24 FEBRUARY 2010 CSOs Urge IDB Governors to Be More Transparent
In advance of a key March meeting of the Board of Governors for the Inter-American Development Bank, more than 100 civil society organizations have called for more transparency and other reforms. The calls for transparency begin with a demand that the IDB disclose its proposal for recapitalization, saying the lack of disclosure and consultation “implies a violation of the minimum standards of consultation and process transparency.” More
>>
17 FEBRUARY 2010 ADB Commences Review of Public Communications Policy
The Asian Development Bank has invited public comment by April 15 on its current disclosure policy, kicking off a review process that will involve a series of in-country consultations before a new policy is approved by the end of the year. The consultation plan was announced by the ADB February 16. More >>
14 JANUARY 2010 Inspection Panel Case Plants Seeds of Cultural Change at World Bank
A complaint brought by a Yemeni organization to the World Bank’s Inspection Panel has produced some positive and unexpected results: a much delayed translation of a key program document that had sparked the original complaint, and an ambitious action plan, drawn up by the Bank’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) management, which aims to further develop the Bank’s relationship with civil society in the region. Meanwhile, we’ll have to wait a few more months before hearing the Inspection Panel’s final recommendation on whether to investigate further into the case or not. More >>
9 JANUARY 2010 IMF Barely Modifies Disclosure Policy
After an opaque review process, the International Monetary Fund January 8 announced modest changes to its disclosure policy, but retained the major impediment to disclosure, allowing governments to prevent release of documents pertaining to their countries. More >>
24 DECEMBER 2009 World Bank Announces New Disclosure Policy, Again
The World Bank December 23 announced a new disclosure policy that makes a significant conceptual jump that the Bank calls “radical.” The new policy presumes that documents will be disclosed unless confidentiality is justified by established exceptions. More >>
2 DECEMBER 2009 World Bank Cautious on Media Development
The goal of strengthening the media as one way to fight corruption was adopted by the World Bank in 2006, but the promise has gone virtually unfulfilled, according to research by freedominfo.org. More >>
18 NOVEMBER 2009 World Bank Board Broadens Access in New Disclosure Policy
The World Bank’s executive directors November 17 approved a new policy on access to information that will mean significantly more transparency about Bank decision making and operations. More >>
4 NOVEMBER 2009 GTI Praises, Criticizes World Bank Disclosure Proposal
The World Bank’s proposed disclosure policy falls well short of its potential, but it still will bring greater transparency to the Bank, according to the Global Transparency Initiative, an international nongovernmental organization. More >>
21 OCTOBER 2009 IATI Seeks Comments on Code of Conduct and Consultation Document
The International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) Secretariat is now seeking comments on the IATI Code of Conduct, which will specify how donors should publish aid information. Comments are due by October 30th. More >>
12 OCTOBER 2009 US Treasury Secretary Urges More Transparency at IMF, Advocates Release of All Article IV Reports US Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, speaking October 4 in Istanbul at the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) meeting, called for more transparency at the International Monetary Fund. Geithner said, “Moreover, greater transparency is critical to underpin the credibility and effectiveness of IMF surveillance. Since the crisis has taught us that no nation is immune, we call upon all IMF members to allow the publication of their annual Article IV reviews.” More >>
11 SEPTEMBER 2009 Rep. Frank Urges World Bank to Make Transparency Reforms
US Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said September 10 that the World Bank should improve its disclosure policy and remove the anti-labor bias from its “Doing Business” report or else risk reduced US funding. More >>
11 SEPTEMBER 2009 IFC Announces Plans to Review Disclosure Policy
The World Bank’s private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation, announced a review of its disclosure policy on September 8, a 15-month process to be done in conjunction with a review of its environmental and social policies. More >>
9 SEPTEMBER 2009 World Bank May Disclose Documents Going to the Board
The World Bank may be moving toward major breakthroughs in transparency for its Executive Board, according to informed sources. One change being contemplated would provide for the public release of key staff recommendations at the same time they are sent to the decision-making board. More >>
19 JUNE 2009 World Bank Internal Evaluation Group Posts Disclosure Policy
On June 18, the World Bank’s Internal Evaluation Group (IEG) posted its 2004 disclosure policy for the first time. The absence of the policy came to light because of indications that IEG plans to rewrite its policy after the Bank completes a rewrite of its disclosure policy, an effort now under way. Freedominfo.org recently reported on IEG’s plans and the nondisclosure of the five-year-old policy, a gap IEG officials said they would remedy. More >>
19 JUNE 2009 Closely Guarded EIB Framework Agreements Appear Largely Technical The European Investment Bank is proposing to disclose Framework Agreements only with the permission of the country partner, but the agreements appear to be largely technical and legal documents, judging from a very old one supplied by the Bank and a more recent one obtained by Freedominfo.org. More >>
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is proposing to let countries decide whether to disclose the “Framework Agreement” documents that guide EIB lending to individual countries. The EIB also has invited comments by July 24 on the proposed disclosure policy and a related, broader “Transparency Policy.” More >>
1 JUNE 2009 World Bank Evaluation Body Keeps Disclosure Policy Secret The World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) is considering rewriting its policy on disclosure, but is keeping its five-year-old existing policy under wraps. The IEG’s disclosure policy was written in 2004. An IEG official offered no explanation for not disclosing the disclosure policy, and said May 18 that posting it is under consideration. Calls to IEG for further comment May 28 and 29 were not returned. More >>
