World Bank– Civil Society Engagement

1 World bank Civil Society Engagement Review of Fiscal Years 2007 to 2009. World bank . Civil Society Engagement Review of Fiscal Years 2007 to 2009. Executive Summary Civil Society Team The World bank 1818 H Street, THE World bank . Mail Stop: MC9-903. Washington, 20433. USA. Phone: (202) 473-1840. Fax: (202) 522-2241. E-mail: Executive Summary S. everal trends became more apparent during extensive and substantive stakeholder policy con- the last three years in terms of broader bank sultations to date. At the country level, dialogue Civil Society relations. Civil Society engage- and consultations also continued to expand in ment in bank operations is evolving from being country assistance strategies (92 percent of full institutionally based to being more issue oriented. Most Country Assistance Strategies [CASs] approved), Civil Society organizations (CSOs) interacting with and poverty reduction strategy papers (84 percent the bank seem to be shifting their advocacy stance of full Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers [PRSPs].)

2 From a do-no-harm to a do-good approach that seeks to approved). influence the bank to further adopt socially just and The International Finance Corporation (IFC). environmentally sustainable development approach- also intensified its dialogue and relations with Civil es. Engagement with specific constituencies, such as Society over the past three years. Dialogue with Civil indigenous peoples, labor unions, parliamentarians, Society occurred on topics such as the IFC's Annual persons with disabilities, and youth, also continued Reports and performance standards. IFC also during this period, with a shift toward mainstream- expanded its Civil Society Engagement work to the ing this work within bank operations. country level by hiring a Civil Society specialist in bank Civil Society policy dialogue at the global the Brazil Office. The Multilateral Investment Guar- level continued to both expand and become more antee Agency's (MIGA) Engagement with Civil soci- consolidated over the period under review.

3 This ety has largely focused on consultations about expansion was reflected in the growing number of proposed new global policies on social and envi- CSOs attending the Annual and Spring Meetings ronmental sustainability and disclosure of infor- and the expansion of policy sessions during the mation, as well as on individual projects. Civil Society Policy Forum. In a bid to ensure The Inspection Panel (IP) for the World bank greater participation by CSO representatives from and the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO). developing countries at the meetings, the bank and for IFC and MIGA are independent recourse mech- the International Monetary Fund instituted the anisms for affected people by projects supported by Civil Society Sponsorship Program and began the World bank Group. Both the Panel and CAO. inviting Civil Society chief executive officers to maintained close contact with the complainants, attend the meetings. President Zoellick also con- affected communities, and local CSOs.

4 During the vened a series of policy roundtables with Civil soci- last three years, the IP received 12 requests for ety leaders on the food and financial crises, which inspection, and the CAO received 45 complaints. were characterized by a frank, substantive, and con- Members and staffs of these institutions partici- structive exchange of views. pated regularly in outreach events geared to CSOs. Dialogue occurred on several important policy World bank commitment to broaden and deep- areas that were emerging during the last three years, en Civil Society Engagement has also led to scaling including urban water, odious debt, and health up civic Engagement and social accountability. policy. Important global policy review consulta- New opportunities for partnerships at the global tions also took place on issues such as governance, level emerged at the corporate and sectoral levels climate change, and information disclosure. Con- with the adoption of the GAC program and initia- sultations on the governance and anticorruption tives such as the Climate Investment Funds.

5 Civil (GAC) strategy involved more than 3,200 represen- Society involvement in bank -financed operations tatives from government, parliaments, Civil Society , continued to be on an upward trend during fiscal media, private sector, and other stakeholders in 48 years 2007 09 with 75 percent of International countries, and was considered one of the most bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). xv and IDA loans report- The bank continued to intensify its relations ing Civil Society engage- with Civil Society at the regional and country levels. ment. Participation in At the regional level, the new Vice President for the bank 's development Africa facilitated policy dialogue between CSOs policy lending is also and regional intergovernmental bodies; the Vice on an upward trend. President in East Asia hosted a regional workshop International and local with CSOs to discuss bank regional strategies; and, NGOs and community- in Eastern Europe, the bank worked with donor based organizations agencies to promote the consolidation of Civil soci- (CBOs) have been key ety.

