patth@ccnysci.UUCP (08/14/89)
Ported from PeaceNET's RainForest.Tropic_Timber Conference:
/* Written 4:57 pm Aug 9, 1989 by jbarnes in cdp:ran.tropictimber */
/* ---------- "URGENT -- IDA9 NEGOTIATION (WORLD B" ---------- */
August 11, 1989
URGENT ACTION ALERT
World Bank's International Development Association (IDA)
Replenishment Negotiations
(September 21-22, 1989)
Dear Friends:
As you may be aware, the negotiation for replenishment
of IDA is underway. This provides an opportunity for NGOs
to voice their concerns about the environmental and social
problems of IDA. More importantly, because governments
will be putting up new funds, this provides a political
vehicle for achieving part of our reform agenda for the
World Bank.
Many NGOs in Washington are putting forward to US
Government officials proposed reforms on "access to
information", as a first priority. Emphasis on this
particular area of reform is especially timely since it is
expected that the World Bank will shortly announce its
adoption of a long-awaited policy directive on
Environmental Assessments. One key to proper
implementation of the Environmental Assessment directive is
access to information by NGOs.
The IDA fund has been replenished eight times since
1960. This ninth replenishment will cover the years 1991-
1993. There were negotiation sessions in London on May 16
and 17, and in Copenhagen, on July 5 and 6. The next
sessions will be held in Washington, on September 21 and 22
and in Kyoto, on November 6 and 7. It is expected that the
negotiation will end on November 7.
The main issues at the first two meetings have been
(1) the size of the replenishment, and (2) which countries
should receive funds. The delegates are aiming for
contributions of between US$12-16 billion. The US is not
eager to commit much more than $1 billion, citing budgetary
difficulties. The European governments, in general,
support a larger increase in IDA funds. Moreover, they
argue that the US ought to maintain its 20% to 25% share,
according to the relative size of its economy.
Regarding allocation of IDA funds, the US is
contending that most funds should be concentrated on the
development of Sub-Saharan Africa; Japan prefers to focus
on Southeast Asian countries; some governments doubt that
African countries' economic infrastructures would be able
to productively absorb additional large sums of funding.
There also has been concern that several countries which
have "graduated" from the ranks of IDA borrowers--such as
Nigeria--now find themselves in need of IDA funds. This
implies that projects funded by IDA have not provided for
"sustainable" growth sufficient to pay off the large debt
burdens while at the same time fostering economic growth.
In the final package there will probably be a renewed
emphasis on overall economic performance as an indicator
for loan approval, including the rate of economic growth
and the willingness of the recipient country to accept
conditionality thought by the Bank to be necessary for
improved performance.
Environmentalists argue that a major defect of IDA
lending policy is its failure to seriously consider the
environmental and social impacts of projects. These issues
were not discussed at the London meeting, but were placed
on the Copenhagen agenda. The Bank was asked to prepare
for the meeting Technical Note No. 5, entitled "IDA's
Environmental Activities", for the discussion. In
preparation for the Cophenhagen meeting, US government
delegates developed four points:
1. Environmental Impact Assessment:
Barber Conable, President of the World Bank, has
directed his staff to issue standards on environmental
impact methodologies by September, in advance of the Bank's
annual meeting. In all likelihood, this will be issued as
an Interim Directive, with a consultation process on
implementation that will allow NGO input during the next
year.
2. Access to Information and Documentation:
Most important Bank documents are secret and not
available to the public in either donor or borrowing
countries. For this reason, it is quite common for the
supposed beneficiaries of IDA lending--the poor in
borrowing countries--to have no notice of the Bank-
supported projects that can affect their lives and
livelihoods. This is a common feature of all World Bank
activities. The US is pressing for greater access to Bank
documents as a condition of its IDA-9 contribution and is
looking for support from other countries on this crucial
issue of democracy and fairness. Of the environmental
issues expected to arise during the negotiations, this is
one on which the Bank has made the least progress in the
last few years.
