives of civil society, and senior World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund officials to engage in dialogue on finding solutions to the major financial and development challenges confronting the international community.

The Program includes roundtable plenary and thematic sessions. The topics of the thematic sessions reflect issues that are making headlines and are affecting the lives of people.

The Program promotes partnership, cooperation, and sharing knowledge, experiences, and new ideas. It is designed to interest a broad audience of policymakers, academics, representatives of civil society, private sector, and others who attend the Annual Meetings.

Time: 9:00am -- 6:30pm

Location: IFC Auditorium, World Bank I Building, 1850 I (Eye) St., NW

World Bank/IMF

For complete details, please go to:

Program of Seminars site

POS Detailed Schedule

Time: 9:30am

Location: Main Press Briefing Room, Room B-702 (Blue Level), IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St., NW

MIGA Open House

As part of the Civil Society Policy Forum at the Annual Meetings, there will be an open house on Friday, October 10th from 10am-11am for CSOs accredited to the Annual Meetings to meet with representatives from MIGA's Senior Management team to discuss MIGA projects or policy issues.

Time: 10:00am -- 11:00am

Location: MIGA, Room 400, 12th Floor, 1800 G St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)

For more information, contact Judith Pearce: .

Please RSVP to Maria Cristina Villareal:  or +1 202 473-8534

Annual meeting between the World Bank Inspection Panel and CSO representatives.

This is a session held each year between the World Bank's Inspection Panel, one of the main complaint mechanisms at the Bank, and civil society representatives. It is a chance for CSOs to get an update on IP mandates, structure and investigations.

Speakers: Werner Kiene, Chairperson of the IPN, and colleagues from the Panel and its Secretariat.

Time: 11:00am -- 12:30pm

Location: CIEL, Suite #1100, 1350 Connecticut Avenue, NW

World Bank Inspection Panel

Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)

Bank Information Center (BIC)

Limited space; for more information please contact Srabani Roy, BIC:

Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Economic Outlook in the Face of Food Crises and Global Economic Turmoil
How is Sub-Saharan Africa faring in the face of higher food and oil prices and global economic turmoil? Prepared by the Regional Studies Division of the IMF African Department, and published twice a year in English and French, Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa analyzes economic performance and short-term prospects of the 44 countries covered by the Department. The Outlook also provides in-depth analysis of selected topics. This time, the topic is Africa's remarkable growth takeoff since the mid-1990s.

Speakers: Andrew Berg, Hans Weisfeld, and Paulo Drummond, IMF.

Time: 11:00am -- 12:30pm

Location: Room MCC1-100, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Youth Employment:  Challenges and Opportunities

According to the ILO, youth unemployment in the Middle East region is alarming at 25.6 percent, the highest in the world. A primary role of global actors, whether private, public or non-profit in nature, is to support specific projects with financial and technical resources to supplement local actors’ limited resources while respecting their aims, strategies, and frameworks for action. For leading companies worldwide addressing the youth bulge in such places as Morocco, West Bank/Gaza, Egypt, Jordan and Yemen presents a two-for-one opportunity:  corporate Social Responsibility and more cost-effective personnel recruitment.  This will be an interactive session, beginning with the  showing a PBS video: Jobs for Jordan, and then discuss different models and experiences  of investing in youth employment programs worldwide.

Panelists: Laura Abrahams Schulz, U.S. Department of State; John Blomquist, World Bank; Branka Minic, Manpower; Michael Hager, EFE.

Moderator: Salvatore Nigro, EFE

Time: 11:00am -- 12:30am

Location: Room MCC1-100, World Bank, Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

Education for Employment Foundation (EEF)

Launch of Adolecent Girls Initiative

Speakers: Robert Zoellick, World Bank Group President; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia (invited); Michael Spence, Nobel Laureate; Mark Parker, Nike CEO; Peter Sands, Standard Chartered CEO; Letizia Moratti, Mayor of Milan; Cherie Blair; Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, World Bank Group Managing Director

Time: 11:00am -- 4:30pm

Location: Room MC13-121, World Bank, Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

The Nike Foundation

Time: 12:00pm

Location: Main Press Briefing Room, Room B-702 (Blue Level), IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St., NW

Zimbabwe's New Democracy and Civil Society: Can the Bretton Woods Institutions reverse Economic Crisis?

