Publication: BIC launches new manual for community-led project monitoring

This post is from Bank Information Center - Amplifying Local Voices to Democratize Development.

The risks associated with development projects often fall disproportionately on the communities in close proximity to project implementation sites, communities that in some cases are the same groups that projects aim to benefit and serve. These local communities are uniquely placed to see and feel project risks and impacts on a day to day basis, and to monitor and report on project implementation more closely and regularly than is possible for development implementers and financiers. Communities organizing themselves to conduct local monitoring can therefore benefit both community members who wish to see projects implemented in a safe and beneficial way, as well as project implementers and financiers, who wish to see projects implemented efficiently and according to design.

Local monitoring mechanisms have the potential to ensure the effective implementation of different risk mitigation programs; in addition to strengthening the capacity of project-affected communities to effectively participate, monitor and report on, and advocate for timely project adjustments before things go wrong.

The Bank Information Center has developed a manual for local monitoring that presents a process and tools for communities to set up their own local monitoring mechanisms. This manual is designed to be used by communities and community organizations who wish to monitor the implementation of development projects that have the potential to impact or benefit them.  The manual addresses such questions as:

• What is local monitoring?
• How can we gather information about a project given the particular phase in the project cycle?
• How can we best learn about and make use of the available legal and policy frameworks at the national and international level?
• How can we set up a monitoring system that can engage project stakeholders and responsible parties?
• How can we identify indicators that can be easily monitored and documented on a regular basis?
• How can we “close the feedback loop”on monitoring by identifying and negotiating with the government and financial institutions who receive and process local monitoring reports?

The manual is currently available in Arabic, and an English version is forthcoming.

Read, download, and share the manual here:

For the good of all: A community guide to monitoring development projects, Bank Information Center, 2016 (Arabic)

• High-quality print edition

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This article by Julia Radomski originally appeared on bicusa.org on November 22, 2016 at 11:23PM

Event report: Securing Tenure Rights to Protect Forests and Combat Climate Change

This post is from Bank Information Center - Amplifying Local Voices to Democratize Development.

SECURING TENURE RIGHTS TO PROTECT FORESTS AND COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE: EXPLORING THE ROLE OF DEVELOPMENT FINANCE
Hosted by Bank Information Center, Oxfam International, Rights and Resources Initiative and Forest Peoples Programme

Objectives

Held on October 11, 2016, this event represented a unique opportunity for participants to come together and strategize around the role of development finance in realizing the collective tenure rights of indigenous peoples and local communities to address poverty reduction, land administration, deforestation and climate change.

The preliminary goal of the Land Rights Now: A Global Call to Action on Indigenous and Community Land Rights (LRN) is to double the area of land recognized as owned or controlled by indigenous peoples and local communities by 2020. The event sought to delve deeper into how development finance can be targeted, coordinated and improved to help achieve this aim. Kysseline Chérestal, Land Policy Advisor at Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI)1 and Land Rights Now Steering Group member gave the audience an overview of the LRN campaign, a coordinating mechanism to spearhead joint action to promote increased recognition of collective tenure rights. RRI’s 2015 analysis, Who Owns the World’s Land demonstrated that globally, Indigenous Peoples and local communities have legal ownership only to 10 percent of their land, despite having customary rights to over 50 percent of the world’s land. This extraordinary gap puts their economic and social well-being at great risk and places them first in line to face the environmental crises resulting from climate change and the degradation of natural resources. Needless to say, women are more adversely impacted in these situations.

The presentations from participants from Kenya, Cameroon, Peru and Mexico lent urgency to the need for finance that puts land tenure at the heart of its approach to alleviating external pressures and supporting livelihoods derived from forests and other natural ecosystems.

Presenters from Peru also made the compelling argument that securing collective land tenure should be both a goal in itself and a first step in guaranteeing that forest communities can build sustainable local economies.

Outcome

Panel 1: The Case for Collective Tenure Rights

This panel addressed the challenges that confound wider recognition of the tenure rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, and explored best practices for supporting collective tenure in development projects and policies. Roberto Espinoza, Climate Advisor for the Amazonian indigenous umbrella organization Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP) in Perú opened with a reminder that “where there are people with rights, there will be living forests forever and for everyone” and encouraged additional support through dedicated grant mechanisms, specifically through the Forest Investment Program (FIP) framework that provides funding directly to indigenous and community groups to increase indigenous territorial governance, management and titling of indigenous lands. Helen Ding shared ground-breaking new research from a World Resources Institute report2 on the costs and benefits of securing and maintaining land tenure. This included data showing that tenure-secure indigenous forestlands provide global carbon-mitigation benefits in Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia that amount to a total of US$25-34 billion over the next 20 years.3 Yator Kiptum of the Sengwer Indigenous Peoples Programme, whose forest community experienced forced evictions as a result of a World Bank-funded programme in Kenya, emphasized that rights need not be in conflict with conservation, and called on development finance institutions to support legislation, policies and laws that promote the rights of forest indigenous peoples to own and occupy their ancestral lands in forests/protected areas. Klaus Deininger, Lead Economist in the World Bank’s Development Research Group touted the potential of the Bank’s Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF) as a model in the development finance arena to help policymakers design and monitor land reforms at the national level and prioritize local expertise and reporting.

