Civil society press for review of Inspection Panel and Compliance Advisor Ombudsman to result in reserve funds, community-led monitoring systems and greater power for accountability mechanisms.
Compliance mechanisms
Rights
News
World Bank-funded Kenya company targets complainants
Community representatives involved in a World Bank Inspection Panel complaint have been targeted with a court injunction by a Bank-funded company.
IFI governance
Analysis
IFC 3.0: superficial upgrades, same problems?
As the IFC sets out a new strategy, CAO and CSO reports have raised further criticism over its investment in financial intermediaries, and a new law suit challenges its immunity.
Rights
Commentary
World Bank continues colonial legacy on Assam’s tea plantations
CAO report validates 2013 complaint by Indian NGOs on IFC investment in colonial tea plantation in Assam. The IFC's action plan is very limited in scope.
IFI governance
Background
From accountability to action – the role of management
Notes from a side event at the IMF/World Bank 2016 annual meetings on the role of management in ensuring development banks responds appropriately to community complaints.
Rights
News
Indigenous peoples lodge complaint over Bangladesh World Bank project
Indigenous peoples in Bangladesh have submitted a complaint to the Inspection Panel regarding a World Bank funded transport feasibility study.
Finance
News
World Bank withholds new lending for Uganda
The World Bank has announced that it is withholding new lending for Uganda, following the cancellation of a criticised road project.
IFI governance
News
World Bank accused of reporting false consent on Nepal power line project
Communities affected by a World Bank-funded power line project in Nepal have accused the Bank of reporting false information on consent to the project.
IFI governance
Analysis
The World Bank’s failed accountability experiment: Why the Inspection Panel’s ‘Pilot’ should dead end
The Inspection Panel's Pilot is criticised for undermining the Panel’s authority, allowing World Bank management to circumvent compliance investigations, and perpetuating existing power imbalances between the Bank, its clients and communities.
IFI governance
News
World Bank accountability mechanisms look to improve complainant protection
In response to increasing concern about the safety of human rights and environmental defenders, the World Bank’s accountability mechanisms look to improve complainant protection against retaliation and intimidation.
Featured briefings
15 August 2019
The World Bank and gender equality: Development Policy Financing
New BWP briefing offers critical gender analysis of World Bank lending instrument to borrowing countries.
30 July 2019
The Bretton Woods Observer: Summer 2019
30 July 2019
The Bretton Woods Institutions and the second crisis of multilateralism
At 75, the World Bank and IMF face a crisis of multilateralism in no small part of their own making as failed economic policies have resulted in skepticism of the international order they helped to create.