It is time for a closer examination of the Bretton Woods Institutions' historic and current role in Zimbabwe. Along with the UN Development Programme and donor governments, the Bank and Fund are exploring economic relief for an economy suffering a 9 year long depression and the world's worst-ever recorded inflation (in excess of 20 million percent at present). The power-sharing deal is fragile. Civil society - especially those involved in the February 2008 National Peoples Convention - have been asking whether Robert Mugabe's foreign debt should be repaid; do orthodox "Washington Consensus" strategies work and should new grants and loans be conditional upon neoliberal policies; and how might social forces be reorganised to ensure a deeper democratic transition and socio-economic justice?

Speaker: Patrick Bond, Director of the Center for Civil Society and professor of Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal

Time: 1:00pm -- 3:00pm

Location: Georgetown University Center for Democracy and Civil Society, Mortara Building, 3600 N St., NW

Center for Democracy and Civil Society Democracy and Governance Masters Program, Georgetown University

For more information contact:

Center for Democracy and Civil Society (CDACS) +1 202 687-0596

Time: 1:15pm

Location: Room B-702 (Blue Level), IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St., NW

Reducing Income Inequality:  Trade  Unions Role and Views of the World Bank

Panelists: Otoo Ishaque, Trade Union Congress of Ghana; Ariel Castro, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines; Ron Blackwell, AFL-CIO; Pierella Paci, World Bank.

Time: 1:30pm -- 3:00pm

Location: Room MCC1-200, World Bank, Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

Implementing the World Bank Governance and Anticorruption Strategy: Year 1 Progress Report

Time: 1:30pm -- 3:30pm

Location: Room MCC1-100, World Bank, Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

Transparency International (TI)

For more information, contact:

Aneta Wierzynska, TI:

CSO Discussion: "World Bank and IMF at 65: Looking ahead to 2010"

This strategy and planning meeting for CSOs only is intended to kick-start a conversation among civil society about thoughts and plans leading up to 2010, when the World Bank and IMF turn 65. We hope to identify current and emerging opportunities, map existing plans, raise concerns and generate ideas for common action.

Time: 2:00pm -- 3:30pm

Location: Institute for Policy Studies, Suite 600, 1112 16th St., NW (between K and L)

Bank Information Center (BIC)

Bretton Woods Project (BWP)

Campagna per la riforma della Banca Mondiale (CRBM)

Eurodad

Halifax Initiative Coalition

New Rules for Global Finance

RSVP to attend (by October 7) to Fraser Reilly-King, Halifax Initiative:

CSOs ONLY

Inspection Panel Open House

Refreshments will be served.

Time: 3:00pm -- 6:00pm

Location: Room MC10-507, World Bank, Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

World Bank Inspection Panel

A Dialogue with Lars Thunell, Executive Vice President and CEO, IFC

This session will begin by brief comments by Lars Thunell, to be folowed by a question and answer period.

Time: 3:00pm -- 4:30pm

Location: Room L-109, IFC Building, 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Time: 3;00pm

Location: Room 2-800, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

Time: 3:15pm

Location: Main Press Briefing Room, Room B-702 (Blue Level), IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St., NW

IMF Campaign Meeting

This is a strategizing session for CSOs only on IMF campaign work. Discussions will include:

1) ISVARA grant for regionalizing the IMF Campaign -- (Deborah James, Center for Economic and Policy Research); 2) IMF Gold Sales: campaign update --  (IMF Working Group members); 3) Balancing the IMF Reform Debate: project update -- (Jo Marie Griesgraber, New Rules for Global Finance Coalition); 4) PRGF Country Studies by AFRODAD -- (Meja Vitalis, AFRODAD); 5) Regional IMF work and congressional lobbying on IMF conditionality -- (Paul Jensen, RESULTS); 6) IMF & global food and fuel price crises -- (Bhumika Muchhala, BIC); 7) IMF & aid effectiveness -- (Nuria Molina, EURODAD); 8) Jubilee South conference update -- (Njoki Njehu, Jubilee South); 9) TWN-Penang conference update -- (Rick Rowden, ActionAid USA)

Time: 3:30pm -- 5:30pm

Location: Institute for Policy Studies, Suite 600, 1112 16th St., NW (between K and L)

IMF Working Group

For more information, please contact Bhumika Muchhala, BIC at:

CSOs ONLY

US Financial Crisis: Implications for Bank Reform work

This session is for CSOs only and will discuss the US financial crisis and its implications, challenges and opportunities for bank reform work.

