26 May 2009
Global Transparency Initiative (GTI) comments on the World Bank‟s Transparency Approach Paper
GTI provided detailed comments to the World Bank on its Approach Paper "Toward Greater Transparency: Rethinking the World Bank's Disclosure Policy" (January 29, 2009). GTI reviewed the Bank‟s proposals in light of the nine principles of GTI‟s Transparency Charter for International Financial Institutions.
GTI welcomes the Bank’s call for a “paradigm shift” in access to Bank-held information, and its commitment to move to a true presumption of openness, whereby all Bank information is accessible, subject only to a list of narrow and clearly defined exceptions.
Our analysis of the Approach Paper, however, as detailed in our Comments, indicates that the Bank’s concrete proposals fail to implement this stated commitment in practice. Some of the GTI’s key criticisms of the proposals are:
- The lack of a clear vision on the links between openness, poverty reduction and the Bank’s overarching “empowerment” mandate.
- An overly broad regime of exceptions which grants third parties a veto over disclosure and which are not harm-based.
- The absence of a proper test for disclosure in the overall public interest.
- The failure to provide for an independent appeals body.
- The lack of clear progress on timely access to information for participation in decision-making, in particular for project affected peoples.
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