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 During the 2005 Annual Meetings, the Civil Society Teams at the World
Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and International Finance Corporation
(IFC) organized a Civil Society Policy Dialogue Program for civil society
representatives which included policy dialogue sessions, access to
press conferences and official meetings. There was also a town hall meeting with the heads of
the Bank Group, the IMF, and the Development Committee.
CEO Vanel Beuns at the 2005 Annual Meetings
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CEO Vanel Beuns at the research center
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A
total of 180 civil society representatives received accreditation to
participate in the Annual Meetings. These included policy advocates
from NGOs, faith-based organizations, trade unions, and research centers
from some 30 countries, although the majority was from developed countries,
particularly the United Kingdom
and the United States.
The CSOs were provided with a number of meeting rooms, computer stations,
phones, and
copy machines in both the Bank and Fund buildings. They were
also provided access to journalists, press conferences, and several of the
official meetings either in person or via webcast.
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A
series of policy dialogue sessions, 18 in all, were organized for the
accredited CSOs during the week of the Meetings. These dialogues were
held between Tuesday, September 20 and Saturday, September 24 and covered
nearly all the major issues on the Development Committee agenda and other
topics including: PRSP review, IFC safeguards, climate change, aid for
trade, conditionality review, infrastructure progress report, and HIPC.
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About half of these sessions were co-organized and/or co-hosted with
such CSOs as Bank Information Center, Center of Concern, Eurodad,
Environmental Defense, InterAction, Oxfam, Save the Children, World
Resources Institute, World Vision). Numerous Bank managers (Vice
Presidents and Directors) and staff served as speakers, panelists, and
chairs of these sessions. CSOs also participated in the Program of
Seminars
sessions, which were
free of charge for the first time to all CSOs, and included high level panels
on Africa, trade, and debt sustainability.
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A Civil Society Town Hall meeting with Paul Wolfowitz (President, World
Bank), Rodrigo de Rato (Managing Director, IMF), and Trevor Manuel (Head,
Bank’s Development Committee), was held on Thursday, September 22 and was
open to all accredited CSOs. This event, which was webcast live,
was chaired by Aruna Rao of Civicus and attracted some 60 CSO
representatives. They brought up a number of issues: Marlin Gold mine
project in Guatemala,
corruption, reconstruction of Iraq,
and Bank governance.
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During
his introductory remarks, Wolfowitz said that civil society plays a key
role in giving people voice and holding governments accountable. CSOs also
play a critical advocacy role, he said, supporting the Bank to push
governments to live up to their commitments and promises. Further, he
stated that CSOs can be a critical source of intelligence: “Development is
not a science. It is a process that requires a fair amount of trial and
error – you need to know what your errors are and it’s hard to know them
unless people who have really knowledge on the ground can
communicate them to you.” Mr. Wolfowitz also attended a reception
following the townhall during which time he was able to talk to many CSO
leaders who attended the Town Hall.
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CSOs attending the meetings also produced a series of reports and statements
prior or at the time of the meetings. Some 15 policy papers were
disseminated on such issues as debt, PRSP, trade, PSIA, and
conditionality. The area of greatest interest this year, though,
was the debt deal reached at the Meetings as evidenced by numerous press
releases disseminated by leading CSOs at the conclusion of the Annual
Meetings.
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The
active presence of CSOs at the Meetings reflects the growing recognition by
the Bank and Fund of the role civil society plays in the policy setting
process. As President Wolfowitz said in his Annual Meetings speech:
“civil society organizations contribute to accountability by providing an
important bridge between citizens and their governments."
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