John W. Garrison

Photo:  Ryan Rayburn

À l’issue d’un processus de consultation à grande échelle et de plus d’une année de planification, le Partenariat global pour la responsabilité sociale (GPSA) est désormais opérationnel et a annoncé son premier appel à propositions le 11 février 2013. Avec sa politique de transparence, sa structure de gouvernance inclusive et la priorité thématique stratégique donnée à la responsabilité sociale, le GPSA marque incontestablement un jalon dans les relations entre la Banque et la société civile. Après 30 ans de collaboration avec la société civile via le dialogue sur les politiques publiques, la consultation et le financement, la création du GPSA envoie un signal clair indiquant que la Banque a l’intention d’institutionnaliser et de renforcer son appui aux organisations de la société civile (OSC).

L’idée du GPSA est née à la suite d’un discours prononcé par Robert B. Zoellick, l’ancien Président de la Banque, au Peterson Institute en avril 2011, au lendemain du Printemps arabe. Dans ce discours, M. Zoellick a évoqué la nécessité d’un nouveau contrat social entre les citoyens et l’État. Il a annoncé que la Banque allait étudier avec ses actionnaires les moyens d’appuyer les OSC œuvrant en faveur de la responsabilité sociale. Ce discours a été suivi par un vaste processus de consultation multipartite sur la conception et la portée du fonds proposé. De janvier à mars 2012, plus de 870 parties prenantes de 57 pays ont pris part à 25 réunions en face à face et vidéoconférences organisées dans le monde entier. De plus, près de 300 personnes ont soumis des commentaires écrits directement sur le site Web du GPSA. Plusieurs recommandations énoncées par les OSC ont ainsi pu être prises en compte dans la conception du GPSA, dont la nécessité de concourir au financement de base et au financement à long terme des OSC, et de veiller à ce que les OSC soient suffisamment représentées au sein de l’organe directeur du GPSA.

Le projet de GPSA a été officiellement approuvé par le Conseil des Administrateurs de la Banque en juin 2012. Le GPSA accordera des dons à long terme aux OSC sélectionnées à l’issue d’un processus d’appel à propositions, afin de financer des activités dans le domaine de la responsabilité sociale, du renforcement des capacités, de l’établissement de réseaux ainsi que des activités opérationnelles. Le GPSA va également créer une plateforme mondiale de recherche et d’échange du savoir afin de compiler et de diffuser les bonnes pratiques ainsi que les enseignements tirés de l’expérience dans le domaine de la responsabilité sociale. Tous les pays sont invités à adhérer au programme de manière à ce que leurs OSC puissent accéder à ces fonds. Jusqu’ici, douze pays, répartis dans cinq régions, ont franchi le pas : le Bangladesh, le Honduras, l’Indonésie, le Malawi, la Moldova, la Mongolie, le Mozambique, les Philippines, la République dominicaine, la République kirghize, le Tadjikistan et la Tunisie.

 Le Comité directeur du GPSA s’est réuni pour la première fois le 17 décembre 2012 et a participé à une table ronde présidée par Jim Yong Kim, le Président de la Banque (voir photo). Cette table ronde, intitulée « Social Accountability and the Science of Delivery » (la responsabilité sociale et l’art d’être efficace), a rassemblé des représentants des États, des OSC et des bailleurs de fonds, ainsi que des membres du personnel de la Banque, qui ont débattu des moyens de renforcer l’efficacité de la fourniture des services afin de répondre aux besoins des citoyens. Les participants ont exposé les expériences de divers pays, qui montrent que lorsque les citoyens sont entendus et lorsque les gouvernements sont tenus de rendre des comptes, la prestation des services gagne en efficacité et devient plus durable. M. Kim a déclaré : « Avec le Partenariat global pour la responsabilité sociale, la Banque dispose désormais d’un instrument efficace pour compléter le travail des gouvernements et du secteur privé et pour trouver des solutions qui permettront de mettre un terme à la pauvreté et de favoriser une prospérité partagée. » Le même jour, le Comité directeur a également tenu sa première réunion de planification, lors de laquelle les participants ont discuté de la stratégie du GPSA pour sa première année d’existence, des procédures d’attribution des dons et d’un cadre pour la mesure des résultats.

Le GPSA est unique à plus d’un titre. Premièrement, il accordera aux OSC des financements à long terme (sur 3 à 5 ans) ainsi que des fonds pour couvrir une partie de leurs frais institutionnels. Deuxièmement, le GPSA est le premier mécanisme de financement géré par la Banque dans lequel les OSC sont dûment représentées au sein de la structure de gouvernance. En effet, les représentants des OSC disposent non seulement du même nombre de sièges (trois sur un total de 10 membres) que les représentants des pays et des bailleurs de fonds (le Comité directeur est présidé par la Banque mondiale), mais également du même nombre de voix pour voter sur les projets qui recevront des financements et pour définir l’orientation générale du programme. Les trois représentants des OSC, qui ont été sélectionnés à l’issue d’une consultation de grande ampleur auprès des réseaux de la société civile internationaux et régionaux sont Said Issa (directeur des projets sur le terrain, Transparency International / Liban), Akwasi Aidoo(directeur exécutif, TrustAfrica / Sénégal) et Lindsay Coates (Vice-présidente, InterAction / États-Unis). Les autres membres du Comité directeur sont les représentants de trois pays (Malawi, République dominicaine et Bangladesh) et de trois bailleurs de fonds (Department for International Development /DfID, Finnish Aid et Fondation Ford). En outre, 15 OSC internationales ont adhéré au GPSA à titre d’organisations partenaires afin de collaborer aux activités de partage du savoir et d’établissement des réseaux (la liste peut être consultée sur le site Web du GPSA).

