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


bicusa.org/IFCreview Home IssuesIFC Policies and Standards Review IFC Policies and Standards Review Overview Background Concerns Updates Resources Contacts RSS Update \| 3 August 2011 IFC releases full sustainability framework The IFC's policy updates, approved by the board in May and coming into effect on the first of the upcoming year, have now been released to the public. BIC and partners will be writing an analysis of the gains and gaps in the new policies soon, but we congratulate the IFC on strengthening these vital policies. Read more Update \| 13 May 2011 PRESS RELEASE: IFC Ombudsman accepts complaint against GMR project in Odisha Three weeks after receiving a complaint about the coal-based energy project, the IFC has agreed the case is eligible for inspection. The financial intermediary project raised several social and environmental issues. Read more Update \| 27 April 2011 Omar Effendi's mismanagement: Who's responsible? BIC's MENA program publishes a case study on a controversial IFC project, Omar Effendi (OE) in Egypt. The study examines OE's mismanagement and failure to comply with IFC standards as well as highlights the IFC's poor due diligence and implementation of its Policies and Performance Standards. Read more Update \| 16 March 2011 Act Now! petitions to prevent Special Economic Zones in PNG Papua New Guinean CSO Act Now! is petitioning its government to refuse an IFC plan for the creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), areas which are exempt from domestic economic laws. The organization says that the SEZs will come at a large social and economic cost. Read more Update \| 2 March 2011 Indian civil society publishes comments and critique of draft IFC policy revisions Following the January consultation in Mumbai, several peoples' movements and civil society organizations have written an expanded critique of the draft IFC policy revisions. The document ranges from specific comments on details in the draft, to explanations of an overall vision of what the new policy should look like. Read more Update \| 26 January 2011 RWI: World Bank releases Extractive Industries Annual Report Heike Mainhardt-Gibbs is quoted in a Revenue Watch Institute article contrasting payment disclosure requirements in the Dodd-Frank law and current IFC disclosure requirements. She explains, "The Dodd-Frank provision requires disclosure down to the project level, and this is where the IFC falls short." Read more Update \| 20 January 2011 Wanted: More information on public projects Indian journalist Raji Bakshi looks into the IFC policy review and imagines what it could mean for the future of projects in her country. Bakshi argues, a well written policy could open up new space for citizen engagement, while still raising concerns over client complience. Read more Update \| 7 January 2011 World Bank releases extractives industries annual report The World Bank has published a review of its activities in the extractives sector for 2010. In previous years, the Bank has published the Extractive Industries Review implementation progress report, which detailed not just extractives investments but also how they relate to the commitments of the EIR. Read more Update \| 3 January 2011 IFC launches Phase III of the Sustainability Framework Review With the release of the second draft of the IFC's new Policy on Social and Environmental Sustainability, the final round of consultations began. The final phase, which will last 75 days, gives civil society a final chance to comment before the final policy is written. Read more Update \| 16 December 2010 U.S. will sign U.N. declaration on rights of native people, Obama tells tribes After a long process of consultation and consideration, the U.S. government has decided to endorse the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The treaty contains significant requirements for free, prior, and informed consent when dealing with native groups, a key demand in the ongoing IFC policy review. Read more Update \| 15 November 2010 IFC "Doing Business" report causes controversy within World Bank Following the publication of IFC's 2011 "Doing Business" report, several Executive Directors have publically criticized the methodology and data used in the report, which ranks countries based on how business friendly they are. Read more Press Clipping \| 13 November 2010 JBS: Analysis of BNDES support for global expansion of Brazil beef producers Through successive infusions from BNDES, various Brazilian beef processing firms such as Frigorifico Bertin (JBS) is being transformed into global giants. BNDES has funded JBS growth in investments in Argentina, U.S., Australia and Italy on the order of R$ 10 billiones. Read more Update \| 14 October 2010 Economist Jeffrey Sachs makes the case for contract transparency BIC publishes an article in The Huffington Post highlighting economist Jeffrey Sachs' arguments for transparency in the extractive industries. 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 \| 13 September 2010 Forest Peoples' Programme and others send letter to Zoellick on palm oil Based on recent consultations and a draft framework document for World Bank engagement in the palm oil sector, eight CSOs wrote the letter to argue that the the Bank is not substantively engaging the criticisms of its previous involvement in the sector and urging specific action. Read more Update \| 1 September 2010 NGOs: World Bank palm oil strategy is reckless A coalition of stakeholders has demanded that the World Bank continue its freeze on palm oil investments until it has implemented an acceptable strategy for investment in the sector. Read more Update \| 1 September 2010 U.S. releases comments on IFC policies The United States Department of the Treasury has posted its official comments on its priorities for the IFC's ongoing review of its Policy on Social and Environmental Sustainability, including the Performance Standards, and Disclosure Policy. Read more Update \| 28 July 2010 52 South Asian organizations submit letter on IFC policy consultation The organizations found the June 25th consultation invalid due to the limited number of civil society representatives and overrepresentation of industry. They used the letter to put forward their recommendations for the review of IFC's policies on social and environmental sustainability Read more Update \| 20 July 2010 ILRC and others call on the U.S. to sign indigenous rights declaration At a series of ongoing consultations, many civil society actors have asked the U.S. to sign the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. BIC's Mark Rentschler and WRI's Kirk Herbertson discuss the importance of the declaration to work on the IFIs. Read more Update \| 15 July 2010 World Bank, NGOs spar over Indonesian mine project The World Bank's Board of Directors said studies for a potential mining project in Indonesia could move forward Tuesday but civil society groups, citing studies that have already been