[Fwd: [Fwd: Action Alert: World Bank Policies]]

Tue, 09 Jun 1998 11:27:42 -0400
christopher chase-dunn (chriscd@jhu.edu)

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09 Jun 1998 06:46:59 -0400 (EDT)
Tue, 09 Jun 1998 06:47:01 -0400 (EDT)
09 Jun 1998 06:45:44 -0400 (EDT)
Date: Tue, 09 Jun 1998 06:44:41 -0400
From: Barbara Larcom <larcom@bcpl.net>
Subject: [Fwd: Action Alert: World Bank Policies]
To: Carl Chatzky <chatski@gl.umbc.edu>,
Charles Petersen <charles@red42.com.ar>,
Cheryl Avery <tiffany@ns.tmx.com.ni>,
Chris Chase-Dunn <chriscd@jhu.edu>, Chuck Johnson <Johnsonc@wou.edu>,
Dave Schott <dschott@igc.apc.org>,
Denis Nikitin <dgnikitin@hotmail.com>,
Dick Ochs <rochs@mail.bcpl.lib.md.us>,
Frida Berrigan <disarmnow@aol.com>, Howard Ehrlich <HJEhrlich@aol.com>,
Howdy Burns <burnsesq@clark.net>, Jim Lunday <jlunday@erols.com>,
Joe Duncan <jduncan@gilman.edu>, John Dickson <cnetjtd4@clark.net>,
Jon Kerr <editor@oldmanriver.com>, Kai Lit Phua <phuakl@sit.edu.my>,
Leslie Bilchick <baltimoreaction@erols.com>,
Max Obuszewski <maxo@igc.apc.org>, Mike Bardoff <abolition@juno.com>,
Mike Totten-Reid <tottenreid@hotmail.com>,
Nan McCurdy <Nan@nicarao.org.ni>, Peter Grimes <p34d3611@jhu.edu>,
SLAC <slac@listproc.hcf.jhu.edu>, Sue Hunt <movefree@juno.com>,
Timmons Roberts <timmons@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu>
Reply-to: larcom@bcpl.net

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8 Jun 1998 15:55:12 -0700 (PDT)
Mon, 8 Jun 1998 15:54:02 -0700 (PDT)
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 15:54:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: Njoki Njoroge Njehu <wb50years@igc.apc.org>
Subject: Action Alert: World Bank Policies
Sender: owner-50-years@igc.apc.org
To: 50-years@igc.org

Dear Friends:

The Action Alert below came from 50 Years Is Enough Network member
Friends of the Earth, US (FoE). Please send your letters out as soon as
possible. They need to know we are watching and they won't and can't get
away with creating loopholes that make key policies optional.

Let us know what the Bank's response is to your letters.

In Peace & Solidarity,

Njoki Njoroge Njehu
Public Outreach Coordinator

=====================================================

June 8, 1998

To: World Bank Watchers
From: Andrea Durbin, Friends of the Earth
Re: Update on World Bank Environmental and Social Policies : Making
them Mandatory

Dear Friends,

In a recent meeting with the US Executive Director, FoE learned that
several members of the World Bank Board have raised concerns about the
Bank's efforts to narrow down which Bank policies are considered binding
for all task managers. Several of the Board Members see this effort as an
attempt by the World Bank to "panel proof" themselves so that they no
longer have many policies that the Inspection Panel can investigate.

In July, the Board of Director's Committee on Development Effectiveness
(CODE committee of the Board with oversight on the policy conversion
process) will meet with Bank Management to discuss the policy conversion
problems in the restricted nature of the proposed list of "safeguard," or
mandatory policies. Some members of CODE have said that the list of
existing policies which the Bank considers mandatory is too narrow and
leaves out several important environmental and social policies (exactly
what NGOs have complained about!). The Board's Committee has asked for a
discussion about extending this list to include other social and
environmental policies.

So far management has identified nine "safeguard" policies which are
considered mandatory (Environmental Assessment, Natural Habitats, Pest
Management, Indigenous People, Management of Cultural Property,
Involuntary Resettlement, Forestry, Safety of Dams, and Project on
International Waterways), leaving out important policies such as Poverty
Reduction, Gender, Energy Efficiency, Social Aspects for Development, or
Project Monitoring, Evaluation and Supervision. The upcoming meeting of
CODE gives us an opportunity to persuade the Board to expand the list of
policies that are considered mandatory.