À ce jour, le GPSA a levé 23 millions de dollars (20 millions auprès de la Banque mondiale et 3 millions auprès de la Fondation Ford) et attend de nouvelles dotations de la part des donateurs. Le premier appel à propositions est diffusé largement dans les pays par différents moyens, dont la presse, les médias électroniques et le site Web du GPSA. Les OSC des pays adhérents pourront présenter leurs propositions sur une plateforme de soumission en ligne qui sera accessible depuis le site Web du GPSA. Les bureaux de pays de la Banque mondiale ont tenu des réunions de concertation avec les OSC et les représentants des pays afin d’adapter les appels à propositions aux priorités des pays, et ils organiseront également des sessions d’orientation pour les OSC souhaitant soumettre une proposition. Les financements s’échelonneront entre 500 000 et 1 million de dollars par don, et les dons seront accordés pour des périodes de 3 à 5 ans. Après la clôture des appels à propositions, le 14 mars, les demandes de dons seront examinées selon une procédure en deux phases, qui est décrite dans les directives pour la soumission d’une demande de don.

Liens utiles :

• Site Web du GPSA
• La Banque mondiale et la société civile

Caption: Jim Kim with Steering Committee Members at the “Social Accountability and the Science of Delivery” roundtable session on December 17, 2012. Photo:  Ryan Rayburn

After an extensive consultation process and over a year of planning, the Global Partnership on Social Accountability (GPSA) is getting off the ground with the first call for proposals just announced on February 11, 2013. With its transparent policies, inclusive governance structure, and strategic thematic focus on social accountability, the GPSA clearly represents a milestone in Bank – civil society relations. After 30 years of engaging civil society through policy dialogue, consultation, and funding, the establishment of GPSA is a clear signal that the Bank intends to institutionalize and scale-up its support to CSOs.

The idea for the GPSA emerged from a speech former Bank President Zoellick made at the Peterson Institute in April 2011 in the wake of the Arab Spring, in which he spoke of the need for a new social contract between citizens and governments.  He indicated that the Bank would explore with its shareholders means to support CSOs working on social accountability.  This was followed by an extensive multi-stakeholder consultation process conducted on the design and scope of the proposed fund.  From January through March 2012, more than 870 stakeholders from 57 different countries participated in 25 face-to-face meetings and video conferences organized across the world. In addition, nearly 300 persons submitted written comments online directly onto the GPSA website.  As a result, several CSO recommendations were incorporated into the design of the GPSA such as the need to support core and longer term funding of CSOs, and ensure that CSOs had adequate representation on its governing body.

The GPSA was formally approved by the Bank Board in June 2012 and will make long-term grants available to CSOs, through a competitive selection process, to carry out social accountability capacity building, networking, and operational activities. The GPSA will also create a global platform for knowledge exchange and research in order to document and disseminate good practices and lessons learned on social accountability. Governments around the world are being invited to opt-in to the program so CSOs in their countries can have access to the funds, and twelve countries from five regions have done so far: Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Kyrgyz Republic, Malawi, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Philippines, Tajikistan and Tunisia.

The GPSA’s Steering Committee was convened for the first time on December 17, 2012 and joined a roundtable presided by Bank President Jim Yong Kim. (See photo). The “Social Accountability and the Science of Delivery” Roundtable brought together representatives from governments, CSOs, donor agencies, and Bank staff to discuss the issue of making service delivery more effective to address citizen needs. Panelists shared various country experiences which showed that when citizens are heard and governments are held accountable, the delivery of services becomes more effective and sustainable. Mr. Kim stated: “with the Global Partnership for Social Accountability, the Bank now has an effective instrument to complement the work of governments and the private sector in finding solutions to end poverty and boost shared prosperity.” The Steering Committee also held its first planning meeting on the same day to discuss GPSA’s strategy for the first year, grant making procedures, a framework for measuring results.

