Praise for improvements to World Bank transparency have been tempered by ongoing criticism of weaknesses in implementation. In October, NGO Publish What You Fund released its first Aid transparency assessment which placed the World Bank highest of the 30 donors studied, reflecting recent improvements in its disclosure policy (see Update 68). The assessment ranked donors based on their “overall commitment to aid transparency; transparency of aid to recipient government; and transparency of aid to civil society.”

However concerns about implementation of the Bank’s disclosure policy (see Update 72) continue to be raised. An October review by NGO Freedominfo of the release of summaries of executive board discussions found that they have become “substantially shorter and less comprehensive” than before the disclosure policy, and they “do not cover all matters discussed at each Board meeting.” It notes that summaries have not yet been published for all board meetings, and that “they are being released only for board discussions about projects, but not about discussions on broad policies, such as those on country partnership strategies.”