We encourage you to contact your Executive Director, state the concerns
raised by the current process to narrow down the list of required policies
and express your strong support for an expansion of the list of binding
policies. Only a few EDs have voiced their concerns about this so far
(the US, Netherlands and Switzerland). These countries and others should
push hard on this issue with Bank Management.

Attached is a sample letter that you can use to send to your Executive
Director, as well as a list of the names and information for the 24
Executive Directors and the latest list of CODE members.

I. SAMPLE LETTER

(Fill in Name)
World Bank Executive Director
The World Bank
1818 H. Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Dear

The World Bank has been working for several years on the conversion of its
existing policies into different categories that would allow management to
know which should be considered mandatory and which should be regarded as
optional guidelines or best practices.

So far Bank's management has identified only nine safeguard policies which
would be mandatory: OP 4.01 Environmental Assessment, OP 4.04 Natural
Habitats, OP 4.09 Pest Management, OP 4.10 Indigenous People, OP 4.11
Management of Cultural Property, OP 4.12 Involuntary Resettlement, OP 4.36
Forestry, OP 4.37 Safety of Dams, and OP 7.50 Project on International
Waterways. Important policies such as those on Poverty Reduction, Gender,
Energy Efficiency, Social Aspects of Development, Project Monitoring and
Evaluation and Project Supervision are excluded.

Although presented as an effort toward more efficiency and better
organization, this process has narrowed the list of important policies
that are now considered binding by the World Bank Group. NGOs are
concerned that the list of safeguard policies is excessively narrow and
leaves out important social and environmental policies and guidelines.
The exclusion of these policies undermines the Bank's effectiveness and
credibility in pursuing its goals of poverty reduction and sustainable
development.

We respectfully ask that you take the necessary steps to raise this issue
with management and seek the inclusion of all the World Bank's social and
environmental policies to be considered "safeguard" or mandatory policies.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter. We would
appreciate being informed about the progress on this issue.

II. LIST OF WB EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS BY COUNTRY
* Albania, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal: Franco Passacantando
* United States: Jan Piercy
* Germany: Helmut Schaffer
* Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka: Surendra Singh
* Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia,
Israel, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Netherlands,
Romania, Ukraine: Pieter Stek
* Russian Federation: Andrej Bugrov
* Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay: Juan Cariaga
* Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Kenya,
Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles,
Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda,
Zambia, Zimbabwe: Joaquim R. Carvalho
* Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua,
Panama, Spain, Venezuela: Enzo Del Bufalo
* Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica,
Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia,
St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Leonard Good
* Austria (informalrg, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Turkey:
Luc Hubloue
* Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, Vietnam:
Jannes Hutagalung
* Australia, Cambodia, Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Marshall Islands,
Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Republic
of Palau (informally), Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands,
Vanuatu: Young-Hoi Lee
* China: LI Yong
* Azerbaijan, Kyrgiz Republic, Poland, Switzerland, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan: Matthias Meyer
* Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden:
Ilkka Niemi
* Japan: Atsuo Nishihara
* United Kingdom: Gus O'Donnell
* Bahrain, Arab Republic of Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya,
Maldives, Oman, Qatar, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab
Emirates, Republic of Yemen: Khalid M. Al-Saad
* Saudi Arabia: Khali H. Aloha
* Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Philippines,
Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago: Juanita D. Embodying
* France: vacant; Alternate: Oliver Bourges
* Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic,
Chad, Comoros, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti,
Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar,
Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Niger, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sao
Tome and Principe, Senegal, Somalia (informally), Togo: Ali Bourhane
* Afghanistan, Algeria, Ghana, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Morocco,
Pakistan, Tunisia: Kacim Brachemi

III. LIST OF CURRENT EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS SERVING ON CODE
Surendra Singh, Chair (India)
Khali H. Aloha (Saudi Arabia)
Ali Bourhane (Comoros)
Leonard Good (Canada)
Young-Hoi Lee (South Korea)
Luc Hubloue (Belgium)
Ilkka Niemi (Finland)
Jan Piercy (United States)

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