The GPSA is unique for several reasons.  First, it will provide longer term funding (3 -5 years) to CSOs as well as cover some of their institutional costs.  Second, the GPSA is the first Bank-managed funding mechanism to have CSOs with full representation on its governance structure.  The CSO representatives not only have the same number of seats – three – as the government and donor agencies representatives on the 10-member Steering Committee (which is chaired by the World Bank), but have the same voting power to select projects to receive funding and give overall direction to the program. The three CSO representatives, who were selected after wide consultation with international and regional civil society networks, are: Said Issa (Grassroots Manager, Transparency International / Lebanon), Akwasi Aidoo (Executive Director, TrustAfrica / Senegal), and Lindsay Coates (Vice President, InterAction / US). The other Steering Committee members are representatives from three governments (Malawi, Dominican Republic, and Bangladesh) and three donor agencies (Department for International Development /DfID, Finnish Aid, and Ford Foundation). In addition, 15 international CSOs have joined as partner organizations to collaborate on the knowledge-sharing and networking activities. (see list on GPSA website)

 To date, the GPSA has secured $23 million dollars ($20 million from the World Bank and $3 million from the Ford Foundation) and more donor allocations are expected. The first Call for Proposals is being disseminated widely through various means at the country level, including newspapers and electronic media, as well as via GPSA’s website.  CSOs from opted-in countries will be able to submit proposals through an online submissions platform that will be accessible from the GPSA website.  World Bank Country Offices held consultation meetings with CSO and government stakeholders to adapt the call for proposals to country priories, and will also hold orientation sessions for CSOS interested in submitting proposals. The funding range will be from $500,000 to $1 million per grant, and grants will be provided for a 3-5 year period. After the call for proposals closes on March 14 grant applications will undergo a two-stage review process, which are explained in the application guidelines.

Photo: Simone D. McCourtie

International rock star Bono recently visited the World Bank where he was hosted by Bank President Jim Kim (see photo).  In a packed and electrifying session, moderated by CNN news anchor Isha Sesay, Bono and Kim talked about corruption, transparency, food security, and gender inclusion.  Bono called on the Bank to join civil society efforts to fight for the end of poverty.  While praising the Bank’s recent open development reforms, he noted that open data and transparency would “turbo-charge” the fight against extreme poverty as it will shine a light on this urgent problem.  He jokingly referred to Bank economists as “jedis for development” and said that he never thought he would say publicly “I want to go work for the Bank.”  As the head of One, Bono has been an effective advocate for greater aid to Africa over the years.  One reason for his success has been his willingness to work with both donor and recipient country governments to push for greater aid.  In the US, he has reached out to both Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress to lobby for foreign aid, and is credited for having convinced the Bush Administration to sharply expand funding for Africa and HIV/AIDS in the mid-2000s.

During the session, Jim Kim talked about the recently launched anti-poverty campaign whatwillittake which is eliciting ideas about how to eradicate poverty from thousands of citizens worldwide.  This program represents a historic and significant initiative for the Bank as it aims to  eradicate rather than reduce poverty, as had been the stated policy up to now.  As Kim stated in a speech in Tokyo in October “it is time to move from dreaming of a world free of poverty to achieving it, it is time to bend the arc of history.”  This new policy builds on the efforts by former president Jim Wolfensohn who first focused the Bank’s sights squarely on reducing poverty when he was at the Bank from 1995 to 2005.  Wolfensohn was the one who had the mission statement “dreaming of a world free of poverty” etched on the wall of the Bank’s lobby which some considered naïve or wishful thinking at the time.  Coincidentally, it was quite fitting that Kim hosted Wolfensohn at a ceremony at the Bank on December 3 to formally name the Main Complex Building’s Atrium in his honor, as Kim will now try to realize the vision left by Wolfensohn.

It will be interesting to see if the Bank-watcher and other advocacy CSOs will follow Bono’s lead in supporting the Bank’s renewed and strategic poverty eradication efforts.  There has already been some criticism expressed by several CSOs on the new President’s emphasis on poverty eradication and transforming the institution into a “solutions Bank”.  The Bretton Woods December 2012 eNewsletter, for instance, carries the views of an African CSO leader which  states that Kim’s new directions represent only “another public relations exercise”.  “When he talks of ‘non-ideological solutions to development challenges’, this is nonsense because the World Bank will always try to impose those ‘solutions’ with its ideology.”  This position not only reflects a general critique of the Bank’s overall macro-economic paradigm, but is also driven by a focus on specific policies – such as safeguard policies, climate change, and human rights – which they feel are more pressing than the Bank’s broader policies.  For this reason they often ignore the Bank’s poverty reduction polices and view them as distractions or public relations ploys.

In my experience, there is precedence for this tendency to ignore broader and more significant policies in favor of what are perceived to be more pressing and narrow issues.  I experienced this phenomenon in Brazil when I worked for the Inter-American Foundation in the 1990s.  While Brazil was in the midst of consolidating its democratization process and still struggling with political polarization around such issues as corruption, deforestation, and land reform, a group of CSO leaders launched a bold and improbable anti-hunger campaign in 1993.  The Citizen’s Campaign Against Hunger was broad-based and non-partisan in scope, and even leveraged the support of the private sector and the military.  It was led by one of Brazil’s best-known CSO leaders, Herbert “Betinho” de Souza, who had to face the opposition from those on the left and the right who considered the campaign naïve and a distraction from the ongoing single-issue policy debates.  In underscoring the moral imperative of fighting poverty, Betinho noted  that “old ideological barriers reminiscent of the Cold War need to be replaced by a more pragmatic search for effective solutions to pressing human problems.”