Speaker list:

• Roberto Espinoza- Climate Advisor- Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP)
• Helen Ding- Environmental Economist, World Resources Institute (WRI)
• Klaus Deininger- Lead Economist, Development Research Group, World Bank
• Yator Kiptum- Executive Director/Secretary, Sengwer Indigenous Peoples Programme (SIPP) Pictured above
• Josh Lichtenstein- Program Manager, Rainforest Foundation US (Moderator)

Panel 2: Experiences in Management of Forests and other Natural Resources by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities

This panel highlighted indigenous and local expertise in forestry and climate change mitigation/adaptation and featured recommendations from the community level. Raúl Benet of the Consejo Civil Mexicano para la Silvicultura Sostenible (CCMSS) in México urged that development finance actors shift funds from reforestation to community forestry initiatives that uphold land rights and elevate community voices in public policymaking. Cécile Ndjebet, Women’s Observer of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and President of the African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests (REFACOF) stressed the necessity of a gendered approach to forest and land tenure issues, which requires recognition of women’s contribution to halting deforestation and women’s participation in decision-making at all levels. Henderson Rengifo, President of AIDESEP in Perú emphasized the need for support not just of indigenous tenure rights, but of indigenous economies of ‘vida plena/ buen vivir’ or ‘full life/good living’, which involve diversified production, a holistic equilibrium between community, nature and culture, respect for reciprocity and equitable benefit sharing between all actors involved. Gerardo Segura of the World Bank described the current role of World Bank financing in supporting the indigenous and community management of resources as well as its plans for continued support through the Forest Action Plan.

Speaker list:

• Cécile Ndjebet- Women’s Observer, FCPF and President, African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests (REFACOF) Pictured above right
• Raúl Benet- Public Policy Coordinator, Consejo Civil Mexicano para la Silvicultura Sostenible (CCMSS) Pictured below right
• Gerardo Segura – Snr. Natural Resources Management Specialist, World Bank Pictured below far right
• Henderson Rengifo- President, Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP) Pictured below far left  John Garrison- Advisor to MICI, Inter-American Development Bank (Moderator) Pictured below left

Recommendations

The event culminated in multi-stakeholder breakout sessions in which participants were asked to develop collaboratively recommendations to embed collective land tenure issues more squarely within the broader development finance agenda.

Development finance agenda

• Development finance institutions (DFIs) to create and increase contributions to funding windows to channel direct investment to indigenous communities (eg the Dedicated Grant Mechanism, or DGM), with a focus on women’s contributions, so indigenous groups can lead their own successful land, forest and climate initiatives
• DFIs to change internal incentives for funding drivers of deforestation and land-grabbing to incentives that support indigenous and community land rights and economies
• DFIs to work together to increase coherence and coordination of donor support for indigenous economies
• DFIs to provide more support and focus on climate adaptation and women’s roles in achieving climate resilience
• DFIs to conduct further research on the benefits of securing indigenous and community tenure rights to inform their own policy and practice

Policy

• DFIs to incorporate legal, rights-based language in standards to protect the land tenure of indigenous and local communities
• DFIs to address safeguards loopholes in development policy lending and lending through financial intermediaries by applying strong land, forest and climate safeguards across lending instruments
• DFIs to strengthen and align safeguards across sectors and institutions to protect indigenous and community land rights
• DFIs to require assessment across sectors and institutions for existing indigenous and community land and forest tenure laws and frameworks as part of project design

Project design and implementation

• DFIs to work to increase support for territorial governance
• DFIs to increase financial support for government capacity-building on community land tenure issues
• DFIs to support governments in ensuring indigenous land titling and support for indigenous economies is integrated into national policies and plans
• DFIs to incorporate indigenous and community voices into project design, and particularly those of women
• Accountability mechanisms to increase their capacity to be able to address harm related to indigenous and community land and forest tenure issues

1 RRI co-convenes the LRN initiative with Oxfam and the International Land Coalition, as part of an emerging platform of tools and instruments to advance the tenure agenda. RRI also designed and established The Tenure Facility, a multi-stakeholder institution exclusively focused on securing land and resource rights for Indigenous Peoples and local communities; and the Interlaken Group, an ad-hoc group of company, investor, and civil society leaders that seeks to helps companies implement their commitments to land rights through a new Land and Forest Rights Guide.
2 Ding et al. 2016. Climate Benefits, Tenure Costs: The Economic Case for Securing Indigenous Land Rights in the Amazon, World Resources Institute, Washington DC. Retrieved from http://www.wri.org/publication/climate-benefits-tenure-costs
3 Ibid.

