World Bank Transparency Review | Bank Information Center: Monitoring the projects and policies of the World Bank, IMF and other international financial institutions


bicusa.org/WBtransparency Home IssuesWorld Bank Transparency Review World Bank Transparency Review Overview Background Concerns Updates Resources Contacts RSS Update \| 25 January 2012 World Bank defends integrity of Development Policy lending, evidence lacking The outgoing World Bank Country Manager for Brazil, Mahktar Diop, challenges the conclusions of an evaluation by Bank Information Center of the $1.3 billion Sustainable Environmental Management Development Policy to promote environmental reforms in Brazil. Read more Update \| 14 October 2011 Make Aid Transparent campaign seeks signatures The Make Aid Transparent Campaign, launched this summer, is looking to make an impact on the Aid Effectiveness forum in Busan, Korea this November. Please sign their petition calling for governments to make their aid transparent. Read more Update \| 16 September 2011 CSOs send letter to President Zoellick asking for reinstatement of B-SPAN BIC has joined 106 other signatories on a letter to World Bank President Robert Zoellick requesting the Bank reinvigorate B-SPAN, the institution's webcasting station, with adequate funding. Until 2004, B-SPAN streamed hundreds of Bank policy dialogues, seminars and conferences to global audiences. Read more Update \| 21 July 2011 Unlocking the World Bank's Access to Information Policy BIC presents a toolkit for civil society on how to access information at the World Bank. This resource was officially launched at the World Bank Annual Meetings in October 2010, and updated in July 2011 Read more Update \| 18 July 2011 Transparency and borrowing As Egypt's revolution continues to unfold, potential loans from international financial institutions have stoked intense debates. BIC's Amy Ekdawi writes that the fate of these loans must be contingent on open engagement with Egyptian civil society, not backroom deals. Read more Update \| 22 April 2011 Knowledge is power: Transparency and participation will be the drivers of effective development A new article from independent consultant and former BIC staffer Rebecca Harris reports on transparency initiatives at the World Bank. Since the Bank adopted a new Access to Information policy in 2009, people worldwide have begun using this access to improve development outcomes. Read more Update \| 9 February 2011 PRESS RELEASE: The aid revolution begins here After two years of negotiation, Publish What You Fund celebrates the finalization of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), stating "When everyone can see how much aid is being spent where, and on what, governments – whether giving or receiving aid – can be held accountable by their citizens for spending it well.” Read more Update \| 4 February 2011 World Bank and DPLs: What middle income countries want As the World Bank sets out to review and update its Safeguard Policy framework over the next two years, the Operational Policy 8.60 governing the use of DPLs should be included in that review. This brief identifies five areas of DPL policy guidance that merit revision and could guide a full DPL evaluation. Read more Update \| 21 January 2011 FreedomInfo: World Bank sets rules on public interest review Toby McIntosh reports on the World Bank Access to Information Committee stipulation that Bank staff, not the committee, will make decisions regarding the disclosure of documents less than five years old in cases of public interest. Read more Update \| 22 December 2010 World Bank releases progress report on Access to Information policy The report details progress made since the policy's July 1st effective date as well as pre-implementation preparations. The report notes that prior to July 1st, the institution "released more than 17,000 documents and an additional 5,000 legal agreements, which were either restricted under the previous disclosure policy or not readily accessible." Read more Update \| 13 December 2010 BIC article published in PNoWB Network Review newsletter A BIC article detailing the first 99 days of the implementation of the World Bank's access to information policy is published by the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank as part of their 2010 Annual Conference newsletter. Read more Update \| 19 October 2010 World Bank releases few summaries of meetings Under the World Bank's new Access to Information Policy, summaries of meetings of the Board of Directors are regularly released. A new FreedomInfo.org study, however, finds many summaries missing, and the ones that are released significantly shorter than summaries from before the new policy was passed. Read more Update \| 18 October 2010 Access to information at the World Bank: The first 99 days The Huffington Post publishes a BIC article examining civil society and World Bank perspectives of the first 99 days of the implementation of the institution's Policy on Access to Information. Read more Update \| 30 September 2010 Zoellick embraces "Multi-Polar World Economy" Matthew O. Berger of the Inter Press Service quotes BIC on the World Bank's new access to information policy. Read more Update \| 29 September 2010 PRESS RELEASE: Civil society to engage World Bank on transparency and sustainability NGOs