As it turned out, the anti-hunger campaign was quite successful and caught the imagination of the country.  It mobilized three million volunteers, distributed tons of food, and prodded local governments to improve social services for the poor.  What was perhaps most significant, the anti-poverty policies tested during this CSO campaign were instrumental in shaping the food security and anti-poverty programs – Fome Zero and Bolsa Familia – adopted by the Lula Government beginning in 2002.  These in turn have had a transformative impact on Brazil’s seemingly intractable poverty rates, cutting it by half and lifting 28 million people out of poverty in the past decade.

In closing it will be interesting to see how international Bank-watcher and other policy advocacy CSOs will respond to the Bank’s new emphasis on poverty eradication.  Will they see it as a historic and significant new policy they should actively support or rather a distraction from their single-issue approach to Bank advocacy?  Having experienced first-hand the key role the civil society anti-poverty campaign played in poverty reduction efforts in Brazil, I hope that international CSOs will embrace the Bank’s renewed anti-poverty efforts as it could prove to be one of the most significant policy directions the Bank has adopted in its 65 years of existence.

Photo:  : Leonora Gonzales

Involving CSO representatives in the planning process for the Civil Society Program has led to increased and more substantive civil society participation at the Annual Meetings over the past few years. This was vividly exemplified at the recently concluded Annual Meetings in Tokyo which witnessed the largest number of CSO participants and policy sessions to date.  The cornerstone of this participatory approach was the convening of a CSO Planning Group composed of 17 CSO and Youth Leaders from throughout the world invited to help plan the CSO Program (see photo and list).

Increased CSO participation in Tokyo was most evident in the number of CSOs who attended the Meetings.  A total of 635 CSO representatives from a wide range of constituencies such as NGOs, labor unions, youth groups, faith-based organizations, and foundations participated.  The Bank and Fund also sponsored the largest number of CSO / Youth Leaders and Academics – 56 from to 45 developing countries – who travelled to Tokyo to ensure that Southern voices and perspectives were represented (see sponsored CSOs list).  They participated in a week-long schedule of events which began with an orientation session on the Fund and Bank and included attending the Opening Plenary of the Annual Meetings which featured Crown Prince Naruhito.

Greater civil society involvement was also witnessed in qualitative terms by their greater involvement in policy dialogue sessions and high-level events.  The Civil Society Program was held from October 8 – 13 and comprised a CSO Roundtable with Executive Directors, a CSO Townhall with the heads of the Bank and Fund, and the Civil Society Forum.  The CSO Roundtable was quite interactive and covered a number of issues including the challenges of addressing corruption, spillover impacts of the Eurocrisis on developing countries, and scope of the Bank’s safeguards review.

The CSO Townhall with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, was attended by some 250 CSO representatives and focused on global economic recovery, need to strengthen the civil society sector, key role of promoting gender equity, and universal health care.  Mr. Kim also announced a bold Bank initiative called “WhatWillItTake” geared to eradicating poverty.  He cited Martin Luther King on the need to “bend the arc of history” and go beyond dreaming of a world free of poverty to achieving it.  The campaign was manifested through “End Poverty” T-shirts worn by many participants and an “Ideas Wall” which received hundreds of comments and recommendations for ending poverty.

The Civil Society Policy Forum had 60 sessions – the largest number ever – on a wide range of topics including: global health; social and environmental safeguards; disaster recovery and resilience; youth employment; post-MDGs agenda; debt re-structuring; and food security. (see schedule).  Most of the sessions were organized by CSOs separately or jointly with the Bank and Fund, and included over 250 panelists.  Six Bank Vice Presidents and other senior managers participated in policy sessions or convened bilateral meetings with CSOs over the four days of the Forum.

Incorporating the successful experiences of Annual Meetings held in Singapore (2006) and Istanbul (2009), the Bank and Fund Civil Society Teams convened a CSO Planning Group to help plan the Civil Society Program.  The Group held several conference calls and email exchanges in the months leading up to the Annual Meetings to discuss the format and content of key CSO Program sessions and organize their own policy sessions for the CSO Forum.  They also helped select the CSO moderator and CSO discussants for the CSO Townhall and CSO Roundtable.

Likewise Japanese CSOs mobilized actively around the Annual Meetings and participated actively in the CSO Planning Group.  Representatives of major Japanese networks (i.e. JANIC, JACSES) and organizations (i.e. Oxfam, World Vision, Plan) spent a year preparing for the Annual Meetings by having their representatives attend the previous Annual Meetings held in Washington and forming a local planning group which met regularly to discuss session proposals.  These planning efforts resulted in large Japanese presence – nearly half of all CSO participants were Japanese civil society representatives – and Japanese CSOs hosted nearly a third of all the policy sessions.

What this process clearly demonstrated is that the participatory planning process was effective in engendering a high level of civil society participation in the Annual Meetings.  It also allowed for building greater trust between the Bank and CSOs which, in turn, generated more frank, substantive, and useful  policy dialogue on a number of politically-sensitive issues such as Myanmar re-engagement, impacts of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and IFC’s Doing Business report.