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This article by Julia Radomski originally appeared on bicusa.org on November 21, 2016 at 06:46PM

World Bank Secretly Funding Coal Explosion in Asia

This post is from Bank Information Center - Amplifying Local Voices to Democratize Development.

by Nezir Sinani, Europe and Central Asia Manager

The World Bank Group has secretly funded a coal boom in Asia despite announcing a conditional moratorium on such projects in 2013.

Earlier this year, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said, “If Asia implements the coal-based plans right now, I think we are finished.” Yet the World Bank continues to fund coal and other projects that have led to severe environmental damage and human rights abuses through multilayered financial transactions beyond the scrutiny of the public.

The IFC, the World Bank’s private-sector lending arm, is funding these projects through its highly opaque support for commercial banks, private equity funds and other financial intermediaries.

During a months-long investigation, Inclusive Development International, Bank Information Center and other human rights organizations, uncovered 91 harmful projects that the IFC is funding through the back door. Many are coal-fired power plants that are accelerating global climate change and deforestation. The research tackled only a small portion of the IFC’s sprawling financial-sector portfolio, doubtless leaving many projects uncovered. The findings strongly suggest that the problem is widespread and systemic.

Financial-sector lending represents a sea change in how the IFC does business. After decades of lending almost exclusively to companies and projects, the World Bank Group member is now outsourcing the bulk of its development work to for-profit financial institutions. Between 2011 and 2015, the IFC provided $40 billion to these financial intermediaries, who then invested the money as they saw fit, with little apparent oversight.

The results of the investigation, released during the World Bank annual meetings in October, reveal that projects and companies financed by IFC clients have forcibly evicted and impoverished tens of thousands of people. They have contributed to climate change, polluted the oceans and rivers, and threatened forests and endangered species. Activists who dare to resist them have been jailed, beaten and even murdered.

The projects come from a range of high-risk sectors, such as energy, agribusiness, mining, transportation and infrastructure. They are located in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The findings include some of the most notorious development projects in the world. Yet until now, the IFC’s involvement was unknown.

There is the proposed Rampal coal plant in Bangladesh, which will devastate the Sundarbans, the world’s largest remaining mangrove forest, and harm the lives of 2 million people. In Africa, the IFC is connected to some of the continent’s largest land grabs, including agribusiness plantations in Gabon, Mozambique and Ethiopia. In Southeast Asia, it is fueling a destructive coal boom and hydropower projects that have or will displace hundreds of thousands.

What’s arguably even more scandalous is how the IFC conceals where its financial-sector investments ultimately end up. The only way to find this information is to use expensive subscription-based financial databases and to painstakingly pore over company records, which places this critical information out of reach for most affected communities.

The exposé lays bare the IFC’s climate double-whammy: not only funding a boom in coal-fired power plants, but also tearing down the forests to mine the coal. It demonstrates how IFC lending in the financial sector is out of control and directly undermining President Kim’s climate pledges.

Over the next six months, the organizations will publish a series of investigative reports, entitled “Outsourcing Development: Lifting the Veil on the IFC’s Harmful Private-Sector Lending,” which follows the trail of IFC money and looks at how it impacts people on the ground in developing countries.

The first report examines the contribution of IFC intermediaries to climate change and the destruction of forests. “Disaster for Us and the Planet”: How the IFC is Funding a Coal Boom, reveals how IFC financial-sector clients have funded at least 41 coal projects since the World Bank announced its conditional moratorium on new coal funding.  These new projects have a combined capacity of over 56,000 megawatts. To put that in perspective, that’s the entire coal-generating capacity of Germany.

In the Philippines, the IFC is fueling a coal boom through two commercial banks, Rizal and BDO Unibank. After receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from the IFC, the banks have gone on to fund at least 20 new coal plants. The Philippines is consistently ranked among the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change, and local communities and campaigners are calling on their national government and investors to uphold the Philippines’ bold commitments in Paris and build a low carbon future, rather than locking the country into more dirty coal. One activist who paid the ultimate price for her campaigning was Gloria Capitan, murdered in July this year following her opposition to the massive coal expansion in Bataan, including three projects backed by IFC.

The IFC’s response to the report, cited in news agency AFP, came from Frederick Jones, an IFC spokesman: “It (the report) raises important long-term questions about how we need to create stronger markets for clean energy and create incentives for countries and the private sector not to invest in coal, but rather in renewable energy,” he said.

The best way for the IFC to help hasten that shift is to stop investing in banks that fund coal and other destructive projects and start bringing its existing financial sector investments into line with its Environmental and Social Performance Standards.

In a letter to Philippe le Houérou, the new boss of the IFC, Bibiano Rivera of the Philippines Movement for Climate Justice, together with groups in India and globally, called on him to listen to the calls of Gloria Capitan and her colleagues, and all those around the world who are struggling to prevent a climate catastrophe, by ensuring that the IFC’s new FI investments are coal-free.

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This article by Debbie Pierce originally appeared on bicusa.org on November 18, 2016 at 06:05PM

New and Improved IDA?

