Accountability

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US to IFIs: whistleblowers welcome

5 April 2012

A provision recently passed by the US Congress requires the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, the World Bank’s middle-income country arm), the African Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank to make “substantial progress” towards implementing “best practices for the protection of whistleblowers from retaliation” before the US contributes more funding to their capital base. A 2007 study by consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers showed that whistleblowers were the initial means of detecting economic crimes in 43 per cent of cases. The new regulations are intended to contribute to improving accountability and reducing corruption in the development industry.