24 November 2003
III. For Further Information: Other Bank Information Center publications
For more information, see these Bank Information Center Toolkits:
- The World Bank's Environmental Assessment Policy
- The World Bank's Policy Framework: The 'Safeguard Policies', Policy Compliance, and the Independent Inspection Panel
- The World Bank's "Master Plan" for Your Country-The Country Assistance Strategy
BIC has also published the following reports on the World Bank's track record on information disclosure:
- Fulfilling the IDA-12 Mandate: Recommendations for Expanding Public Access to Information at the World Bank (by Christopher Chamberlain, July 1999)
- Public Access to Information-The State of Disclosure at the Multilateral Development Banks (by Christopher Chamberlain, Fall 1998)
- Public Access to Information at the International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (by Christopher Chamberlain, March 1997)
Logistics for Obtaining Information from the World Bank:
The World Bank Infoshop (Public Information Center)
On January 1, 1993, the World Bank established a Public Information Center (PIC) at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Now called the Infoshop, the PIC handles requests for World Bank documents available under the information disclosure policy, and has a public reading room with documents available in hardcopy. Requests for information can be made in person, by mail, email, phone or fax:
- The street address is: Room J1-060, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20433
- The mailing address is: The World Bank Infoshop, 1818 H St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20433.
- E-mail: , Telephone: 202-458-5454, Fax: 202-522-1500, www.worldbank.org
World Bank Local Offices
Requests for information from the Infoshop can be made through the World Bank's offices in Tokyo, London, and Paris and any of the local offices in Bank borrowing countries. The Infoshop provides documents to field offices that are relevant to that country. Policy papers are also provided to field offices.
- Paris 66 Avenue d'lena; 75116 Paris; France, Telephone: 33-1-40-69-30-12; fax: 33-1-40-69-30-69; email:
- London New Zealand House; 15th Floor; Haymarket; London SW1 Y4TE; England, Telephone: 44-71-930-8511; fax: 44-71-930-8515; email:
- Tokyo Kokusai Building; 1-1, Marunouchi 3-chome; Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100, Japan, Telephone: 81-3-32144-5001; Fax: 81-3-3214-3657; email:
For a list of local World Bank offices, check the website or the World Bank Group Directory, which is available from the Infoshop for $22.00.
Charges For Information
Except for Project Information Documents which are free of charge, all other operational documents from the Infoshop carry a US $20.00 per document charge. Nationals of a country may obtain documents pertaining to their own country from their local office or from the Infoshop free of charge. You will need to provide proof of citizenship, for example your passport or country identification card. If ordering by fax, always include a copy of your identification. NGOs can obtain operational documents at a 30% discount.
NOTE:
Local offices often do not have all the information that is available from the Infoshop, but are required to search for information upon request.
Information Resources
If you want to be kept up-to-date on what the Bank is planning for your country, or for any of its borrowing countries, you should frequently access the following sources:
- The Monthly Operational Summary (MOS), is a document that lists each Bank operation for all the borrowing countries. It is organized by region and by country, and each month lists new projects in the Bank's pipeline. Information includes a short description of the project and the estimated amount of the loan. The MOS used to be publicly available, and free to NGOs. Recently, however, the Bank has ceased publication of hard copy, but now distributes it electronically to eligible NGOs. Contact Art Thomas at
- The Public Information Center Catalogue of Operational Documents. This catalogue, updated periodically, is a cumulative list of operational documents that are available from the Infoshop. The Catalogue can be ordered for $20.00. When you order the catalogue, if you would like to receive a monthly update of new documents you can ask for an email subscription.
- World Bank Web Site: at www.worldbank.org. The website is updated frequently, and is a great source of public information.