This post is from Bank Information Center - Amplifying Local Voices to Democratize Development.

The draft IDA18 Deputies’ Report—released to the public at the end of October and closed for public comment on Nov. 11—indicates the 18^th replenishment of IDA will result in several major changes to the way the World Bank operates in its poorest member countries. These changes are described in the report as “groundbreaking” and “transformational,” creating a “new and improved IDA.” However, many of the proposed structural changes to IDA and new commitments for measuring its progress over the next three years should be further strengthened and closely monitored to ensure this “new” IDA is in fact an improved one.

Not so New: IDA Negotiation Process

As in past replenishments, the draft Deputies Report summarizes the priorities identified during the IDA18 negotiations, and will serve as the basis for the final replenishment agreement, set to be adopted in early 2017, which  identifies priorities and lays out a financing package for the concessional lending window. IDA “deputies” are typically representatives from the finance ministries of IDA member countries that meet every three years to negotiate the replenishment of IDA funds. Civil society is not included in these negotiations.

For decades, the IDA replenishment process has provided a platform for donor governments to advance development policy reforms—both at the World Bank as well as across the development finance landscape. Accordingly, the draft IDA18 Deputies Report reflects the broader development agenda agreed to by its member states in 2015, including the Paris Agreement and the SDGs. For example, climate change was chosen as a “special theme” for the replenishment period, and the draft Report makes several references to how IDA can support the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions ((I)NDCs) submitted by its member states in Paris last year.

What is new?

• Accountability to IDA Donors

The Draft Report includes key structural changes to IDA that could impact how member states shape its agenda in future replenishment cycles. In September, IDA obtained a AAA credit rating, allowing it to raise money on capital markets, thereby reducing its reliance on donors as a primary source of funds going forward. While the ability to “optimize” its balance sheet will dramatically increase the amount of funds available to the world’s poorest countries, it could also weaken the ability of donors to advance priorities and reform efforts through IDA replenishment negotiations by using their contributions as leverage.

• Private Sector Financing

The report also indicates that $2.5 billion of the total IDA package will be made available to the private sector. While the increase in the overall financing package means that current levels of IDA funding will not necessarily be diverted to private corporations, the introduction of an IFC-MIGA private sector window is significant given the tension that can exist between the World Bank’s mission and that of the private sector. In addition, the recent trend at IFC toward funneling public funds into commercial banks, private equity and hedge funds, where it has little control over how the money is spent and the standards that are applied to it, is concerning. Making public funds available for this type of lending rather than the sectors in which IDA has demonstrated value such as health and education is, at the very least, problematic and should be carefully considered by IDA deputies during this final negotiation stage.

• Refugees

In addition to new investments in the private sector, the Report indicates IDA may also be entering into new territory by providing assistance for borrowers hosting significant populations of refugees. The World Bank is diving into this type of financing for its middle income borrowers as well through the Global Concessional Financing Facility, which enjoys significant support from IDA donors including the United States. The GCFF is part of a larger effort by the Bank to wade into humanitarian work through its Global Crisis Response Platform, which aims to address various global crises including pandemics and natural disasters. While such crises undoubtedly impact and exacerbate global poverty levels, these sectors have long been considered outside the mission and scope of the World Bank’s work. In addition to building up its own expertise in these areas, it will also need to ensure it is consulting early and often with civil society as well as engaging refugee and host communities appropriately to ensure these funds are spent wisely.

What can still be improved?

• Citizen Engagement

IDA Replenishment is an important opportunity for the World Bank to review not only its own progress toward reaching its goals over the last three years, but also to honestly reflect on its impact to people and planet. To that end, we welcome the promising commitments in the draft Deputies Report to enhance the Bank’s efforts around “citizen engagement.” However, the way in which those commitments are currently framed in the Report puts them at risk of remaining box-checking exercises rather than meaningful measurements for how the World Bank engages project beneficiaries as well as affected communities. The indicator intended to track “beneficiary feedback” in projects not only appears to exclude feedback from people and communities that are negatively impacted—as opposed to a project’s intended beneficiaries—but also only measures the number of projects with an indicator on beneficiary feedback at the design phase. There is no measurement for how many projects actually implement or monitor such feedback nor any way to track whether such feedback was addressed by the World Bank or its borrowers’ implementing agencies.

• Forests and Land Use

We also welcome the renewed focus on climate change in this year’s replenishment negotiations—a carryover “special theme” from IDA17. The World Bank has made some progress in mainstreaming efforts to combat climate change throughout the institution, and IDA18 presents a crucial opportunity for the Bank to be even more ambitious on this issue. However, the goals and targets in the Draft Report must be clarified to explicitly address the link between land use and climate change, and include more robust commitments to protect forests—a cost-effective and critical way to mitigate the impacts of climate change that many IDA borrowers demonstrated clear demand for in their (I)NDCs. Vague language around continuing to work on “innovative solutions for forest-based low carbon development” with the IFC and various trust funds should also be complemented by stronger and more specific commitments to reduce the World Bank Group’s own impact on forests caused by its investments in other sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, and mining.