Time: 4:00pm

Location: Friends of the Earth US, Suite 600, 1717 Massachusetts Ave., NW

Pacific Environment (PE)

Friends of the Earth, US (FoE)

For more information and RSVP contact Doug Norlen, PE:

 or

+1 202 465-1650

CSOs ONLY

High Quality Aid Post-Accra:  Comparing Different Donors

To enable poor country governments to achieve the MDGs and to guarantee basic rights for all, rich countries should not just give more aid but also better aid. At the High Level Forum in Accra in September this year, donors committed to further improve the quality of their lending. Oxfam believes that for aid to be more effective it should be: long term and predictable; given directly to governments to help them finance long term plans to fight poverty; and tied to mutually agreed poverty reduction outcomes rather than to economic policy conditions. The European Commission will put these principles into practice through its ground-breaking MDG contracts. This seminar will look at what the World Bank should do to ensure that it fulfills the Accra mandate.

Panelists: Sasja Bokkerink, Oxfam International; Paul O'Brien, Oxfam America; Kyle Peters, World Bank.

Moderator: TBC

Time: 4:00pm -- 5:30pm

Location: Room MCC1-100, World Bank, Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Socitey Policy Forum

Oxfam International (OI)

Time: 4:15pm

Location: Main Press Briefing Room, Room B-702 (Blue Level), IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St., NW

Book Launch: Development Redefined: How the Market Met its Match

Welcome in fittingly the World Bank annual meetings with the newest book of American University professor and BIC Board Member, Robin Broad and IPS Director John Cavanagh. Entitled Development Redefined: How the Market Met its Match, the book chronicles the rise and fall of the market-worshipping Washington Consensus, and lays out people-based alternatives to corporate-led globalization. Broad and Cavanagh have written award-winning books on globalization and development, as well as a series of articles on the development debate in Foreign Policy and World Policy.

Time: 6:00pm --8:00pm

Location: Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th St., NW (@14th and V Sts.)

The PRGF/PSI, Fiscal Space and Financing for Development: A Focus on Africa -- Trends, Prospects and Challenges

This panel discussion will bring together civil society representatives, staff and Board members of the IMF and the World Bank to discuss among other things the trends, prospects and challenges of developing countries using the fiscal plan emanating from the PRGF/PSI for development programmes. It will focus on both policy content and structural reform and the impact of the PRGF/PSI in releasing sufficient resources both domestically and externally-sourced in addressing development needs.

Panelists: Jan Kees Martijn and Dan Ghura, IMF; Daniel Plantz, Economic Affairs Officer, UN Financing for Development Office; Vitalice Meja, Program Director Lobby and Advocacy, AFRODAD

Chair: Bhumika Muchhala, Bank Information Center

Time: 9:00am -- 10:30am

Location: Room MCC1-100, World Bank, Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

AFRODAD

Please RSVP by email to Vitalice Meja, AFRODAD at:

or

MCanthony Tilla Sawe, IMF:

For any questions or comments please contact Vitalice Meja, AFRODAD: 

Sustainability in the Extractive Industries: High Level Panel Discussion

This year's International Business and Policy Forum will be in in line with the 2007 G8- Declaration "Responsibility for Raw Materials" and the latest World Bank initiative on extractive industries. It aims to bring together opinion leaders and decision makers from all relevant stakeholders to discuss mutual interests both the development community and the business sector foster in the field of extractive industries. Both sides have a vital stake in the industry and even though their motivations for involvement in the mining sector differ in nature, they are brought together by mutual concerns. It is the IBPF's intention to bring these mutual concerns up on the agenda and to identify possible synergies

Panelists: Albrecht Ansohn, InWent (opening remarks); Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul,

Chair: Dirk Messner, Director German Development Institute Germany

Time: 10:00am -- 1:00pm

Location: Room I 1-200, World Bank I Building, 1850 I (Eye) St., NW

German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ

Federation of the German Industries (BDI)

InWent - Capacity Building International (gGMBH) (Germany)

Registration required. For more information, please contact:

Mr. Joachim Mueller (inWent)

Ph: +49-30-43 996 361

Fax: +49-30-43 996 250

Email:

or

Ms. Julia Ackermann (InWent)

Ph: +49-30-43 996 376

Fax: +49-30-43 996 250

Email:

Time: 10:30am

Location: TBD

Time: 11:00am

Location: TBD

Tools for Managing Corporate-Community Conflict:  Grievance Mechanisms, Participatory Monitoring and Alternative Dispute Resolution Practices with the CAO

In this session, the CAO will discuss Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) tools and methodologies it uses in its work to help to resolve corporate-community conflicts around IFC/MIGA projects. Specifically, the discussion will provide practical guidance on establishing project-level grievance mechanisms and participatory monitoring programs as powerful tools for dispute resolution. The speakers will also draw on two CAO Advisory Notes published in 2008:  "A Guide to Designing and Implementing Grievance Mechanisms" and "Participatory Water Monitoring: A Guide for Preventing and Managing Conflict”.  The CAO will also provide an update on its current caseload.
Speakers: Meg Taylor, Amar Inamdar, Henrik Linders, Kate Kopischke, David Atkins, CAO.