OVERALL USEFULNESS OF THE CIVIL SOCIETY PROGRAM 
2012 SPRING MEETINGS

Adopting this participatory approach has been a learning process for the Bank which has moved from a Bank-driven to a civil society-geared approach in engaging civil society over the past decade.  After unsuccessfully attempting to set up a Bank-proposed global CSO advisory body some 10 years ago, the Bank now focuses its outreach efforts in improving the quality and reach of the engagement sought out by CSOs at the Annual / Spring Meetings, during consultation processes, and through other modalities.  The Bank’s Civil Society Team has also honed its participatory approach by listening to the feedback provided by CSO participants via regular evaluations carried out after each Annual and Spring Meetings.  (See one of the tables of 2012 Spring Meetings participant’s assessments above and the complete results here.)  In short, the Bank has learned that employing effective participatory approaches promotes greater ownership, builds trust, and increases participation.

Foto: Cortesia de iStockphoto

Diferentemente do filme Feitiço do Rio (1984), que atribuiu o romance vulgar entre um homem de meia-idade (vivido por Michael Caine) e uma adolescente às vibrações sensuais da Cidade Maravilhosa, a recente conferência Rio+20 serviu para mostrar outra cara do Rio de Janeiro: a de líder global ambiental. A cidade não só mantém as duas maiores florestas urbanas do mundo, a da Pedra Branca e a da Tijuca (na foto), mas também concluiu um moderno centro de tratamento de resíduos, que permitirá uma redução de 8% nas emissões de gases causadores de efeito estufa, e está construindo 300km de ciclovias. Para o Banco Mundial, a cidade tem sido o cenário para uma improvável melhoria nas relações entre o próprio Banco e organizações ambientais não-governamentais (ONGs) nos últimos 20 anos.

Quando a cidade sediou a Rio-92, o Banco participou com uma delegação pequena. Suas poucas publicações, exibidas no estande do Fórum Global na Praia do Flamengo, foram queimadas por ativistas ambientais. Eles estavam protestando contra o financiamento que o Banco tinha dado ao projeto da Represa de Narmada, na Índia, que ameaçava desalojar centenas de milhares de pequenos produtores rurais sem oferecer um plano adequado de reassentamento. Outros estavam criticando o projeto Polonoroeste, financiado pelo Banco, que constituiu na pavimentação da BR-364, entre Porto Velho e Rio Branco, e resultou em desmatamento desenfreado nos anos 1980.

O Banco estava apenas começando a adotar políticas ambientais e sociais no começo dos anos 1990, mas desde então a instituição vem apoiando uma série de programas e projetos inovadores nesta área. Em parte devido à experiência de Narmada, o Banco adotou 10 políticas de salvaguardas ambientais e sociais que agora guiam todas as ações de reassentamento, projetos com povos indígenas e iniciativas ambientais financiadas pela instituição.

Em 1993, também foi estabelecido o Painel de Inspeções. Trata-se de um mecanismo de reclamações, o primeiro desse tipo entre os bancos multilaterais de desenvolvimento, que pode ser acionado por pessoas que acreditam estar sendo prejudicadas pelas operações financiadas pelo Banco.  Hoje, o Banco Mundial tem papel de liderança no enfrentamento às mudanças climáticas, ao financiar projetos de adaptação e mitigação em 130 países, e ao administrar os Fundos de Investimento Climático, que mobilizam mais de US$ 40 bilhões em investimentos limpos.

No Brasil, o Banco tem apoiado desde 1992 uma série de iniciativas inovadoras para a proteção do meio ambiente e da biodiversidade. Uma delas foi o Programa Piloto para Proteção das Florestas Tropicais do Brasil (PPG7), que fortaleceu programas governamentais de proteção ambiental, financiou pesquisas em biodiversidade e apoiou ONGs e povos indígenas ao redor da Amazônia. Mais recentemente, o Banco financiou um empréstimo de US$ 1,3 bilhão para gerenciamento ambiental sustentável para o Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES) de modo a apoiar reformas em políticas ambientais e sociais. Parcialmente devido a esse financiamento, o Brasil conseguiu importantes avanços na implementação de políticas ambientais. O governo brasileiro foi responsável por estabelecer 74% de todas as áreas de proteção ambiental criadas ao redor do mundo entre 2003 e 2008, e diminuiu as taxas de desmatamento em 66% desde 2005.

Esse crescente legado ambiental ficou bem estabelecido no contato cada vez maior com ONGs ambientais nas duas conferências seguintes à Rio-92. Na Rio+5, realizada em 1997, o então presidente do Banco, James Wolfensohn, encontrou-se pela primeira vez com líderes brasileiros da sociedade civil para discutir as políticas ambientais e macroeconômicas do Banco. Durante a Rio+20, em junho passado, esse engajamento foi além do diálogo sobre políticas e incluiu uma série de discussões, workshops técnicos e até lançamentos conjuntos de programas. Entre os eventos, estavam uma sessão sobre valoração dos ecossistemas – copatrocinada pelo Instituto Internacional para o Meio Ambiente e o Desenvolvimento (IIED) –, um workshop técnico com jovens latino-americanos e o lançamento da Parceria Global pelos Oceanos, apoiada por 27 organizações da sociedade civil, incluindo o Fundo Mundial para a Natureza (WWF), a Conservação Internacional (CI) e o Fundo de Defesa Ambiental (EDF).