The new governance special theme should also prioritize secure tenure rights for forest-dependent communities. Securing tenure rights is not only as a proven way to protect forests and combat climate change, but also a key tenet of good governance that should be prioritized in IDA18.

• Public Participation in the Negotiation Process

More generally, the final agreement must respond to the calls of civil society and communities around the world that stand to lose most if IDA funds are not used to their full potential. To that end, we have been disappointed at the minimal efforts to include public participation in the negotiation process. Although the second negotiation meeting occurred in Myanmar—a country the World Bank only just recently reengaged in after years of international isolation and repressive military rule—the Bank did not use the opportunity to consult with local civil society or communities that would be most directly affected by the significant changes proposed in the Deputies Report. The Bank did make public the draft Deputies Report for comment, but only for a two-week period that closed last week—leaving little time for civil society to digest the 157-page report and provide meaningful feedback on it.

Although it is late in the game to make changes to the process for IDA18, there is still time to improve its record on public participation. The fourth and final negotiation is set to take place in December in Indonesia, which is an important emerging middle income country with an engaged civil society community that the Bank should include in its discussions around these key issues—particularly climate change, forests and land use.

Verdict? Jury is Still Out….

IDA has the capacity to effect real change for the poorest and most marginalized, but changes to its financing commitments are still necessary for the new IDA to be considered truly improved. We look forward to reviewing the final agreement and monitoring the new commitments and areas for IDA financing over the next three years to ensure IDA funds are used for truly sustainable development that benefits both people and the planet.

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This article by Julia Radomski originally appeared on bicusa.org on November 14, 2016 at 07:26PM

نماذج لادوات الرصد والمتابعة: التوثيق والتحقق من الآثار في مشروع تيتان للأسمنت

This post is from Bank Information Center - Amplifying Local Voices to Democratize Development.

صورة من صفحة “وادي القمر غرب إسكندرية” على فايسبوك

عندما يواجه مجتمع ما آثارا سلبية نتيجة تنفيذ مشروع تنمية، فإن التوثيق الممنهج  والمستمر لمؤشرات يمكن التحقق منها لهذه الآثار يمكن أن يدعم جهود هذا المجتمع لمحاسبة منفذي مشروع التنمية على أساس المعايير الخاصة بهم، ويمكن أن يضفي الشرعية على مطالبته بتغييرات في المشروع. يقوم السكان في حي وادي القمر في غرب مدينة الإسكندرية المصرية بشكل ممنهج بتوثيق الآثار وتسجيلها بشكل رسمي من خلال عمليات قانونية لدعم مخاوفهم من أن مصنع أسمنت في الحي، الذي تقوم مؤسسة التمويل الدولية بالإستثمار فيه، لا يلتزم بالمعايير الوطنية والدولية

قام مركز معلومات البنك بصياغة تقرير يوثق الآليات التي إتبعتها ثلات منظمات مصرية وهي المبادرة المصرية للحقوق الشخصية، المركز المصري للحقوق الإقتصادية والإجتماعية، المركز المصري للإصلاح المدني والتشريعي، لدعم جهود السكان والعاملين في المشروع في توثيق الأثار الضارة التي يواجهونها نتيجة تنفيذ هذا المشؤوع

:اقرأ التقرير كاملاً

أدوات المراقبة المجتمعية للمشروعات: التوثيق والتحقق من الآثار في مشروع تيتان للأسمنت

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This article by kgallagher originally appeared on bicusa.org on November 08, 2016 at 06:20PM

نماذج لادوات الرصد والمتابعة: إستطلاعات الرأي في مشروع توصيل الغاز الطيبعي إلى المنازل في صعيد مصر

This post is from Bank Information Center - Amplifying Local Voices to Democratize Development.

Photo credit: World Bank

إستطلاعات الرأي من شأنها ان تكون اداة مفيدة لقياس الخبرات المختلفة والمخاوف المحتملة لعدد من الافراد، ولتحديد مشاكل محتملة تتطلب المتابعة طوال عملية تنفيذ المشاريع التنموية. قامت مجموعات من المجتمع المدني في صعيد (جنوب) مصر باستخدام إستطلاعات الرأي مع المجتمعات المحلية بهدف تحديد مخاوف المجتمعات وخبراتها في المشاركة مع منفذي مشروع توصيل الغاز الطبيعي الى المنازل في مصر الذي يموله البنك الدولي.

قام مركز معلومات البنك بصياغة تقرير يوثق تجربة مؤسسة الجنوب للدراسات الإقتصادية، والإجتماعية والجمعية المصرية للحقوق الجماعية، والمركز المصري للإصلاح المدني والتشريعي في إستخدام إستطلاعات الرأي.