Time: 11:00am -- 12:30pm

Location: Room MCC1-100, World Bank, Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

IFC Compliance Advisor Ombudsman

Spending and Absorption of AID in PRGF - Supported Programs

The use of aid by low-income countries, and its treatment in programs supported by the IMF, has received much attention in recent years. For example, last year the Independent Evaluation Office of the IMF found some evidence that PRGF-supported programs may limit the full use of aid. A new IMF working paper analyzes this issue using a new database of all such programs during 1999-2007. An important innovation is that the study looks at the use of aid in a multiyear context, as there are strong arguments for smoothing the use of volatile aid inflows over time. IMF staff will present the findings of the paper and Nuria Molina of Eurodad will provide comments, followed by a discussion with all participants. The working paper will be posted here soon.

Panelists: Jan Kees Martijn and Paolo Dudine, IMF; Nuria Molina, Eurodad

Time: 11:00am -- 12:30pm

Location: Room MCC1-200, World Bank, Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

IEO-CSO Dialogue on Evaluation of IMF's Work on Trade

Earlier this year, the Independent Evaluation Office of the IMF started an Evaluation of the IMF’s Approach to International Trade Policy Issues.  Please join us for a meeting with  Susan Schadler (IEO Team Leader) and her team. The meeting will be an opportunity for civil society organizations to better understand and engage in the ongoing evaluation and exchange views on it with the evaluating team.
Speaker: IEO Team Leader (TBC)

Facilitators: Aldo Caliari, COC and Bhumika Muchhala, BIC

Time: 12:30pm -- 2:00pm

Location: Room MCC1-200, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

Center of Concern (CoC)

Bank Information Center (BIC)

Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the IMF

Time: 2:00pm

Location: Main Press Briefing Room, Room B-702 (Blue Level), IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St., NW

Food Crisis and the Role of the State:  Lessons for the World Bank

Time: 2:00pm -- 3:30pm

Location: Room MCC1-100, World Bank, Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

Action Aid International

Oxfam International (OI)

Strengthening Extractive Industry Transparency in Resource-Rich Countries

This discussion and strategy session for CSOs only will be on ways to strengthen implementation of extractive industry transparency and civil society engagement. BIC and GW will present their assessment of how the IMF and World Bank are implementing revenue and contract transparency in the extractive industries in over 50 resource-rich countries. The meeting will also focus on experiences and lessons learned from IMF and World Bank implementation of extractive industry transparency in three resource-rich countries (Mongolia, Peru and Republic of Congo). The meeting will emphasize working to ensure that IMF and World operations consistently integrate extractive industry transparency as core criteria and promote meaningful civil society/stakeholder participation in this process.

Time: 2:00pm -- 4:00pm

Location: BIC Conference Room, Suite 650, 1100 H St., NW (entrance on 11th St.)

Bank Information Center (BIC)

Global Witness (GW)

For more information, please contact:

Heike Mainhardt-Gibbs, BIC:

or

Corinna Gilfillan, GW:

CSOs ONLY

Navigating the Bank's Website:  Finding Project Information, Country Statistics and Reports

This interactive session with the head of the Bank's Information Disclosure Team will allow participants to navigate the Bank's many databases and webpages.  Of special focus will be the 'projects database' which brings together the programmatic, financial, and legal documents for over 4,000 active projects.  Participants will also be shown how to instantly generate country data sets, map out MDG results by region, and search the extensive online library of Bank reports.

Presenter: Ida Mori, World Bank

Time: 2:00pm -- 4:00pm

Location: Room MC4-100, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

World Bank

Mainstreaming Disability in CSO Programs

This session will discuss the challenges and opportunities of mainstreaming disability in programs run by non disability-specialized organizations.  In particular, panelists will examine how one goes about   raising awareness of on the “need” and “feasibility” of highlighting the disabilities agenda within these organizations.   This would allow CSOs to reach a large group of beneficiaries that is generally overlooked and therefore excluded from the development agenda.

