Accountability

News

World Bank revising governance and anti-corruption strategy

7 February 2012

The Bank has opened an online consultation on proposed revisions to its governance and anticorruption strategy, which “will redefine and re-position its governance and anti-corruption work.” The consultation paper argues that recent events such as the Arab Spring and the ‘Occupy’ movement are indicative of a new citizens’ agenda for greater governmental transparency and engagement.

The Bank seeks to respond to this agenda “through enhancements to its own practices, corporate governance and its focus on anti-corruption.” It argues the Bank should stimulate the “demand-side” of governance, both through making better governance a requirement for Bank loan projects and through focusing on building capacity and support for reform, particularly through greater transparency and citizen engagement. It seeks to move away from advocating “best practices” towards problem-based approaches that take into account the political economy of the country in question.

The consultations on the strategy paper will run until mid February with the final paper to be published in late March.