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A CSO
meeting with Public Information Center
staff gathered in Washington
for the Communications Network Forum in May.
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July 19, 2010− For the first time ever, civil
society organizations (CSOs), including some that were previously
hesitant to engage with the Bank, have collaborated with the
institution on the implementation of a major policy. Three well-known
international CSOs - Bank Information Center (BIC), Argentinean Center
for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA) and the International Budget
Partnership (IBP) - were heavily involved in the implementation of the
Bank’s new Access
to Information policy.
“It has
been an interesting challenge for CSOs to shift from an advocacy to a
collaborative role in their approach to the Bank. I hope this can be
extended to other policy areas,” said Juan Carballo of CEDHA.
The new
policy represents a paradigm shift in the Bank’s release of
documentation, a critical resource for CSOs which monitor the Bank.
Since July 1, the majority of Bank documents are accessible to the
public, and a new appeal mechanism exists for those that are not.
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So far the AI website has received 44 document
requests, most from CSOs.
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The collaboration
began in 2009 during the consultation phase of the new p olicy
which involved extensive consultations with CSOs and other
stakeholders. The Global
Transparency Initiative (GTI), a network of international CSOs
working on information disclosure issues, helped the Bank design and
carry out the consultations, which involved over 50 consultation
meetings and video conferences with multiple stakeholders in 33
countries. To gather, display and track input from the consultations,
the Bank created a website which featured participant lists, meeting
notes, and a final
report on all input received and whether it was incorporated into
the policy.
Once the
policy was approved in December 2009, CSOs worked closely with the
Bank’s Access to Information Working Group (AIWG) providing input and
suggestions on various aspects of the implementation plan including:
translation requirements, user accessibility, staff training, and civil
society outreach. CSO representatives attended several AIWG meetings,
providing detailed feedback on the staff handbook and testing the
usability of the Access
to Information website. BIC reported regularly via their website to a
broad network of CSOs around the world on implementation plans and
issues.
AIWG
members valued the CSO’s for providing real time feedback on how policy
features would be perceived and accepted by the CSO community. “The
extensive involvement of CSOs was quite valuable and demonstrated how
seriously the Bank is taking the implementation of this new policy.
CSOs can play an important role going forward to help the Bank ensure
that average citizens have access to Bank information,” said AIWG
Chair, Peter Stephens, EXTOC.
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Caroline
Anstey, Vice President of EXT, addressing CSO's and Bank staff at the
Infoshop launch reception on July 1.
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As a way
of both recognizing and celebrating this collaboration, the Bank, BIC,
CEDHA, and IBP hosted a launch reception at Infoshop on July 1.
“It has been both productive and a pleasure to work with the Bank
on the consultation and implementation phases of this new policy,” said
BIC head, Chad Dobson, at the launch reception. “BIC and other CSOs
look forward to continue to working with the Bank on the next phase of
this implementation process, taking this collaborative approach to the
country level,” he said.
Caroline
Anstey, EXT Vice President, noted the important milestone the Bank has
reached in now disclosing the great majority of Bank operational
documents. “The Bank could not have advanced so far without the
strategic support of civil society,” she said, and thanked the three
CSOs for their leadership roles throughout the process.
In the
first two weeks of the new policy, the Access
to Information website has received 44 requests for documents,
many from CSOs. This represents a fivefold increase in demand over
last year and signals that requests for Bank documents are expected to increase
over time.
Building
on this positive engagement, the CSOs have proposed that Bank–CSO
advisory groups be established in a number of countries to facilitate
the implementation of the policy locally. The CSOs have also proposed
to work with the Bank on designing and delivering training on the new
policy to country-based CSOs.
Contributed by John
Garrison, Senior Communications Officer, EXTIA
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