Panelists: Venus Ilagan, Rehabilitation International; Maria Reina, GPDD; Charlotte McClain- Nhlapo and Marco Nicoli, World Bank

Time: 2:30pm -- 4:00pm

Location: Room MCC1-200, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

Global Partnership for Disability and Development (GPDD)

Time: 3:00pm

Location: Room B-610 (Blue Level), IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St., NW

Time: 3:00pm

Location: Room MC 4-800, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

Emerging Challenges in Financing for Development: NGO roundtable discussion with Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, and Jomo Kwame Sundaram, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development.

The “Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development” – in support of the internationally agreed development goals including the MDGs – created a global alliance for development, covering for the first time the full range of development finance. The follow-up process continues to strive for an inclusive multilateralism, underlining a holistic and coherent agenda and effective participation of all relevant stakeholders including civil society and the private sector. In less than two months, a Follow-up International Conference will take place in Doha, Qatar. Thus, it is timely for international policy makers, activists, and thinkers to ask themselves and each other what today’s challenges are, that shall be taken to Doha. The Washington D.C. event will discuss the achievements as well as new and emerging challenges of the Monterrey Consensus and focus on the tasks ahead: What expectations do participants have with regard to the conference? What has to be done to strengthen the global partnership agreed to in Monterrey?; What could be the role of the UN, the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization, governments, civil society, and the private sector in this regard? The meeting will pay particular attention to key emerging challenges in the financing of climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Welcoming Remarks: Almut Wieland-Karimi, Executive Director, FES Washington D.C.

Speakers: Ms. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development and Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Doha Review Conference on FfD; Mr. Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations

Moderator: Mr. Manuel Montes, Chief, Policy Analysis and Development, Financing for Development Office, UN-DESA.

Time: 4:30pm -- 6:00pm

Location: Room I-200, World Bank “I” Building, 1850 I (Eye) Street, NW

Friedrich Ebert Foundation

Financing for Development Office, UN-DESA

Please send an email to Knut Panknin at: or call +1 202-408-5444 to confirm your attendance

Time: 5:00pm

Location: Room 2-800, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

Time: TBD

Location: Main Press Briefing Room, Room B-702 (Blue Level), IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St., NW

Time: TBD

Location: TBD

Time: 9:00am

Location: TBD

Closed to the public.

HIPC Finance Ministers' Press Conference

The 15th HIPC Ministerial Meeting will take place in Washington DC on the evening of Friday 10th October 2008. The closed meeting will be held under the joint presidency of His Excellency Ali Mahaman Lamine ZEINE, Minister of Economy and Finance of Niger and His Excellency Ashni SINGH, Minister of Finance of Guyana. Attending the meeting will be HIPC Finance Ministers, Development Ministers from HIPC CBP donor countries and representatives from the IMF and World Bank. The primary objective of the meeting is to provide a forum to discuss the latest developments on debt relief and financing the Millennium Development Goals, which will be key subjects for discussion at the Annual Meetings, especially in advance of the Accra High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness. Following the meeting a declaration will be presented to the press by Ministers Zeine and Singh.

Time: 11:00am

Location: Main Press Briefing Room, Room B-702, IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St., NW

Closed to the public.

Attendance by inviation only:

Presentation of Banque de France Financial Stability Review on Valuation

Speakers: Hugo Banziger, Deutsche Bank; Jaime Caruana, IMF; Philipp Hildebrand, Swiss National Bank; Avinash Persaud, Intelligence Capital Limited; José Viñals, Bank of Spain

Time: 11:00am -- 12:00pm

Location: Room HQ1-R710, IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

Per Jacobsson Foundation: Panel Discussion on "The Role and Governance of the IMF: Further Reflections on Reform"

This year's Per Jacobsson Foundation lecture will be a panel discussion that addresses IMF reform.

