Posts Tagged ‘disclosure policy’
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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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8 November 2007
European Ombudsman Finds Maladministration by European Commission for Failure to Produce Annual Report
Acting on a complaint brought by the European watchdog group Statewatch, the European Ombudsman this week found maladministration by the European Commission for its failure to produce an annual report of access to documents for 2005. The Commission had claimed that inadequate staff and other obligations made it impossible to comply with the legal obligation […]
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7 November 2007
Council of Europe Committee Puts off Decision on Draft Access to Information Convention, Permits More Time for Input
The Council of Europe’s Steering Committee on Human Rights (CDDH) met today in Strasbourg to consider the draft text of a European Convention on Access to Official Documents. Under pressure from non-governmental organizations and state representatives who have criticized the draft, the CDDH decided to put off a decision on the draft Convention to provide […]
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20 September 2007
Volcker Report Urges More Transparency at World Bank
The new “Volcker Report,” critiquing the World Bank’s internal investigations unit, makes several recommendations in favor of greater transparency. The report was commissioned to review the work of the Bank’s anti-corruption unit, the Department of Institutional Integrity (INT)-headed by Suzanne Rich Folsom, an appointee of former Bank President Paul Wolfowitz. The panel was chaired by […]
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28 August 2007
World Bank Issues Implementation Plan for Anticorruption Strategy
The World Bank has released its long-awaited “implementation plan” for its governance and anticorruption strategy, a document much shorter and less specific that the guiding Bank “strategy” set in March. There are some new revelations, however. The implementation plan issued Aug. 21 for the first time reveals a budget, $14.8 million for fiscal 2008. And […]
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19 April 2007
IDB Working Toward Disclosure Policy Review This Year
The Inter-American Development Bank is moving toward the start of a review of its disclosure policy, according to officials at the institution. First, a paper is being drafted by the Office of External Relations about issues and potential remedies. That paper is scheduled for completion by mid-May, at which point it will go to senior […]
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12 April 2007
World Bank Hires Washington Law Firm to Probe Leaks
Almost 10 weeks after announcing plans to investigate leaks of internal documents to Fox News, the World Bank has hired a Washington, D.C., law firm to conduct the probe, according to an announcement made internally April 9. The firm of Williams & Connolly has been selected to examine not only the first leak, of board […]
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1 April 2007
EBRD Makes Modest Changes to Assist Requesters
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has modified some portions of its disclosure policy, largely making procedural changes that may make it easier to make requests for information. However, the Bank did not adopt a handful of other recommendations from civil society commenters, such as CEE Bankwatch and the Global Transparency Initiative. The changes […]
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1 March 2007
World Bank Seeking Outside Counsel to Conduct Leak Probe
The World Bank has decided to seek outside help to track down who leaked minutes of a January 2007 board meeting to Fox News, a senior World Bank official has told freedominfo.org. "We want this to be independent, so management is working with the board to identify outside counsel to conduct it," according to a […]
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25 October 2006
UNDP Panel Makes First Decision, And Guts Disclosure Policy
Alasdair Roberts Syracuse University The UNDP Oversight Panel, established in 1997 to oversee the organization’s Information Disclosure Policy, issued the first decision in its history on October 9. Unfortunately, the decision robs the Information Disclosure Policy of most of its power. The UNDP Policy is widely regarded as a model for other international organizations. It […]
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22 September 2006
Hungarian Government Releases NATO Secrecy Policy Document
UPDATE – 11 OCTOBER 2006 In response to a subsequent HCLU request, the Hungarian National Security Superintendence recently released an additional, previously secret NATO document entitled “Directive on the Security of Information,” dated 2005. The directive, enacted in support of NATO Security Policy C-M(2002)49, contains mandatory provisions related to classification, marking and handling of sensitive information, […]
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22 September 2006
GTI Launches Transparency Charter
A set of principles to inform the disclosure policies of international financial institutions was announced Sept. 17 in Batam, Indonesia, by the Global Transparency Initiative (GTI). The nine principles were developed, with public comment, over the past year by the GTI, a nongovernmental network of civil society organizations of which freedominfo.org is a member. It […]
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22 September 2006
World Bank Disclosure Policies Change Slowly
Notwithstanding periodic reviews and modest advances, the World Bank’s disclosure policies continue to shield many important documents from disclosure. Take, for example, the baby step forward in 2005 to release minutes of Board meetings. An advance, no doubt, but the minutes themselves are skeletal. The much more useful "summaries" of Board meetings, though carefully-worded to […]
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9 May 2006
EIB Adopts New Disclosure Policy
The European Investment bank has released its new disclosure policy, making a variety of improvements while sticking to secrecy in several areas. The changes were “welcomed’ as “a step in the right direction” by the CEE Bankwatch Network, a nongovernmental organization that monitors the EIB. Toby Mendel, from Article 19, commented: “We are pleased to […]
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22 March 2006
EBRD Seeks Comment on Draft of New Disclosure Policy
At the London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the board recently released a proposal to modify its disclosure policies, with comments due April 14. The EBRD included in its announcement a number of new provisions. First, two new categories of information would be disclosed: General Institutional Information and Accountability and Governance. Second, the EBRD […]
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22 March 2006
Freedom of Information Laws Added to the Development Agenda
By Toby McIntosh Riding a wave of transparency, the idea of encouraging Freedom of Information (FOI) laws as part of the development agenda is gaining currency, but slowly. With research and case studies increasingly identifying transparency as a key tool in fighting corruption and facilitating development, more attention is being paid to the development of […]
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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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30 November 2005
EU Parliamentary Committee Rejects EIB Effort to Dodge Aarhus Rules
A committee of the European Union Parliament Nov. 22 rejected an effort by the European Investment Bank to be exempted from rules implementing the Aarhus Convention, the EU agreement that governs transparency policies for environmental-related activities. Approval of an amendment by the Environment Committee to include the EIB came despite campaigning by EIB officials to […]
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16 November 2005
IFC, EIB, IIC Make Few Concessions on Disclosure About Private Sector Projects
Three of the major international lenders with a mandate to finance private sector projects with public interest benefits are making few concessions to transparency. Pro-disclosure campaigns are underway to achieve better outcomes in ongoing disclosure policy reviews being conducted by the European Investment Bank and the World Bank’s private sector lending arm, the International Finance […]
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12 September 2005
Best Practices on Transparency Among IFIs
The Asian Development Bank has pulled markedly ahead of other international financial institutions in its standards for disclosure and civic participation, but like its sister international organizations the ADB continues make slow progress when measured against the increasingly refined transparency agenda of critics. In recent years several international finance institutions have adopted improved transparency policies, […]