إقرأ التقرير كاملاً

نماذج لادوات الرصد والمتابعة التي تستخدمها المجتمعات المحلية لمراقبة تنفيذ المشاريع إستطلاعات الرأي: مشروع توصيل الغاز الطبيعي الى المنازل في مصر

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This article by kgallagher originally appeared on bicusa.org on November 08, 2016 at 02:05AM

Tools for community-led project monitoring: Documentation and verification of impacts in the Titan Cement project

This post is from Bank Information Center - Amplifying Local Voices to Democratize Development.

Photo: Dust emissions from the Alexandria Portland Cement Company plant in Wadi al-Qamr, Egypt.
Credit: وادي القمر غرب اسكندرية Facebook group

When a community faces negative impacts due to a development project, systematic and consistent documentation of verifiable indicators of the impacts can support their efforts to hold development implementers accountable to their own standards, and can lend legitimacy to their advocacy for changes in the project.  In the Wadi al-Qamr neighborhood in Western Alexandria, Egypt, residents are systematically documenting impacts and formally registering them through legal processes to support their concerns that a cement plant in their neighborhood financed by the International Finance Corporation is not adhering to national and international standards.

BIC documented how Egyptian civil society organizations the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights, and Egyptian Center for Civil and Legislative Reform supported residents and workers to document impacts they faced due to this project in a brief case report.

Access the full report below:

Tools for community-led project monitoring: Documentation and verification of impacts in the Titan Cement project

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This article by kgallagher originally appeared on bicusa.org on November 04, 2016 at 11:03PM

Tools for community-led project monitoring: Community surveys in Egypt

This post is from Bank Information Center - Amplifying Local Voices to Democratize Development.

A group of women and children stand in a long queue to buy LPG cylinders. Credit: World Bank

Community surveys can be a useful tool for gauging a range of experiences and potential concerns across multiple individuals, and for identifying potential issues for further follow up when monitoring the implementation of development projects. Community surveys were used by civil society groups in Upper Egypt to identify community concerns and experiences engaging with project implementers in the World Bank-financed Egypt Household Natural Gas Connections project.

BIC documented the use of community surveys by our Egyptian partners the South Foundation for Economic and Social Studies, the Egyptian Association for Collective Rights, and the Egyptian Center for Civil and Legislative Reform in a brief case report.

Access the full case report below:

Tools for community monitoring: Community Surveys in the Egypt Household Natural Gas Connections project

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This article by kgallagher originally appeared on bicusa.org on November 04, 2016 at 10:23PM

البنك الدولي يسهل الوصول لوثائق المشروعات باللغة العربية

This post is from Bank Information Center - Amplifying Local Voices to Democratize Development.

في لقاء مع ممثلي المجتمع المدني من مختلف الدول العربية تم عقده في أكتوبر 2016 خلال الاجتماعات السنوية للبنك الدولي / صندوق النقد الدولي، أعلن الدكتور حافظ غانم، نائب رئيس البنك الدولي لمنطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا عن التقدم الذي تم إجرازه لتسهيل الوصول إلى الوثائق المترجمة إلى اللغة العربية على موقع البنك الدولي لملايين المستخدمين في العالم العربي الذين يريدون قراءة تلك الوثائق بلغتهم الأم

ويعتبر برنامج الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا في البنك الدولي هو البرنامج الإقليمي الوحيد الذي يتبنى سياسة خاصة لترجمة ونشر أنواع معينة من الوثائق الخاصة بالمشاريع إلي اللغة العربية وذلك بحسب خطة العمل التي وضعها البرنامج عام 2009. وكان هذا الإلتزام نتيجة لشكوى قدمها المرصد اليمني لحقوق الإنسان إلي هيئة التفتيش  بدعوى أن المواطنين اليمنيين لم يكن لديهم فرصة للتشاور حول برنامج هام للإصلاح الإقتصادي قام البنك بتمويله لأن وثيقة البرنامج لم تكن متوفرة بلغتهم العربية

وعلى الرغم من أن الآلاف من هذه الوثائق المترجمة اصبحت متاحة على شبكة الإنترنت، إلا أنها ظلت بعيدة عن متناول المواطن العربي العادي.  حيث يتطلب الوصول لهذه الوثائق البحث في قوائم عناوين المشروعات وقوائم عناوين الوثائق المتعلقة بها وهذه القوائم متوفرة فقط باللغة الإنجليزية

في 5 ديسمبر 2015، قامت مجموعة من منظمات المجتمع المدني من عدد من البلدان في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا، بإرسال خطابا يحث البنك الدولي على حل هذه المشكلة، وموضحا أن توافر المعلومات وجعلها في متناول المواطن هو شرط أساسي للمشاركة الفعالة، وخاصة في البلدان التي يصعب فيها الحصول على معلومات معينة