Panelists: Stanley Fischer, Governor of the Bank of Israel; Trevor Manuel, South Africa 's Minister of Finance; Jean Pisani-Ferry, Director of  Bruegel; Raghuram Rajan, Professor of Finance, University of Chicago

Chair: Andrew Crockett, Former General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements and former Chairman of the Financial Stability Forum

Time: 3:00pm

Location: IFC Auditorium, 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

Per Jacobsson Foundation

Time: 4:15pm

Location: Main Press Briefing Room, Room B-702 (Blue Level), IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St., NW

Program of Seminars (Cont'd)

Plenary

Turmoil in Global Financial and Commodities Markets – Prospects & Policies

The world economy is being buffeted by powerful crosswinds. Financial market turmoil in the US and other advanced economies not only is threatening global financial stability, but is slowing global growth. The global outlook is increasingly uncertain, as the U.S. tries to find its way out of its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.  Against this background, this session will deal with the following key questions: Do the unprecedented events in financial markets and the policy responses seen recently likely signal a turning point towards restoring global financial stability?  Looking ahead, how is the global financial services industry likely to be re-shaped?   How long will the growth slowdown persist? Will it worsen as a consequence of recent events in financial markets?

Panelists: John Lipsky, IMF; Lewis Alexander, Citigroup; Christine M. Cumming, Federal Reserve System; Roger Ferguson, Mário Magalhães Carvalho Mesquita, Central Bank of Brazil; George Soros, Soros Fund Management

Moderator: Martin Wolf, Financial Times

Time: 4:30pm -- 6:00pm

Location: TBD

World Bank/IMF

For complete details, please go to:

Program of Seminars site

POS Detailed Schedule

Time: 9:30am

Location: DAR Constitution Hall and HQ2, Conference Hall, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H St., NW,

Logging the Forests of the Congo Basin: Cameroonian and Congolese Students Demand That World Bank Avoid Repeating Mistakes

As the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group (The World Bank) gather in Washington for their annual meetings, a group of African students are traveling across the ocean to call upon the bank ministers to stop forest destruction in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The students are arriving with 40,000 signatures asking the World Bank to not repeat the mistakes of their "Forest Reform" in Central Africa, which allowed the large scale expansion of industrial logging into intact rainforests.

Come join: Samuel Nguiffo—Director of  the Center for Environment and Development (CED) in Yaounde, Cameroon and winner of the Goldman Environmental Award for Africa, 1999;

Freddy Mumba Mukuba—agricultural engineer with the organization Center for National Development and People's Participation (CENADEP) from the DRC; and Jean Christian Ebanda—student-activist Christian of the Lycée Bilingue in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Their presentation will include a short film about the World Bank’s involvement in the forests of the Congo Basin, and the efforts of activists to challenge it.

The Congo Basin Forest is the second largest rainforest on the planet. In the DRC alone, 40 million people depend on the forests for their livelihoods.  Forests are vital for our global climate: an estimated 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by deforestation and land use change.

Time: 11:30am -- 1:30pm

Location: TransAfrica Forum, Suite 1100, 1629 K Street, NW

TransAfrica Forum

For more information: +1 202.624.0630 or 202.223.1960 ext. 137 or

Integrating Climate Change Considerations at the Multilateral Development Banks:  Issues and Challenges

At the end of September, 

Last week, ten industrialized countries including the US, Japan and several European donors pledged approximately $6.1 bn to the Climate Investment Funds (CIF). CIFs are a set of financial mechanisms that intend to provide funding to assist developing countries to finance activities to mitigate GHGs and adapt to climate change impacts. The CIFs are being established by the World Bank jointly with the Regional Development Banks (AfDB, AsDB, EBRD, and IDB) to “promote international cooperation on climate change and support progress towards the future of the climate change regime.” On October 14, the first Partnership Forum will begin to discuss strategic directions, results and possible impacts of the CIFs with various stakeholders. It is critical that the CIFs are used to support the adoption of transformational approaches by developing countries that align development with the challenges of climate change. Success on this agenda is inextricably linked to MDB success in incorporating climate change into their overarching portfolios, particularly in the energy sectors.

This week, representatives of the various MDBs will gather in Washington for the CIF Partnership Forum to exchange views on these important questions with representatives of civil society.

Panelists: Samuel Tumiwa, Asian Development Bank; Amal-Lee Amin, InterAmerican Development Bank; Warren Evans, World Bank (TBC); Jon Sohn, Climate Change Capital; Athena R. Ballesteros, WRI; David Waskow, Oxfam (TBC); David Wheeler, Center for Global  Development, (TBC)

Moderator: Bruce Jenkins (BIC)

Time: 2:00pm -- 4:00pm

Location: Room MCC1-100, World Bank Main Building, 1818 H St., NW

World Bank/IMF Civil Society Policy Forum

Bank Information Center (BIC)

World Resources Institute (WRI)

Time: 2:30pm

Location: IMF HQ2, Conference Hall, 700 19th St. NW