Ethiopia has said that it will not cooperate in a proposed investigation by the World Bank’s accountability mechanism, the Inspection Panel (IP), into a programme linked to the Bank that according to the indigenous peoples filing the complaint led to “forced villagisation” (see Update 82). A spokesperson for the Ethiopian prime minster said in May that they “are not going to cooperate” with the IP, calling it “a panel that likes to impose its mostly fictitious findings on the decision-making process of the World Bank.” David Pred of US-based NGO Inclusive Development International said: “I don’t see how the Bank could justifiably continue supporting Ethiopia if the government simply rejects outright any semblance of accountability.” A Bank board meeting to discuss the eligibility of the case has been postponed from mid March to mid July.