challenge the institution at the 2010 Annual General Meetings of the World Bank and IMF in Washington, DC, October 6th through 10th. Read more Update \| 28 September 2010 Activist Q&A: Meet Ahmed Swapan Mahmud BIC highlights the work of Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, Executive Director of VOICE, a rights-based activist organization in Bangladesh. Read more Update \| 2 September 2010 Lebanese CSOs demand participation in World Bank's Country Partnership Strategy talks In an effort to influence the outcome of an August 31st World Bank Board of Executive Directors' meeting where the Board planned to discuss Lebanon's new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS), a group of Lebanese CSOs submitted a letter to the Board expressing their concerns with the the CPS and the process through which it was prepared. Read more Update \| 5 August 2010 Transparency in the World Bank: A question of rights or discourse? It is one thing for the World Bank to promote a discourse of transparency and information disclosure and quite another to commit to being a public finance institution that respects all of the rights of people affected by the projects which they finance. Unfortunately, the Bank has not been willing to make this commitment. Read more Update \| 4 August 2010 World Bank releases first set of simultaneously disclosed documents Little over a month after the Access to Information Policy came into effect, the first few documents to be released through the "simultaneous disclosure" clause are trickling out of the Bank. The implications of such releases, however, have yet to be seen. Read more Update \| 6 July 2010 We need sustainable development banks, say NGOs MEXICO CITY, Jul 5, 2010 (IPS) - Non-governmental organizations from across the Americas are demanding that the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank institute policies that favor sustainable energy and help mitigate climate change. Read more Update \| 1 July 2010 PRESS RELEASE: Revised World Bank access to information policy goes live BIC and partners convene at the World Bank to celebrate the implementation of the Bank's revised access to information policy. Read more Update \| 14 June 2010 World Bank will launch new Access to Information Policy on July 1 The Access to Information Working Group is finishing up its preparations for the July 1 launch of the new policy. Though the policy was approved in December, AIWG has been working for 6 months to train staff and create guides for the new policy. Read more Update \| 15 April 2010 BIC's Amy Ekdawi on the World Bank's revised disclosure policy and its implementation Writing for the International Budget Partnership newsletter, Amy explains the origins of the revised policy, its strengths and weaknesses, and the role civil society is playing as it is implemented over the first half of 2010. Read more Update \| 13 April 2010 Access to Information policy implementation weekly updates The World Bank Access to Information Working Group and its seven subgroups will provide information about how the policy is being implemented, encouraging civil society to monitor and help. Read more Update \| 13 April 2010 Access to Information Working Group update April 5, 2010 Read more Update \| 31 March 2010 PRESS RELEASE: The Bank's conceptual leap with limits BIC consultant, Bruce Jenkins publishes report examining gaps and gains in the World Bank's revised information disclosure policy. Read more Update \| 31 March 2010 Activist Q&A: Meet Sergei Vorsin BIC highlights the work of Sergei Vorsin of Tajikistan's Taraqqiet Development Centre. Read more Update \| 30 March 2010 World Bank recapitalization update - “New world – same World Bank” The proposed capital increases for the World Bank and IFC would expand their size without expanding the scope of their reform. Read more Update \| 11 March 2010 Lugar: No more money for development banks until reform The staff of Senator Richard Lugar released a report to the Committee on Foreign Relations calling for reform of the IFIs before Congress approves upcoming capital replenishment requests for the institutions. Read more Press Clipping \| 1 February 2010 Lebanese Physical Handicapped Union holds a workshop on the World Bank On January 27, 2010, BIC's MENA Program Manager, Amy Ekdawi spoke at a workshop organized by the Lebanese Physical Handicapped Union's Lebanon Budget Project (LBP) which was geared towards educating Lebanese civil society groups on the World Bank's involvement in Lebanon and how to participate in the Bank's decision making process. This workshop was part of LBP's broader mandate to encourage citizen participation in the design of the Lebanese budget. Read more Update \| 4 January 2010 World Bank reviews civil society engagement from 2007 to 2009 In December, the Bank's civil society team released "World Bank – Civil Society Engagement: Review of Fiscal Years 2007 – 2009", and hosted a discussion of the publication in Washington, DC. BIC founder and Executive Director Chad Dobson participated as commenter, noting both the Bank's improvements and continuing obstacles to civil society engagement. Read more Press Release \| 23 December 2009 PRESS RELEASE: World Bank approves revised Policy on Disclosure of Information The World Bank released the final adopted version of "Toward Greater