Posts Tagged ‘aid transparency’
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4 June 2010
ADB Proposes Revisions to Public Communications Policy
The Asian Development Bank June 4 issued proposed changes in its Public Communications Policy. Release of the “consultation draft” comes as the ADB commences a series of worldwide meetings. The first session will be June 15 in Canada, and the last is scheduled for August 2 in the Philippines. The ADB’s 12-country consultation schedule is posted online.
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1 April 2010
IDB Governors Raise Bar for New Transparency Policy
The Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank on March 21 made several commitments to improve transparency at the IDB. The Board’s statements go slightly beyond those contained in a recently proposed outline of potential changes to the disclosure policy. Just before the Board meeting in Cancun, Mexico, the IDB released a “Policy Profile” that …
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1 April 2010
Groups Seek Transparency for Aid to Haiti
As a major conference on aid to Haiti began in New York March 31, a coalition of nongovernmental organizations made a series of pro-transparency recommendations. The recommendations “highlight the need to change the way donor states provide aid, by empowering the Haitian people; strengthening the Haitian government’s capacity to guarantee human rights; and making assistance […]
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20 October 2009
New Report on Aid Transparency: Not Available! Not Accessible!
Madrid, Spain — Transparency NGO Access Info Europe released a report on October 20 entitled “Not Available! Not Accessible!” to coincide with the opening of the International Aid Transparency Initiative’s conference of donors and recipient governments in the Hague. The report shows how donor governments are failing to make available the information needed to prevent corruption in […]
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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. The Bank’s reluctance to disclose the Framework Agreements […]
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12 June 2009
EIB Proposes Limit on Disclosure of Framework Agreements, Invites Public Comment on Transparency Policies
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. Tajikistan is one such country getting EIB help. On February 11, 2009, the EIB announced that the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, and EIP President Philippe Maystadt […]
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26 May 2009
Secret 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. The […]
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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. The $65 million four-year initiative being administered by the World Bank is designed to “strengthen governance programs and further the fight against corruption,” according to a Dec. […]
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1 December 2008
International Lenders Permit Georgia to Limit Release
of Information; Groups Protest Lack of Transparency Transparency was a casualty when international donors gathered recently to consider emergency aid to Georgia. Civil society groups requested disclosure of the primary document to be discussed at the multi-donor conference — the “Joint Needs Assessment.” On the day before the meeting, a summary was released by the […]
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24 September 2008
Accra Agenda Transparency Langauge Called Unspecific
The IATA announcement came as 1,200 delegates from 120 countries met Sept. 2-4 to complete the “Accra Agenda for Action on Aid Effectiveness.” Many civil society organisations dubbed the communiqué an “agenda for inaction.” Among other things, the groups wanted stronger language on transparency and more comprehensive disclosure of information. Without specifying how it will […]
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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. While such opacity is typical for the IMF, freedominfo.org has learned that at least one country, Russia, has recommended that the staff paper be released. […]
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12 December 2007
World Bank Grants Access to Database on Loan Conditionality
The World Bank has granted researchers access to an internal database used to track the conditions placed on Bank loans, an action that bodes well for similar transparency requests. The unusual grant of access helped the European Network on Debt and Development (EURODAD) to create a report somewhat critical of the Bank, as indicated in […]
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20 January 2006
New Steps Toward IFI Transparency: The Use of Domestic Remedies
Mexico established a landmark precedent for the application of national freedom of information laws to the activities of international institutions when its Information Commission on Nov. 16, 2005 ordered the disclosure of documents related to a $108 million World Bank loan to the state of Guanajuato, México. The decision by the Federal Institute for Access […]
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14 September 2005
Documents Spur Public Debate about World Bank Involvement in Awarding Contract for Delhi Water Deal
World Bank and Indian Anti-corruption Group Trade Charges about Bidding Process Documents released recently under Delhi’s freedom of information law raised a major public controversy over World Bank involvement in contract bidding and fueled a public debate over possible privatization of the Delhi water system. On July 28, Indian anti-corruption group Parivartan, citing internal documents […]
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9 August 2005
EIB Declines to Release Ukranian Framework Agreement
The European Investment Bank has declined to release the text of a framework agreement recently signed with Ukrainian leaders. Although the EIB a year ago promised the release of framework agreements (with a few caveats), officials replying to a freedominfo.org request said those caveats mean that disclosure will not occur until after the agreement is […]
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1 June 2005
Sen. Lugar Stresses Transparency in MDB Replenishment Legislation
The Republican chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Lugar (R-Ind), has made transparency reforms the central focus of legislation that also would authorize U.S. contributions to five multilateral development banks. Lugar’s bill contains instructions to the U.S. representatives at the five institutions, including the World Bank, and tells them to support several […]
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1 July 2004
IMF Registers Slight Improvement in Disclosure of Article IV Reports
Slight progress was made during 2006 toward increasing the number of countries willing to disclose the key analytical report on their country prepared by the International Monetary Fund, according to a recent IMF report. The figures show that 15 percent of the countries whose Article IV and/or Use of Fund Resources reports were reviewed by […]
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1 July 2003
IMF Board Requests Research on Legality of Mandatory Disclosure
The International Monetary Fund Executive Board has asked its staff to study whether there are legal impediments to requiring countries to disclose certain documents, according to informed sources. The research effort is an outgrowth of a debate at a June 27 Board meeting, held to review its disclosure policy. One topic on the table, for […]
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1 December 2002
Lack of Transparency a Major Controversy in Cambodian Logging Dispute
(The following six articles are reprinted with permission from The Cambodia Daily. They provide a vivid description of the importance of transparency and public review. The first article sets the stage, describing the controversy surrounding logging operations in Cambodia supported by the World Bank. The subsequent articles describe vividly the efforts of villagers to obtain […]
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22 November 2002
Cutting Plans Criticized; Global Witness Seeks Halt to Logging
By Richard Sine The Cambodia Daily, November 22, 2002 Three years ago, a major study commissioned by the Asian Development Bank found forests here so depleted, and cutting rates so rapid, that logging was only viable for a few more years on most concessions. In plans made public last week, every logging company appears to […]