Em breve, além da bem conhecida fama romântica do Rio, imortalizada na canção Garota de Ipanema, o espírito da cidade também incluiu seu papel cada vez maior de líder ambiental. O Banco, por sua vez, pode certamente agradecer ao Rio por ter proporcionado um cenário propício para a melhora das relações com a sociedade civil e pelo lançamento de iniciativas ambientais estratégicas.

Photo: Courtesy of iStockphoto

Unlike the 1984 movie “Blame it on Rio”, which attributed a bawdy affair between a middle-aged man (played by Michael Cain) and a teenager on the tropical vibes of the stunningly beautiful city, the recent hosting of the Rio +20 Conference served to showcase a different face of the Rio ambience — its global environmental leadership role.  The city not only maintains the world’s two largest urban forests, Pedra Branca and Tijuca (see photo), but has just completed a state of the art waste treatment center which will allow for a 8% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and are installing 300 kilometers of bicycle lanes.  For the World Bank, the city has been the setting for the improbable significant improvement in relations between the Bank and environmental CSOs over the past 20 years.

When Rio hosted the original UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, the Bank participated with a small staff delegation and its modest publications booth at the parallel NGO “Global Forum” held on Flamengo Beach was set on fire by environmental activists.  They were protesting the Bank’s financing of the Narmada Dam project in India which threatened to displace hundreds of thousands of small farmers without a fair and sustainable resettlement plan in place.  Some were expressing disapproval of the Polonoroeste project funded by the Bank in Brazil where the paving of a highway linking two Amazonian state capitals led to widespread deforestation in the 1980s.

The Bank was only beginning to adopt environmentally and socially-friendly policies in the early 1990s, but since then it has supported a series of unprecedented policies, programs, and projects.  Partially due to the Narmada experience, the Bank adopted 10 safeguard policies which now guide all involuntary resettlement, indigenous peoples, and environmental initiatives funded by the Bank.  In 1993 it established the Inspection Panel, the first of its kind among multilateral development Banks, which is a complaint mechanism for people who believe that they may be adversely affected by Bank-financed operations.  Today the Bank is playing a leadership role in addressing climate change by financing adaptation and mitigation in over 130 countries, and administering the Climate Investment Funds which is leveraging more than $40 billion in clean investments.

In Brazil the Bank has also supported a number of ground-breaking environmental and biodiversity protection initiatives since 1992.  One of these was the Pilot Program to Conserve the Rainforest which strengthened government environmental protection programs, financed biodiversity research, and supported NGO and indigenous people’s organizations throughout the Amazon.  More recently the Bank funded a $1.3 billion Sustainable Environmental Management loan with the Brazilian National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) to support environmental and social policy reform.  Partly as a result of this financing, Brazil has made important strides in implementing environmental policies.  The Brazilian government was responsible for establishing 74 per cent of all environmental protection areas created around the world from 2003 to 2008, and has reduced deforestation rates by 66% since 2005.

This improving environmental footprint is well exemplified at the Bank’s evolving contact with CSOs at the two subsequent Rio environmental conferences.  At the Rio +5 Conference held in 2008 then Bank President James Wolfensohn met for the first time with a dozen Brazilian CSO leaders to discuss the Bank’s environmental and macro-economic policies.   During the Rio +20 Conference this past June this engagement went beyond policy dialogue to include numerous panel discussions, technical workshops, and even program partnership launches.   The events included a session on ecosystem valuing co-sponsored with International Institute on Environment and Development (IIED), simulation workshop with Latin American youth, and the launch of the Global Partnership on Oceans which is supported by 27 CSOs including World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International, and Environmental Defense Fund.

In short, in addition to Rio’s well known romantic ambience as immortalized in the Girl from Ipanema song, the ‘Spirit of Rio’ also encompasses its growing international environmental leadership role.  The Bank, for its part, can certainly thank Rio for having provided a propitious setting for improving relations with civil society and launching ground-breaking environmental initiatives.

Photo:  Civil Society Team

Can the sharing of technical mapping tools and datasets help to change longstanding political relations?  This is exactly what’s happening between the World Bank and some of its longstanding advocacy CSO interlocutors.  Several recent training sessions and technical workshops co-organized with CSOs on the Bank’s open data tools, are leading to increased collaboration around a common transparency and accountability agenda.