وقد اعترف المسؤولون في البنك الدولي، من جانبهم، بصعوبة الوصول للوثائق العربية على موقعهم الإلكتروني، وتعهدوا بإجراء التحسينات المطلوبة. ففي 18 فبراير 2016 فام نائب رئيس البنك الدولي لمنطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا بالرد على الخطاب عبر البريد الإلكتوني وأعلن عن تشكيل فريق عمل لحل هذه المشكلة الفنية وكذلك عن إعتماد إطار إجرائي داخلي لبرنامج الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا ينص على وجوب ترجمة كل الوثائق المهمة، بما فيها وثائق الإستراتيجيات القطرية، وثائق معلومات المشروعات، وبعض الدراسات التحليلية، إلى اللغة العربية و/أو الفرنسية وإتاحتها على الموقع الإلكتروني خلال شهرين من تاريخ إتاحتها باللغة الإنجليزية

في اجتماع أكتوبر، أعلن السيد غانم أن معظم قوائم المشروعات للبلدان العربية قد تم ترجمتها إلى اللغة العربية وإتاحتها على موقع البنك الإلكتروني. وفي حين تقدر منظمات المجتمع المدني من منطقة الشرق الأوسط شمال افريقا هذا التقدم الذي تم إحرازه بعد مدة تقرب من العاميين على المطالبة به، إلا أنها تترفب المزيد خاصة فيما يتعلق بدقة الترجمة وسرعتها لضمان مشاركة فعالة من المواطنين في المنطقة

قوائم المشروعات على الصفحات العربية للبنك الدولي

مصر

تونس

المغرب

اليمن

العراق

الأردن

لبنان

الضفة الغربية وغزة

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This article by kgallagher originally appeared on bicusa.org on November 04, 2016 at 08:38PM

World Bank improves access to Arabic project documents

This post is from Bank Information Center - Amplifying Local Voices to Democratize Development.

In a meeting held with civil society representatives from Arab countries during the October 2016 World Bank/IMF annual meetings, Hafez Ghanem, the World Bank’s Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa, announced progress in easing access to Arabic documents on the World Bank’s website.

The Middle East and North Africa Department is the only regional program at the World Bank with the mandate to translate and publish certain types of project and program documents in Arabic as per its 2009 Enhanced Action Plan. This commitment came as a result of a complaint submitted to the Inspection Panel  by the Yemeni Observatory for Human Rights claiming that Yemeni citizens were not truly consulted on a major economic reform program funded by the Bank because the program document was not available in their own language.

However, while thousands of translated documents have been made available online as a result of this case, many have remained inaccessible to the average Arabic speaker. Accessing these documents required searching through lists of project and document titles which were available only in English.

On December 5, 2015, a group of civil society organizations (CSOs) from a number of countries across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, submitted a letter urging the World Bank to solve this accessibility problem and explaining that accessibility to, and availability of information is key to effective participation of stakeholders, especially in countries where access to certain information is challenging.

World Bank officials, on their part, recognized the challenge of information inaccessibility and vowed to make needed improvements. In a February 18, 2016 email response by the Bank’s Vice President for Middle East and North Africa region, Dr. Ghanem announced a cross-departmental team to solve the technical issue, and a new internal Policy and Procedure Framework to ensure that all key documents, including Country Engagement Documents, Project Information Documents, and select Analytical Studies are translated into Arabic and/or French and are publicly available in the local language online within two months of the disclosure of the English language document.

In the October meeting with CSOs, Mr. Ghanem announced that most project titles and abstracts have now been translated into Arabic. CSOs from the MENA region, who have been advocating for this change for the past two years, have acknowledged and appreciate this progress and look forward to continued improvements in the speed and accuracy of Arabic translations, in order to ensure the effective and informed participation of development stakeholders in the MENA region.

View the World Bank’s Arabic project list for each country below:

World Bank projects in Egypt (Arabic)

World Bank projects in Iraq (Arabic)

World Bank projects in Jordan (Arabic)

World Bank projects in Lebanon (Arabic)

World Bank projects in Morocco (Arabic)

World Bank projects in Tunisia (Arabic)

World Bank projects in the West Bank and Gaza (Arabic)

 

 

 

 

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This article by kgallagher originally appeared on bicusa.org on November 04, 2016 at 07:07PM

Alert: World Bank Consultations on Peru’s Country Partnership Framework (CPF)

This post is from Bank Information Center - Amplifying Local Voices to Democratize Development.

The World Bank Group is in the process of drafting a Country Partnership Framework (CPF) in Peru, to be finalized in early 2017. There are three upcoming consultations in Peru on the Country Partnership Framework. They will be held in:

Trujillo – October 19th
Lima – October 27th
Cusco – December 14, tentatively

Consultations will be held with members of civil society and will last 3 hours. Comments on the draft CPF will be accepted until January 30, 2017.

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This article by Julia Radomski originally appeared on bicusa.org on November 04, 2016 at 12:08AM

Safeguards Coherence Across World Bank Lending Instruments: The Development Policy Lending Case

This post is from Bank Information Center - Amplifying Local Voices to Democratize Development.

