The World Bank's Inspection Panel compliance body received two complaints in December relating to the Sustainable Development of Natural Resources Project in Afghanistan.
Accountability
Accountability
News
A forest of failures
A leaked copy of an evaluation of the Bank's forest strategy criticises the Bank's failure to address social and environmental goals. Further criticism has also been raised over the Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF).
Accountability
Analysis
The IFIs in 2012: year in review
2012 saw continued crisis in Europe, but also a turning point in the leadership selection of the World Bank. The choice of Dr Jim Yong Kim as new president, who brings a background in public health in developing countries, marked the first ever selection of a development practitioner to lead the institution. However, large bureaucracies are slow to change, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) found out with its inability to extricate itself from the morass developing in the eurozone.
Finance
Commentary
Hastily introduced World Bank projects threaten to undermine peace process in Burma
In late 2012 the World Bank announced its first lending to Burma in over 20 years. The concern among many grassroots activists, however, is that the areas to which this money will be funnelled are still in the earliest stages of the peace process, and that huge influxes of money will undermine efforts for sustainable peace.
Accountability
News
Kim's World Bank strategy: real change or "PR exercise"?
The World Bank's new president Jim Yong Kim set out his vision for the institution at the Bank's annual meetings in mid October, but his desire to build a 'solutions' bank and end absolute poverty comes with few details or big changes at the Bank. Next year's replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA) will put Kim's vision to the test.
Accountability
News
CAO to facilitate dispute resolution over Chad-Cameroon pipeline
In November, the Compliance Advisor/ Ombudsman (CAO), the accountability mechanism for the Bank's private sector arm, published its assessment of a 2011 complaint from a Chadian group of NGOs on behalf of local inhabitants and communities affected by a pipeline in Chad.
Accountability
Background
World Bank corporate scorecard
Every six months the World Bank issues a corporate scorecard, which is submitted each Autumn to the Bank's annual meetings. The scorecard is supposed to "provide a snapshot of the Bank's overall performance, including its business modernisation, in the context of development results." It is compiled by Bank staff to "facilitat[e] strategic dialogue between management and the board on progress made and areas that need attention."
Accountability
News
IFC's Oyu Tolgoi mine prompts complaint
In October, Mongolian herdsmen took a complaint to the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman, the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) accountability mechanism, against the Oyu Tolgoi mine being considered for World Bank support.
Accountability
News
Pakistan loan talks despite debt cancellation calls
Talks between the IMF and Pakistan under post-programme monitoring resumed in September. Despite confidence amongst Pakistan officials in their country's capacity to repay its loans, the IMF fears the need for a second loan early next year
Accountability
News
Call for freeze on World Bank 'land grabs'
As Oxfam called on the World Bank to freeze large scale land acquisitions, the Bank's new agriculture strategy remained under wrap. Concerns have also been raised about ongoing initiatives on 'climate-smart agriculture' and the development of Doing Business in Agriculture.