One example is a hands-on training workshop co-organized by the World Bank and the Bank Information Center (BIC) on the Bank’s Open Development Programs on March 7, 2012. Some 20 representatives of well known policy advocacy CSOs from the Washington area (see photo) participated in the two-hour session which featured presentations on a number of Bank data platforms and search tools: Projects and Operations, Open Data, Mapping for Results, and Open Finances.  With individual computers stations and Internet access, participants were able to carry out individualized exercises and interactive tutorials. Building on the positive feedback received from this session, an extended 4-hour training session was held during the Spring Meetings on April 18.  Some 25 CSO and Youth leaders from developing countries participated in this second session. (see Summary)

A more recent event was a half-day workshop on disaster relief mapping tools co-organized by the Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and InterAction on May 3.  Almost 200 people from more than 70 organizations participated in the Mapping for Disasters and Development event to discuss free and open source GIS mapping tools.   A number of organizations such as Institutionalizing GIS, American Red Cross, and OpenStreetMap, gave talks and hands-on demonstrations on mapping projects being carried out in such countries as Haiti, Kenya, and Indonesia.  Suzanne Kindervatter (InterAction Vice President for Strategic Impact) stated in her opening remarks that: “At its heart, mapping is about openness. Openness is critical for inclusive development and a thriving civil society. In order for citizens to shape their own development, they need information on development activities, and spending by donors, as well as what their own governments are doing”.

The most intriguing aspect of these collaborative training efforts on open data tools is that they not only involve service provision CSOs interested in practical mapping applications, but policy advocacy CSOs which are frequently critical of the Bank’s policies and practices.  After having campaigned over many years for the Bank to open its data, these CSOs are now attempting to become familiar with the newly available specific datasets and tools.  The treasure throve of data now available includes extensive background documents on more than 10,000 projects in the Bank’s projects database, Bank budget information dating back to 1947, and detailed country maps juxtaposing the location of Bank-financed projects with a variety of color-coded poverty data.

Learning how to access this data will not only allow advocacy CSOs to better inform their policy advocacy campaigns going forward, but also share this knowledge and expertise with developing country CSOs and stakeholders who need this information the most.  Much like the innovative program Check my School in the Philippines, providing real time information on program goals, project budgets, and disbursement schedules can empower citizens to demand better public services in their communities.  This technical collaboration over data should not come as a surprise, however, as advocacy CSOs have worked closely with the Bank over the past several years to consult on and launch its Access to Information policy.  By helping to train local citizens groups to access project information and data, advocacy CSOs are now helping the Bank to implement its open development policies.

Photo:  Ryan Raybum

A record number of CSOs participated in the recently concluded Spring Meetings in Washington.  Over 550 civil society representatives – 200 more than in 2011 – attended the Civil Society Program which spanned five days from April 17 to 21.  Of these, the Bank and Fund sponsored 29 CSOs / Youth Leaders and Academics (see list) from developing countries in order to ensure that voices and perspectives from southern civil society and young people were adequately represented at the Spring Meetings. These sponsored participants participated actively in a week-long schedule of events, including numerous bilateral meetings with Bank and Fund senior managers.

The Civil Society Program included a CSO Roundtable with Executive Directors, an orientation session on the WB and IMF, Civil Society Policy Forum (CS Forum), and a high-level panel on Social Accountability. The CSO Roundtable was co-sponsored by the Directors from Brazil, Kuwait, and United States, and was characterized by a frank and constructive discussion between some 20 Executive Directors and 40 CSO representatives on the role of governments at the Bank and Fund, impacts of the global economic crisis, and ways to intensify engagement with civil society.

The CS Forum comprised some 45 sessions on a wide range of topics including safety nets, youth unemployment, energy policies, safeguards, and aid effectiveness. Most of the sessions were organized by CSOs (i.e. Oxfam, Basic South Initiative, Bank Information Center, and World Resource Institute) although the Bank and Fund also organized consultation meetings on numerous topics such as debt sustainability and development policy lending. At the end of the Forum, there was a planning session with Japanese CSOs on the upcoming Annual Meetings which will be held in Tokyo on October 10 – 12, 2012. See Forum schedule for a list of panelists and description of each session.

The highlight of the CS Forum was a high-level panel on Social Accountability, which involved Bank President Robert Zoellick, government official, and several well known CSO leaders. Zoellick, announced (see press release) the establishment of the Global Partnership on Social Accountability (GPSA) will invest in projects to support social accountability, as well as focus on exchanging knowledge of best practice. The Bank plans to invest $20 million in seed money to create the Partnership and will work with other donor agencies to raise additional funds.  He also explained that while the mechanism was approved in principle by the Board of Directors, the Bank will launch a second phase of consultations with civil society and other stakeholders through June to work out the details of the mechanism which is expected to become operational in July.  (see  GPSA website for details on consultations going forward)

The growing number of CSOs attending the Bank/IMF Meetings reflects a historic trend in improved Bank – CSO relations.  In addition to having ready contact to Bank officials, what seems to be driving this increase is the fact that the CS Forum offers an independent and credible space for policy dialogue.  CSOs are encouraged to determine the topics, format, and panelists for their own sessions, and this has led to substantive and frank exchange of views in areas of common concern.  The recent session sponsored by Human Rights Watch and several other CSOs on “IFI Re-engagement in Burma: Challenges and Opportunities”, for instance, demonstrates how timely and constructive the dialogue has become. There was widespread agreement among the CSOs, World Bank, IMF, and Asian Development Bank panelists that re-engagement needs to be accompanied by significant governance reforms and undertaken within a framework of transparency and accountability.  This common understanding was exemplified in a press statement released by the Bank on April 26 about its re-entry into Myanmar which states that in addition to working with the government and other donor agencies “we’re also working with civil society organizations to support the important work they are doing to encourage transparency and accountability”.

