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- Info
0422
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press release
cee bankwatch network - friends of the earth
international
‘most flawed consultation' award goes to
world bank's private arm
Washington, d.c., April 22, 2005 -- The
International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Safeguard Policy Review is the winner of the
2005 'Award for the Most Flawed Consultation
Process' within the World Bank Group, civil
society organisations announced today.
The award was presented to the World Bank
during a meeting at the institution's
Washington D.C. headquarters today.
“While we have seen over and over that the
World Bank Group does not take input from
civil society seriously, they really outdid
themselves with the Safeguards Policy
Review,” said Janneke Bruil from Friends of
the Earth International.
The IFC, the private sector arm of the World
Bank Group, is revising its environmental and
social policies, as well as its technical
pollution standards and information
disclosure requirements.
Once finalized and adopted, these standards,
which civil society organizations fear are in
danger of being drastically weaker than
existing IFC lending safeguards, will become
the new benchmarks for international
financial lending practices for other private
commercial banks, like the so-called
“Equator” Banks, as well as export credit
agencies and other international financial
institutions.
“The World Bank needs to carefully listen to
the voices of people around the world who are
supposed to benefit from the institution's
investments,” said Petr Hlobil of CEE
Bankwatch Network. “However, consultation has
been problematic all throughout the World
Bank's existence. We hope this award will be
a strong reminder of the need to improve the
way the Bank interacts with civil society,”
he added.
The IFC's Safeguard Policy Review is a
highly contentious consultation process
underway since August 2004 that was described
by Rio Tinto as “rushed” and lacking
credibility. [1]
In a vote organised by the Coalition for
Global Rights, Rules and Responsibilities,
civil society organisations judged the IFC's
Performance Standards Consultation to be the
winner for the following reasons:
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The whole consultation process was
designed with speed as the top priority,
with insufficient time given to a variety
of stakeholders for comments.
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The draft text that was supposed to
form the basis of the consultation at
Regional Consultation Workshops was
incomplete.
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IFC staff ignored NGO demands for the
self-selection of NGO representatives at
the regional workshops. The IFC refused to
provide information about the participating
NGOs before the workshops, thus denying
other organisations the opportunity to
raise issues through those
participants.
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Translations of the draft text into
languages other than English were provided
at the last minute before the workshops;
some additional key documents are still
only available in English.
Other WBG processes that scored highly in
this contest were the Consultation on the
Operational Policy on Indigenous Peoples,
Expanding the Use of Country Systems in
Bank-Supported Operations, and the Extractive
Industries Review.
The prize was awarded by groups from the
Coalition for Global Rights, Rules, and
Responsibilities.
For more information about the IFC
Performance Standards see
www.grrr-now.org
for more information
contact
In the US:
Michelle Medeiros: Friends of the Earth-U.S.
+1 202 222-0717
In Europe:
Janneke Bruil, Friends of the Earth
International +31 6 52 118 998
Petr Hlobil, CEE Bankwatch Network: +
420-2-7481 65 71 (mobile) or
+420-603-154 349
notes
[1] Comments from Andrew Vickerman, Rio
Tinto's head of sustainable development,
quoted in “Man bites dog as Rio Tinto sides
with NGOs”, Environmental Finance, Nov 12,
2004
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