Making the Third Sector Heard 01.05.1997
While IFIs such as World Bank should theoretically be accessible to input from
non-profits, their local staff members have generally not had training to work
with NGOs or grassroots groups.
CEE Bankwtach Network,
a network which maintains a regular policy dialogue with the World Bank and other
IFIs in the region, has launched an ongoing initiative to make the local
offices of World Bank more accessible to the NGO community and citizens of
Central and Eastern Europe.
The campaign began
with a questionnaire. Sent to NGOs which had been in contact with a local World
Bank office, it included questions on the Bank’s disclosure policy, on local
staff members’ willingness to seek public participation on projects, and on
other issues of interest to NGOs. Non-profits from 9 countries replied to the
questionnaire. Their responses confirmed the communication problem suspected by
Bankwatch.
Upon presenting the
results to the World Bank, three Bankwatch representatives were invited to give
a presentation. They did so at the seminar in October 1996, presenting a list
of suggestions about how World Bank offices can become more open and useful to
civil societies in borrowing countries. These concrete suggestions were then handed
to representative of the World Bank’s headquarters, who promised to distribute
them to all of the region’s local offices. Although the network had the
opportunity to distribute the list to these offices by itself, it chose to
accept the Bank’s offer in order to ensure that the local offices take the suggestions
seriously.
The network followed
up on the initiative a few months later, contacting a high-ranking official at
the bank who was known to be open to discussion with NGOs. Impressed by their
suggestions, she distributed their two-page list to all local World Bank offices
around the world.
The CEE Bankwatch
Network’s regional initiative has since grown broader.
Bankwatch has followed
up with a still more comprehensive questionnaire about the World Bank’s
openness to the third sector, as has expanded its campaign to include other IFIs.