6 In the United States, the Civil Society Team Reception with CSOs during the 2008 Spring partners in the bank 's (CST) continued to work closely with advocacy- Meetings in Washington, DC (April 2008) efforts to respond to based CSOs while launching a series of technical the global food crisis at workshops with InterAction to exchange informa- the country level. Under the World bank 's $2 bil- tion and lessons on local-level service provision. lion Global Food Crisis Response Program, inter- In Europe, the bank continued to have ongoing national or local CBOs are supporting project policy dialogue with leading Civil Society networks implementation in 13 countries. and CSOs in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the bank funding of Civil Society development efforts United Kingdom, and many other countries. The through various funding mechanisms (such as the programmatic partnership with Coordination Sud Civil Society Fund and Development Marketplace) in France was renewed, and the bank is supporting continued strong during this period.

7 The Extractive the establishment of the International NGO Forum, Industries Transparency Fund partnered with an an initiative representing over 100 national NGO. international CSO to fund strategic revenue trans- platforms from some 80 countries. In Japan, the parency initiatives in 15 countries. Working with bank organized a series of high-level policy dia- NGOs is a prime feature of the Multi-Country HIV/ logues with Japanese CSOs on climate change, AIDS Program for Africa, which has funded nearly Africa, and disabilities. 49,000 grassroots CSOs. Successful examples of Engagement with specific constituencies, such bank -funded, government Civil Society , operation- as labor unions, parliamentarians, persons with al collaboration at the country level include the disabilities, and youth, also continued during this Northeast Rural Poverty Reduction Project in Brazil period, with a shift toward mainstreaming this and the Kecamatan Development Project in Indo- work within bank operations.

8 This was apparent in nesia. the renewed efforts to integrate disability, youth, As the World bank Group's unit for knowledge social inclusion, and gender perspectives in bank sharing, the World bank Institute organized and research and projects. A Youth@Annual Meetings delivered a number of training and capacity-build- program was held during the 2008 Annual Meet- ing programs with a strong Civil Society component ings, culminating in a draft work plan to guide over the last three years. Most of the programs were future collaboration. A week-long series of meet- geared to generating grassroots demand for better ings with the trade unions on the heels of the food accountability, transparency, and governance at the and financial crises underscored the importance of local level. The Development Communications working closely together in tackling global chal- Division continued to improve the capability of lenges. The bank is supporting the Global Partner- governments to communicate and engage more ship for Disability and Development Secretariat effectively with Civil Society on reform programs and working to build awareness of the ground- and projects.

9 The bank has extended electronic breaking UN Convention on the Rights of Persons outreach on the Internet through the development with Disabilities. of a multilingual Web program, including the Civil Although the bank and CSOs have developed Society Web page, which continues to expand its more effective instruments and venues for policy international readership. The Civil Society Team exchanges, the challenge continues to find ways to collaborated with World Learning to offer training streamline and scale up institutional partnerships to the bank staff on how to engage Civil Society and and funding mechanisms. To address existing con- to CSOs on bank Group structure, policies, and straints and to assess the quality of bank Civil projects. Society relations, the CST is currently undertaking a xvi review to produce a strategic priorities paper. The back, a Strategic Priorities Paper has been drafted new review process has involved an initial internal that will provide what is hoped to be a useful road- and external consultative process for the drafting of map for working to both intensify and scale up the strategy paper.

10 On the basis of this initial feed- bank Civil Society relations in the coming years. xvii High School students performing the Poverty Requiem during Annual Meetings in Washington, DC (October 2007). World bank Civil Society Engagement Review of Fiscal Years 2007 to 2009. World bank . Civil Society Engagement Review of Fiscal Years 2007 to 2009. Civil Society Team The World bank 1818 H Street, THE World bank . Mail Stop: MC9-903. Washington, 20433. USA. Phone: (202) 473-1840. Fax: (202) 522-2241. E-mail.