Transparency Through Access to Information: The World Bank’s Disclosure Policy," effective date 1 July 2010. The Global Transparency Initiative (GTI) congratulates the World Bank for the significant improvements of the new policy over its predecessor and looks forward to policy implementation. Read more Update \| 5 November 2009 DPLs now over half of World Bank lending: Gaping hole in transparency and accountability In 2009, Development Policy Operations increased dramatically as a percentage of overall World Bank lending, from an average of about 33% to over 50%. Dogged by concerns that stem from a lack of a strong set of safeguard policies or clear results, this shift to greater dependence on DPLs/DPOs raises concerns about arbitrage by Bank clients to soften or avoid transparency and accountability commitments. Read more Update \| 5 November 2009 World Bank recapitalization conditioned on reforms The World Bank is quietly preparing the first capital increase in nearly 20 years to replenish the coffers after unprecedented lending in 2008 and the coming two years. Read more Press Release \| 3 November 2009 GTI applauds World Bank on improved disclosure policy, though significant weaknesses remain The Global Transparency Initiative (GTI) released its analysis of the World Bank’s new draft disclosure policy, Toward Greater Transparency Through Access to Information: The World Bank’s Disclosure Policy. GTI found that despite gains in access to information, significant policy weaknesses remain. Read more Press Clipping \| 16 October 2009 Financial Times letter to the editor: Transparency is necessary for development The Financial Times printed a letter to the editor by Karin Lissakers of Revenue Watch Institute and Peter Rosenblum of Columbia University regarding an October 13 editorial, "Hazards of mining". The letter argues that a culture of secrecy in the Mining industry has undermined its development potential. Read more Update \| 5 October 2009 World Bank releases new draft of disclosure policy. The new draft was completed based on public consultations in 33 member countries and online comments. Read more Press Release \| 29 September 2009 PRESS RELEASE: Civil society to address World Bank at Annual Meetings in Istanbul The World Bank/IMF Annual General Meetings in Istanbul October 2-7th provide a window of opportunity for civil society to impact ongoing policy reviews. Read more Update \| 17 September 2009 House Committee on Financial Services examines transparency at the World Bank The full committee hearing addressed the 2009 World Bank Disclosure Policy Review and the role of civil society participation in achieving successful development outcomes. BIC board member, Richard Bissell testified. Read more Update \| 17 September 2009 GTI WB Update 4: World Bank to complete Disclosure Review The World Bank is preparing to complete its disclosure policy review by late October 2009. Read more Press Clipping \| 11 September 2009 US Rep Frank threatens to withhold money from World Bank BIC Board Director Richard Bissell testified alongside other IFI experts about access to information at the World Bank during a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee. Chairman Barney Frank stated his intention to withhold any further money for the Bank until the suggestions of the panel were incorporated into policy Read more Update \| 9 September 2009 World Bank DPL to Brazil: Moving Money or Mainstreaming Environmental Sustainability? This article discusses the changing relationship between the Bank and Brazil within the context of a new $1.3 billion Development Policy Loan. It includes a review of the background and concerns associated with development policy lending since 2004, and then offers a detailed analysis of the Brazilian Sustainable Environmental Management (SEM) DPL. Read more Update \| 8 September 2009 Press kit: House Committee on Financial Services hearing on access to information at the World Bank The full committee hearing addressed the 2009 World Bank Disclosure Policy Review and the role of civil society participation in achieving successful development outcomes. Read more Update \| 2 July 2009 We want your feedback, as long as you speak English William Easterly, NYU Professor of Economics and independent voice in international development brings attention to the World Bank's problematic policies on translation. Read more Update \| 30 June 2009 The Bank of Babel 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. Read more Update \| 30 June 2009 Activist Q&A: Meet Yahya Saleh Mohsen 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. Read more Update \| 24 June 2009 Obama's schooling the Bank on transparency The Huffington Post publishes a BIC Op-Ed contrasting the innovative transparency efforts of the Obama Administration with those of the World Bank. Read more Press Clipping \| 18 June 2009 Protest at Kang Keng Airport ends peacefully, villagers say An airport expansion project in Cambodia is drawing strong criticism from NGOs and families facing eviction. Read more Update \| 16 June 2009 World Bank's Inspection Panel meets with civil society organizations to discuss transparency issues 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. Read more Update \| 12 June 2009 Yemeni civil society finally get their translation 