IF-EYE Newsletter
Issue #40
Monday, April 20, 2009
A publication of the Bank Information Center (BIC)
Welcome to the April 20, 2009 issue of the IF-EYE – the Bank Information Center’s monthly synthesis of key developments concerning international financial institutions. This issue spotlights the World Bank's ongoing review of their Policy on Disclosure of Information, the upcoming World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings, and the special Spring Meetings edition of the Bretton Woods Update. Please send suggestions, contributions and subscription requests to: info@bicusa.org. Thanks for reading!
in this issue:
1. SPOTLIGHT: World Bank Transparency Review continues
2. SPOTLIGHT: 2009 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings
3. SPOTLIGHT: Special Spring Meetings edition of the the Bretton Woods Update
4. Civil society updates
5. IFI updates
6. Remembering Smitu Kothari
7. Announcements and Resources
1. SPOTLIGHT: World Bank Transparency Review continues
4/20/2009 World Bank
As the World Bank's information disclosure policy review continues, the consultations with civil society are underway. The first one took place in Moscow on April 13th and while the consultations were originally meant to end on May 8th, the dates have been pushed forward by a few weeks.
See schedule of consultations (World Bank website)
On April 25, 2009, the World Bank will host a consultation in Washington, DC as part of the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings. The consultation is open to any civil society organization that has received accreditation to participate in the Spring Meetings. For more information on this event, see 2009 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings.
Submit your comments on the Disclosure Policy to the World Bank (World Bank website)
Contact BIC at gtiupdates@bicusa.org if you would like to receive further GTI updates or would like more information on civil society initiatives regarding the World Bank transparency policy review.
Read more (BIC website)
Read the latest gti update:
GTI World Bank Update 3: Brief comments on World Bank "Approach Paper" by Bruce Jenkins, Bank Information Center, April 9, 2009 (PDF 129KB)
2. SPOTLIGHT: 2009 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings
4/20/2009 World Bank & International Monetary Fund
The 2009 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be held over the weekend of April 25 and 26, 2009 at the World Bank and IMF Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
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 23 to Sunday, April 26, 2009.
All CSO representatives interested in participating in the Spring Meetings must have obtained formal accreditation by April 13, 2009.
There are a whole series of events during this forum that can be found on BIC's website. Arabic, French and Spanish interpretation will be provided at limited sessions found here. The events information is drawn from IFIWatchnet.org so please post your events on that website to ensure that they’ll be included in these emails.
Read more (BIC website)
3. SPOTLIGHT: Special Spring Meetings edition of the the Bretton Woods Update
4/17/2009 Bretton Woods Project
Read Bretton Woods Update No.65, a co-production of the Bretton Woods Project, with Afrodad, the Bank Information Center, Choike and Eurodad.
this issue includes:
G20 ‘trillion’ dollar magic trick
World Bank and IMF launch disclosure reviews
REDD and the rights of Indigenous Peoples
World Bank still supporting carbon-intensive future
IFC's role in Yemen Mining
Latin America: Return to the IMF or reinforce alternatives?
and more...
View complete update
Bretton Woods Update #65 (Bretton Woods Project website)
4. Civil Society updates
Voices struggling to be heard: Access to information and the World Bank
4/20/2009 Bank Information Center
The Huffington Post publishes a BIC Op-Ed that urges the World Bank to adopt a modern information disclosure policy
read full article
Voices struggling to be heard: Access to information and the World Bank, by Chad Dobson and Rebecca Harris, April 20, 2009 (Huffington Post)
World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility meeting in Panama
4/6/2009 Bank Information Center
The Bank Information Center served as an NGO observer at the second meeting of the Participants Committee of the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) in March in Gamboa, Panama. The FCPF was established to help countries reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) in order to slow global warming.
Read more (BIC website)
Accountability and Participation at the World Bank & IDB
3/20/2009 Bank Information Center
A recent Bank Information Center study that was commissioned by CARE International UK, shows that the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank have fallen far short of matching project design with discourse when it comes to promoting a culture of accountability through their own project loans.
Read the full study
Accountability and Participation in the Design of World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank Projects: Starting Down the Road from Rhetoric to Action, by Vince McElhinny et al, Bank Information Center, November 2008 (PDF, 812KB)
Read more (BIC website)
5. IFI updates
World Bank to lend US$14bn to Latin America in FY09
4/15/2009 World Bank
The World Bank plans to increase lending to Latin America to supplement decreasing levels of foreign direct investment in the region.
read full article
World Bank to lend US$14bn to Latin America in FY09, by Jorge Porter, April 15, 2009 (Business News Americas)
IDB financial losses and glaring lack of accountability invalidate replenishment request
3/22/2009 Inter-American Development Bank
Read documentation about the Inter-American Development Bank's (IDB) recent financial losses, and read an article arguing that the IDB should not receive public funding unless it becomes fully accountable to member governments and the public.
Read more (BIC website)
6. Remembering Smitu Kothari
Our close friend, Smitu Kothari passed away in Delhi on Monday, March 23, 2009 from cardiac arrest. He was 59 years old.
Smitu was a dear friend to many of us, a source of tireless inspiration. A leading social and environmental activist in India, Smitu possessed the unique quality to truly bridge the local-global dimensions of our collective social justice movements.
A scholar-activist, Smitu had been an important voice in the movement against large dams, particularly among the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement). He founded Lokayan and Intercultural Resources in Delhi and was a visiting professor at Princeton and Cornell. He worked tirelessly against elite-driven development models and was a prominent critic of the policies and practices of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
Smitu had been involved with BIC since the beginning in 1986 and served on BIC’s Board of Directors since 2006. We are deeply honored by his kind service and the forthright perspectives Smitu brought to our organization. Our heartfelt condolences go to Smitu's friends and family.
Read article
In Memoriam: NBA salutes the life-long contribution of Smitu Kothari to people's movements, Narmada Bachao Andolan, March 23, 2009 (Friend of River Narmada website)
7. Announcements and Resources
Join the Disclosure Policy Facebook page
BIC has created the World Bank Disclosure Review Facebook page where you can find others in your region who are interested in this topic, and join in on the discussions taking place.