Photo:  Naz Atabaki

This was a question asked by numerous participants during a consultation meeting held in Washington on February 29 on the Bank’s proposed Global Partnership for Enhanced Social Accountability (GPESA).  They noted that this lack of trust comes from a longstanding view that the Bank tends to favor governments in detriment of the broader society in many developing countries.  Others noted that the lack of trust comes from the perception that the Bank is not accessible and does not effectively engage civil society in some countries. This contrasts with the view, expressed by several participants, that the Bank has made important strides in opening up and reaching out to civil society at headquarters over the past decade and that this positive momentum should guide GPESA implementation.

Some 50 representatives of Washington-based CSOs, universities, government agencies, and Africa Diaspora organizations participated in the 3-hour GPESA consultation meeting. (see agenda and participants list).  The session began with welcoming remarks by WB Vice President Sanjay Pradhan, who stressed the unprecedented nature of this initiative, and a presentation on GPESA was made by Mary McNeil, Senior Operations Officer.  Sam Worthington, CEO of InterAction, provided discussant remarks which helped to frame the discussion which ensued.  The meeting was part of a comprehensive global consultation process which began on January 1st and will span through June 2012 involving face-to face and/or video conference consultations with CSOs in over 40 countries, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East & North Africa.   (see GPESA website for details)

Participants also raised a number of issues and practical suggestions for ensuring that the new social accountability initiative has the desired impact. (see summary note) They suggested that this initiative use a broad definition of civil society which would not only include NGOs but informal citizen’s networks worldwide.  They suggested that the Bank take into account the unequal power relations between Northern and Southern civil society in order to ensure that GPESA primarily benefit the latter. Participants also suggested that the Program support existing networks such as Civicus and the Affiliated Network on Social Accountability (ANSA) in order to broaden its interaction with civil society and avoid duplicating existing social accountability in this area.

A number of participants referred to the sensitive political nature of the initiative in some countries, and recommended that the Bank should start slowly and employ a ‘light touch’ in the beginning.  That way it can learn from the process, avoid common pitfalls, and make needed adjustments going forward.  In this light, it would be important to support successful examples of CSO – government collaboration early on in order to convince skeptical governments that social accountability efforts can be a ‘win-win’.  Several participants noted that GPESA’s governance structure should be small and nimble, but that it will need to ensure meaningful participation by civil society.  There were varying views, however, on whether CSO representation should be self-selected or appointed by the Bank.  The other governance challenge is to ensure that Bank Country Offices, and particularly Country Directors, are fully engaged in GPESA implementation to ensure that it is integrated into the Bank’s broader country program.

For those wishing to add their own voices to this substantive and lively discussion there is still time and we encourage you to do so.  You can either participate in upcoming consultation meetings across the globe (see schedule) or via our online form.

Photo: World Bank Civil Society Team

This is a question many World Bank stakeholders – civil society, government, private sector representatives – have been debating in recent years.  The questions is even more timely now that the Bank is considering establishing a new global Partnership for Social Accountability geared to supporting civil society capacity to engage with governments to improve development effectiveness.  It comes in response to a speech Mr. Zoellick gave in April 2011 on the need to scale up relations with civil society in the wake of the Arab Spring and growth of civil society worldwide.

The objective of the Partnership would be to support greater voice and participation by citizens, budget transparency, and improved quality and availability of basic services.  It would achieve these by promoting knowledge exchange and research, supporting training and capacity building, and by funding CSOs engaged in social accountability efforts nationally and regionally.  The Partnership would have a multi-stakeholder governance structure which would include CSOs, governments, and donor agencies.  Funding for the Partnership is slated to come from the Bank, foundations, and bilateral development agencies.

The Bank has just launched a six-month public consultation process in order to get ideas and views on the proposed partnership from CSO representatives, government officials, and other stakeholders. The first phase of the consultation, which will involve meetings and an online feedback platform, began on January 1 and goes through March 3.  Stakeholders are being asked to respond to the following questions:

1. What are the key challenges or issues faced by civil society, which the Partnership should try to address?
2. What type of support should the proposed Partnership offer in order to help civil society address these issues?
3. What should be the World Bank’s role in providing this support?
4. What kind of development results should the Partnership seek to achieve? By what metrics or indicator should the success of the Partnership be measured?
5. The Briefing on Key Concepts outlines emerging ideas on the governance structure of the possible Partnership. What else should be taken into consideration in establishing an effective and efficient governance structure?
6. What criteria should be used in the selection of civil society and independent experts to participate in the governance structure?
7. What risks are to be expected and how should the Partnership seek to address these risks?
8. Do you have any other suggestions on the proposed Partnership?

This is your opportunity to weigh into this discussion.  Please provide your views via our online questionnaire, which you will find here.  For background information on the initiative, including summary notes and participants list of nearly a dozen briefing meetings held with CSOs worldwide in 2011, visit the Partnership website.  The website can currently be accessed in four languages (Arabic, French, English, and Spanish), and consultation materials in Russian and Chinese are available on the English page.