The private insurance arm of the Bank Group, MIGA, adopted environmental assessment and disclosure policies in 1999 (pledging that its projects would also comply with other safeguards then in operation at the IFC). Since 2002, MIGA has been applying its own "interim issue-specific safeguard policies" (in addition to its environmental assessment policy) on:
- Natural Habitats
- Forestry
- Pest Management
- Dam Safety
- Projects on International Waterways
- Involuntary Resettlement
- Physical Cultural Resources
- Indigenous Peoples
MIGA claims that the purpose of these additional safeguards is to determine "the soundness of a project's contribution to the development of the host country." However, it is difficult to know how MIGA makes this assessment or to gauge MIGA's compliance with its own policies because it discloses very little information about the projects it supports and virtually no records of the due diligence it conducts on prospective guarantees.
It is expected that MIGA will revise its current safeguard policies in the wake of IFC's adoption of its "Performance Standards."
For more information on MIGA's safeguard policies, check the MIGA website.