Update

2008 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings

7 March 2008

Read the latest information on World Bank and civil society events organized around the upcoming World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings and how to get involved.

As new information is made available, BIC will continue to update this page with relevant information regarding civil society activities and the Spring Meetings.

In this update:

Useful websites
World Bank/IMF meeting dates and details
Development Committee and IMFC Agendas
Be a guest blogger at the Spring Meetings!
Events
Who's in town?

1. Useful websites

The events and ‘who’s in town’ information included in this email will be drawn from IFIWatchnet.org. Please post your events and contact information on that website to ensure that they’ll be included in these emails.
The World Bank Civil Society website provides information about the Spring meetings, accreditation, the Civil Society Policy Forum, World Bank and IMF sponsored events.

2. World Bank meeting dates and details

The 2008 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be held over the weekend of April 12-13 at the World Bank and IMF Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) will be held on Saturday, April 12 and the Development Committee (DC) will be held on Sunday, April 13.

As in previous years, the Civil Society Policy Forum, a program of policy dialogues for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) will be organized alongside the Spring Meetings. The Civil Society Policy Forum will be held from Thursday, April 10 through Sunday, April 13. Information about discussions being planned for the Forum is available here and will be updated frequently as we near the date of the Meetings.

Accreditation: CLOSEd

All CSO representatives interested in participating in the Spring Meetings must obtain formal accreditation. CSO representatives are encouraged to apply for accreditation as soon as possible to give themselves enough time to obtain a US visa and make travel arrangements. The online accreditation system closed on March 23, 2008.

For further information, contact

Registration and badge pick-up

The Spring Meetings Registration office and badge pick-up will be located in the World Bank H building (600 19th Street, NW) and will be open during the week of the Meetings from Monday, April 7 through Sunday, April 13.

World Bank CSO Events

All proposals for the Bank's Civil Society Policy Forum should be sent via email to: no later than 5 pm EST on March 15, 2008.

1) The Civil Society Policy Forum will be held from Thursday, April 10 through Sunday, April 13. The tentative agenda for the CSPF has been included in the events calendar below. Additional sessions are also being considered. Please refer to the events calendar below.

2) The World Bank is also planning Orientation Session on the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund for interested CSOs on Wednesday, April 9 at the World Bank Headquarters. Registration for the Orientation Session (separate registration required), is now closed.

Location of World Bank events

At the World Bank Main Complex building (1818 H Street NW), CSOs will be able to access the CSO space located on the C1 level. The Civil Society Policy Forum Dialogue sessions, organized by CSOs and World Bank/IMF staff, will be held in the two (2) adjacent conference rooms (MC C1-100 and MC C1-110) on that level. There will be wireless internet connection in that space, a photocopier, as well as two (2) smaller meeting rooms for CSO use.
The CSO press room will be located in B-615 on the blue level (2L) in the HQ1 building of the International Monetary Fund (700 19th Street, NW), right next to the main press room and can be used for meetings with journalists, CSO press conferences etc. It will be equipped with a limited number of computers, printers, copier and a live feed from the press conference room. All communiqués and other press releases, once public and made available to the journalists, will also be distributed in that space.

Press

Accreditation grants CSOs access to the Press Room, but not to the press conferences. Accredited CSOs , however, will be able to follow the press events via a live TV feed located in the CSO working space (CSO room) next to the main Press Room. IMF/WB civil society team staff will distribute IMF/WB press releases, official communiqués, reports and other public documents on the tables in the CSO Centre as they become available.

3. Development Committee and IMFC Agendas

Development Committee -- Provisional Agenda (World Bank website)

Background Documents

Global Monitoring Report 2008 - MDGs and the Environment Agenda for Inclusive and Sustainable Development (World Bank website)

Towards a Strategic Framework on Climate Change and Development for the World Bank Group Concept and Issues Paper (World Bank website)

4. Be a guest blogger at the Spring Meetings!

IFIWatchnet is looking for guest bloggers to write about key meetings, events and decisions during the 2008 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings! Bloggers will be expected to write at least 3-4 short, relatively informal posts during that week. Posts will be featured on the front page of IFIWatchnet.org. Training and support provided! Please contact Srabani Roy if interested: .

5. Events

Post your event on IFIWatchnet.org. This calendar is based on a feed from the IFIWatchnet.org website. The site is easy to use, and non-members are free to post events. If you have questions about using IFIWatchnet, please contact Srabani Roy at BIC: In addition, if you would like to have your event added to this calendar, please contact Srabani Roy.

World Bank CSO events