3. Energy Efficiency and Conservation:
A growing body of literature demonstrates that energy
needs in many developing countries can be partly met
through improved energy efficiency and conservation,
rendering investments in environmentally harmful dams and
power plants unnecessary. Although the Bank has pressed
for energy pricing reforms in borrowing countries, it has
done little in the area of demand management through
lending for efficiency and conservation projects. The Bank
has proposed to increase the capabilities of its Energy
Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), which
currently has almost exclusive responsibility for these
issues. However, that proposal is inadequate because it
does not address the need to fully integrate conservation
and efficiency options into the Bank's lending operations.
4. Direct Participation by NGOs:
The Bank should allow for more direct involvement in
project development by non-governmental organizations.
***
Of course, there are other environmental issues that
could be discussed during the replenishment, but we believe
that these four issues merit serious consideration by all
the delegates involved.
If the IDA-9 Replenishment negotiation is to prove
useful in achieving further reforms of World Bank policies
and procedures, key member governments must be working
toward the same goals. It is imperative that Canada, the
UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and other donors stress
the importance of these reforms. Ministries of Finance
will be responsible for the IDA negotiations in most donor
countries.
PLEASE ACT NOW by urging your country delegates to
consider the four points above in the final two negotiating
sessions for the replenishment. Try and get interested
members of your parliament or legislature to put pressure
on the government. If possible, start a letter-writing
campaign from citizens and leaders of environmental and
social action organizations. We would appreciate it if you
would send us copies of letters you write to your
countries' delegates, and otherwise keep us informed as to
the actions you take on this issue.
Sincerely,
James N. Barnes
Senior Attorney
Environmental Policy Institute/
Friends of the Earth
218 D. St. SE
Washington, DC 20003
Tel: 202-544-2600
FAX: 202-5434710
email: jbarnes@cdp.uucp
Telex: 158215480
*************************************************************
August 11, 1989
M E M O R A N D U M
TO: Interested NGOs
FR: Jim Barnes, David Wirth, Bruce Rich
RE: Public Access to Information on World Bank Operations
_________________________________________________________________
A. Basic Principles
1. Increased public access to information is essential to ensure
and improve the quality of Bank operations. The Bank should make
fully available to the public, including nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) and community groups, complete information
on the physical, institutional, and economic details and the
environmental, public health, and socio-cultural impacts of
proposed Bank operations.
2. The need for greater access to information is particularly
acute for the public, including NGOs and community groups,
affected by Bank operations in borrowing countries.
3. The need for confidentiality between the Bank and borrowing
country governments must be balanced with the necessity to meet
the public's need for information and to assure the quality of
Bank operations.
B. New Bank Policy
Therefore, the Bank should prepare a new policy on public
access to information, to be operational by April 15, 1990 [or
other date], incorporating the following criteria:
1. The Bank should develop a policy, in consultation with
interested and concerned members of the public in host and donor
nations, that specifically identifies a limited number of
precisely defined categories of information that the Bank may
treat as confidential for purposes of public disclosure in final
Bank-generated documents and final country-generated documents
required by the Bank.
2. The designation of each such category should be justified by
compelling demonstration of the need to preserve the Bank's
confidential relationship with borrowing country governments,
such as the protection of personal privacy or national security.
3. Information concerning fundamental physical, institutional and
economic elements of the Bank's operations, such as loan design,
conditionality, economic analyses, and environmental, public
health, and socio-cultural impacts, should never be treated as
confidential.
4. All information not specifically designated as confidential
should be presumed to be available to the public in host and
donor countries. All final Bank-generated documents and final
country-generated documents required by the Bank should be
presumed available to the public in their entirety, unless the
Bank determines in each specific case that portions of a final
document are confidential. In this instance, the remaining non-
confidential portions should be available to the public.
5. All final loan-related documents should be publicly available
at least six months prior to Board presentation.
6. A senior (staff grade 23 or above) staff member within each
Country Department (and, where applicable, resident country
office) should be assigned responsibility for responding to
public requests for information concerning that country within
twenty working days of their receipt by the Bank and for
initiating contact with the public in the country in question to
facilitate dissemination of publicly available documents at the
Bank's initiative.
---
Patt Haring | UNITEX : United Nations
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