28 MAY 2009 Global Transparency Initiative (GTI) Comments on World Bank Disclosure Proposal, Offers Model Policy The Global Transparency Initiative (GTI) has filed comments critical of World Bank’s preliminary proposal to rewrite its disclosure policy and also suggested a "model policy" alternative. Despite praising the Bank’s movement toward a system more like good national right-to-know statutes, the GTI identified "a number of shortcomings" in the "approach paper" advanced by the Bank. The GTI is a network of civil society organizations promoting openness at the international financial institutions. More >>
26 MAY 2009 Summaries of World Bank Meetings Illuminate Proceedings The “minutes” of the World Bank’s executive board meetings, released publicly, are brief notations of the official action, usually one paragraph. They reveal almost nothing about what transpired during the closed deliberations. The “summaries,” by contrast, describe the key points of discussion. They condense, without names, the comments made by the Executive Directors (ED). The summaries for a typical hour-long meeting run a half-dozen single-spaced pages in length. Recently, freedominfo.org reviewed the summaries for seven board meetings held in early 2009, from February 3 to April 7. More >>
30 APRIL 2009 IMF Holds Consultation on Transparency Policy Ana Quiros from Nicaragua had a very direct message for the International Monetary Fund. “We would like to see what you are discussing with Nicaragua, and not just in a press note,” said Quiros, who works for the Information Center & Advisory Services in Health (Centro de Informacion y Servicios de Asesoria en Salud). Last year her government prevented Quiros from attending the annual spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, but on April 23 she was there. She joined about 30 other persons who attended an IMF “consultation” on its disclosure policy. More >>
30 APRIL 2009 World Bank Disclosure Proposal Assessed at Consultation
The World Bank’s proposals to alter its disclosure policy were praised for moving in the right direction but criticized for not going far enough at a three-hour consultation held April 25 in Washington, DC. More >>
21 APRIL 2009 Transparency Violations Common Theme for World Bank Inspection Panel
Many of the cases brought to the World Bank’s Inspection Panel (IP) for review concern allegations of a lack of transparency, according to the Inspection Panel’s latest annual report. Alleged violation of the Bank’s disclosure policy was raised in 22 of the 52 cases, which equates to 42 percent of all cases brought to the panel since its 1994 inception, according to a summary chart in the report. More >>21 APRIL 2009 Yemeni Group Says Lack of Translation Inhibited Transparency
On April 13, 2009, the Yemen Observatory for Human Rights, a civil society organization based in Sana'a, officially submitted their case regarding the World Bank’s translation framework to the World Bank Inspection Panel. More >>
31 MARCH 2009 IMF Begins Delayed Review of Transparency Policy The International Monetary Fund on March 25 requested public comment on its transparency policy. The IMF asked for comments by April 30 and offered questionnaires for three different types of potential respondents: "civil society organizations," "financial market participants," and "think tanks, academics and other stakeholders." More >>
16 MARCH 2009 World Bank Kicks Off Review of Disclosure Policy The World Bank March 13 announced plans to review its disclosure policy, unveiling an "Approach Paper" that moves in the direction of more transparency. More >>
22 DECEMBER 2008 World Bank, Others to Support CSOs with New Funds A new “Global Partnership Facility” holds the promise of new resources for civil society groups working on governance and anticorruption issues, including freedom of information and media development.More >>
22 DECEMBER 2008 World Bank Emphasizes Demand Side in Cambodian Project
Shifting strategic emphasis, the World Bank is taking a new approach to its work with Cambodia, one that among other things will mean funneling money to civil society organizations in an effort to stimulate demand for better governance.More >>
24 SEPTEMBER 2008 IMF Exploration of Governance Could Touch on Transparency The International Monetary Fund has launched a high-level examination of its own governance, a topic also probed earlier this year by an internal evaluation unit that recommended many reforms, including greater transparency. More >>
24 SEPTEMBER 2008 Three New Reports Highlight Need for Right to Know Laws The value of having legal environments supportive of the right to know, free expression and an independent media is highlighted in several reports, one by the World Bank, another funded by the U.S. State Department, and a third by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. More >>
16 MAY 2008 GTI Calls EBRD Transparency Proposal Insufficient The Global Transparency Initiative April 8 expressed its "deep disappointment" at the Public Information Policy proposed by the management of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. More >>
16 MAY 2008 Canadian Government Reports on IFI Activity Get Good Grade The Canadian government's annual reporting on its activities at international financial institutions is getting better, according to the authors, and to a Canadian civil society group which recently gave the latest report its best grade ever. More >>
24 MARCH 2008 Russia Urges IMF to Disclose Key Governance Proposal
The major ongoing discussion within the International Monetary Fund about how to revamp its voting structure is nearing completion but without the release of key recommendations by the IMF staff. More >>
30 JANUARY 2008 EIB Announces Additions to Web Site The European Investment bank is now publishing the provisional summary of decisions of its Board of Directors. More >>
18 JANUARY 2008 GTI Questions IMF Delay of Transparency Policy Review The Global Transparency Initiative has expressed concern about the decision by they International Monetary Fund to postponement review of the IMF Transparency Policy, originally scheduled for 2008.More >>
ABOUT
IFTI WATCH In
this column, Washington, D.C.-based journalist Toby
J. McIntosh reports on the latest developments
in information disclosure in International Financial
and Trade Institutions (IFTI).
Contact: tmcintosh@bna.com or
1-(703) 341-5815