This session at the World Bank Annual General Meetings 2016 Civil Society Policy Forum examines development policy financing (DPF) as a tool for scaling-up positive environmental and social impact amidst the global climate crisis. It features case study findings from recent operations that represent challenges to the achievement of World Bank climate and forest commitments and to the current model of assessing DPF for social and environmental risk. The session also provides space for discussion of policy recommendations based on lessons learned from the recent safeguards review to ensure that DPF supports low-carbon, pro-poor outcomes.

Panelists:

• Korinna Horta, Urgewald (Moderator)
• Harlem Mariño, Derecho Ambiente y Recursos Naturales-Peru
• Heike Mainhardt, Bank Information Center (BIC)
• Hassan Zaman, Director of Policy and Quality department of OPCS, World Bank

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This article by Julia Radomski originally appeared on bicusa.org on October 20, 2016 at 05:02PM

Video: Examining the IFC’s Climate and Forest Footprint in its Financial Sector Investments

This post is from Bank Information Center - Amplifying Local Voices to Democratize Development.

This World Bank Annual Meetings 2016 Civil Society Policy Forum session addressed how the World Bank Group can ensure that its financial intermediary (FI) investments are consistent with its forest and climate commitments. New research by Inclusive Development International on the impacts of IFC FI investments on forests, land rights, and climate will be presented. A range of speakers and experts from communities, CSOs and the World Bank Group examined case studies of FI sub-investments and discussed solutions to promote a climate-sensitive approach to the Bank’s financial intermediary lending in the context of the WBG’s Climate and Forest Action Plans.

Panelists:

• Jason Allford, Alternate Executive Director from Australia (Chair)
• David Pred, Inclusive Development International
• Ian Rivera, Philippines Movement for Climate Justice
• Priya Pillai, Greenpeace India
• Peer Stein, Head of Climate Finance, IFC

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This article by Julia Radomski originally appeared on bicusa.org on October 19, 2016 at 11:39PM

BIC MENA Program holds a regional workshop with civil society organizations for Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco and Jordan

This post is from Bank Information Center - Amplifying Local Voices to Democratize Development.

September 23-25

33 individuals representing civil society organizations from Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, and Jordan met in Beirut Lebanon in September 2016 to discuss how participants can build on the experiences of their colleagues in other MENA region countries, as well as strategies and modes of engagement with the World Bank for the future. The participants came from various backgrounds and fields of focus, ranging from transparency, media, and economic and social rights to gender and youth participation. Part of the workshop focused on how to search the World Bank’s website for information, and how to use the available, albeit limited, space for civil society to influence the Bank’s policies in the MENA region, as well as hold high officials and institutions to their commitments with the Bank.

 

During the first day of the conference, participants had the opportunity to examine modes to track development financing, with specific emphasizes on Access to Information.  Later in the day, participants shared their experiences concerning 3rd party and community-led monitoring in Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen.

 

The second day was devoted to collecting input and feedback on a soon-to-be-launched BIC manual on community-led project monitoring. This manual lays out a step by step process for how communities can monitor the implementation of development projects in the MENA region. Participants were able to provide feedback on how this manual can be most effective and accessible for communities that they work with in the region. BIC anticipates the manual to be finalized near the end of October. In January, BIC will hold a ‘training for trainers’ targeting organizations who work directly with communities who could use the manual. At the workshop, individuals will learn how to conduct a training for communities on monitoring development projects using the tools and process described in the manual.

 

To conclude the workshop, the participants discussed strategies for engaging with the World Bank on a variety of issues of interest in the coming year.

 

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This article by Lian Najjar originally appeared on bicusa.org on October 19, 2016 at 09:25PM

Video: Roundtable Discussion on The Tunisian Experience

This post is from Bank Information Center - Amplifying Local Voices to Democratize Development.

On Friday, October 7, 2016 civil society and World Bank representatives gathered to discuss the Tunisian experience of development and decentralization. In the aftermath of the revolution and the new constitution in Tunisia, the Government has made strong commitments to make their vision of a participatory decentralized democratic state a reality. Development agencies such as the World Bank have stepped up to support this transition by financing a program that aims to redistribute decision-making from the central government to local governments. The Bank’s engagement in this program commenced in 2014 and since then it has been providing technical assistance to help local governments with implementing measures for fiscal transparency, citizen engagement and governance. This panel and roundtable discussion touched on many issues surrounding the implementation and impacts of this program, as well as broader questions of civil society, civic participation, democracy and development in contemporary Tunisia.

Moderator: Stephen McInerney – Executive Director Project on Middle East Democracy

Panelists:
Sabine Beddies – Task Team Leader at the World Bank
Hajer Trabelsi – President of GOAct-Tunisia
Karim Belhaj – President of Tunisian Association of Public Auditors
Fadil Aliriza – Tunisia Project Manager at Carnegie Endowment For International Peace

Organized by Bank Information Center
Hosted by Open Society Foundations

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This article by Julia Radomski originally appeared on bicusa.org on October 18, 2016 at 05:30PM