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. Read more Update \| 5 June 2009 Bank provides only two-day notice for disclosure consultation in India Read more Update \| 27 May 2009 GTI submits model disclosure policy to the World Bank Global Transparency Initiative (GTI) develops a model of transparency for the World Bank to use as a reference during its information disclosure policy review Read more Update \| 27 May 2009 Summaries of World Bank meetings illuminate proceedings A freedominfo.org examination of World Bank board minutes versus summaries further strengthens the case for improved access to information at the Bank. Read more Update \| 27 May 2009 World Bank Transparency comment period extended The deadline to submit comments online for the World Bank's disclosure policy "Approach Paper" has been extended until June 5th. Read more Update \| 26 May 2009 GTI comments on the World Bank’s Approach Paper Global Transparency Initiative (GTI) comments on the World Bank‟s Transparency Approach Paper Read more Update \| 22 May 2009 Bangladeshi NGOs respond to the World Bank's disclosure policy review A consortium of civil society representatives met to discuss access to information at the World Bank in Bangladesh on May 20th. Read more Update \| 20 May 2009 Yemen's Inspection Panel Case: the up-side of bad news traveling fast Yemeni group files complaint with the World Bank's Inspection Panel and now change might already be in the air? Read more Update \| 20 May 2009 Web-based comment period for World Bank disclosure policy "Approach Paper" closes this week While the deadline to submit comments online for the World Bank's disclosure policy "Approach Paper" is this Friday, remaining in-person consultations will take place as planned and all comments provided at the consultations will be noted. Read more Update \| 12 May 2009 Memorandum on World Bank Board transparency Read BIC's memo on World Bank Board transparency that has been sent to the U.S. Treasury, World Bank staff, and the office of the United States Executive Director at the World Bank. Read more Update \| 5 May 2009 Civil Society to the World Bank: Adopt Transparency 2.0 BIC and partner NGOs sound off on the Bank's disclosure policy at this year's Spring Meetings Read more Update \| 4 May 2009 Transparency violations common theme for World Bank Inspection Panel The World Bank's Inspection Panel Annual Report highlights the problem of access to information within several World Bank-financed projects. Read more Update \| 22 April 2009 Yemeni group says lack of translation inhibited transparency Yemeni civil society group take their complaint regarding the World Bank's refusal to translate a key program document, to the Inspection Panel Read more Update \| 20 April 2009 Voices struggling to be heard: Access to information and the World Bank The Huffington Post publishes a BIC Op-Ed that urges the World Bank to adopt a modern information disclosure policy. Read more Update \| 10 April 2009 GTI Updates 1 and 2 now available in Bahasa-Indonesian Read more Update \| 9 April 2009 World Bank responds to BIC letter regarding disclosure policy review Read correspondence between the Bank Information Center and the World Bank regarding the Bank's review of its Policy on Disclosure of Information. Read more Update \| 9 April 2009 GTI WB Update 3: brief comments on World Bank "Approach Paper" This update provides an analysis of the World Bank's Approach Paper entitled "Toward Greater Transparency: Rethinking the World Bank's Disclosure Policy", which was recently released. Read more Update \| 8 April 2009 BIC’s MENA program organizes regional workshop in Beirut The workshop discussed the World Bank’s Disclosure Policy Review, and introduced the World Bank’s Inspection Panel to our regional partners. Read more Update \| 3 April 2009 Workshop on World Bank transparency in Mexico BIC and FUNDAR (Mexico) are jointly organizing a workshop for the civil society of Mesoamerica in order to deepen their knowledge and plan for effecting change at the World Bank. The workshop will take place April 20th in Mexico City, the day before the World Bank's official consultation about their disclosure policy. Please read the document (in Spanish) linked below for information about participating in the workshop. Read more Press Release \| 17 March 2009 World Bank to tackle review of information disclosure policy The World Bank launched the review of its information disclosure policy on Friday, March 13th with the public release of an Approach Paper. BIC and partners argue the case for greater transparency in Bank procedures. Read more Update \| 16 March 2009 2009 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings 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. Read more Update \| 13 March 2009 GTI Update: World Bank to review transparency standards 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. Read more Update \| 13 March 2009 GTI Update 2: World Bank Launches Transparency Review World Bank publicly launches review of its Disclosure Policy Read more Print this page Email this page		Search Key Issues Forests IFC Policies and Standards Review World Bank Energy Strategy Review World Bank Safeguards Review World Bank Transparency Review See also Transparency World Bank (IBRD & IDA) Stay Informed! 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