done, condemned the decision. Read more Update \| 9 July 2010 Warning signs for the future of the Peruvian Amazon This month's edition of the BICECA Monthly Bulletin features a summary of the event entitled "Oil and Mining Booms and Sustainable Development: Lessons from Peru for Development Planning & Revenue Management at the National and subnational level" (Washington, DC, June 16, 2010). Read more Update \| 2 July 2010 IFC Policy and Standards Review in Latin America This month's edition of the BICECA bulletin includes an article on the International Finance Corporation's Policy and Standards Review in Latin America Read more Update \| 1 July 2010 Omar Effendi IFC clients need to adhere to the IFC's Performance Standards and the IFC ought to improve due diligence to ensure positive development outcomes and compliance with Standards. Read more Update \| 24 June 2010 Activist Q&A: Meet Mirvari Gahramanli BIC highlights the work of Mirvari Gahramanli of Azerbaijan's Oil Workers’ Rights Protection Organization. Read more Update \| 18 June 2010 Human rights (the World Bank way) Kirk Herbertson, Kim Thompson and Robert Goodland of the World Resources Institute ask why the World Bank Group – which is owned by the same governments that demanded a human rights policy at the EBRD – is hesitant to discuss human rights openly. Read more Update \| 17 June 2010 CSOs give feedback on IFC Performance Standards More than 50 representatives from civil society organizations (CSOs) and industry convened at the World Bank yesterday to provide feedback for International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Policy and Performance Standards Review. Read more Update \| 3 June 2010 Communities speak out against displacement On May 9, 2010, women and men from five villages of Sihanoukville in Cambodia gathered together and met with representatives of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the independent recourse mechanism for the IFC, the private sector lending institution of the World Bank Group. Read more Update \| 2 June 2010 BIC's concerns and policy recommendations on IFC policies and Performance Standards In light of the International Finance Corporation's review of its Sustainability Policy, Performance Standards and Disclosure Policy, the Bank Information Center has outlined its major concerns and policy recommendations that it will be presenting to the IFC throughout the review process. BIC highlights the issues of extractive industries revenue and contract transparency; reporting on development outcomes; and the principle of free, prior and informed consent and broad community support for risky projects. Read more Update \| 17 May 2010 CAO advisory note to the IFC Performance Standards review The IFC and MIGA's independent resource mechanism, the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman, has released its review of how the Sustainability Framework and accompanying policies have affected outcomes on the ground. 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 Press Release \| 12 March 2010 CSOs demand reform of World Bank Group lending to private corporations A new letter from civil society organizations to the International Finance Corporation demands that the lender focus its loans more directly on social and environmental good to achieve poverty alleviation. 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 \| 20 November 2009 Bank unit to review palm oil and other carbon-intensive loans E&E News reports on the IFC's review of palm oil investments. Marcus Colchester of the Forest Peoples Programme is quoted as saying that the review will be extended to soy and cocoa. Read more Update \| 19 November 2009 International Organizations Working on IFC Policies and Standards Review The list represents organizations voluntarily clustered around particular interests related to the IFC policies and practices. Marked in bold, are organizations taking a lead on an issue, which, in cooperation with other organizations, collect and summarize analysis or positions on the chosen topic. Read more Update \| 18 November 2009 New recommendations on IFC Performance Standards Review from BIC partners The Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES) and Friends of the Earth Japan have released a joint set of recommendations to the IFC for the ongoing review of their Policy on Social and Environmental Stability and the Policy on Disclosure of Information 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 Update \| 29 October 2009 Civil society sounds off on IFC policy in Istanbul The Annual Meetings of the World Bank/IMF in Istanbul were the site of the first in-person consultation for the IFC Social and Environmental Policy Review. This BIC article published by the Huffington Post discusses several key issues raised during the consultation. In addition to the in-person consultations, the IFC is hosting online discussions, including one on Wednesday, November 4. Read more Update \| 24 October 2009 BNDES has invested $4.8 billion in the beef processing sector BNDES has invested close to $R 5 bilion in the last two years as shareholders in the largest beef shippers, including JBS Friboi and Bertin. In Bertin alone, BNDES has purchased 27% equity position. Read more Press Release \| 6 October 2009 PRESS RELEASE: IFC launches civil society consultations in Istanbul Civil society has voiced concerns regarding the Bank’s social and environmental sustainability policies. 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 \| 8 September 2009 IFC launches website dedicated to policy review IFC officially begins the review of its Performance Standards with launch of website. Read more Update \| 10 August 2009 CSOs offer critique of IFC's review of Performance Standards implementation DC civil society issue critique highlighting issues surrounding the implementation of IFC's Policy and Performance Standards and ambiguities with review process Read more Update \| 29 July 2009 Civil society demands community input into IFC policy review Nearly 150 CSOs write to IFC urging consultations with individuals and communities directly impacted by its projects as it reviews three years of implementation of the Performance Standards. Read more Update \| 7 July 2009 Rights and Development: What progress at the world's largest aid agency? A new article by Dr. Korinna Horta of the Environmental Defense Fund outlines the World Bank's commitment to human rights to date and advocates that the institution integrate a human rights approach into its own policies and programs. Read more Update \| 28 June 2009 IFC & Climate: When the learning curve is long After an abrupt about-face, an agency frets about its footprint 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 Environmental & Social Policies International Finance Corporation Stay Informed! Sign up for our e-newsletters. SignUp

	Last updated 09 February 2012 © 2012 Bank Information Center Website content may be freely reproduced as long as BIC is credited as the source.

Site by CaudillWeb