Istanbul, Turkey - October 6-7, 2009
Representatives of the Board of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB) travelled to
Istanbul, Turkey for the 2009 Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF. Together with the PNoWB secretariat, the World Bank Parliamentary team organized a program for the participants, which were registered as delegates or special guests, giving them full access to the meetings. Two of the MPs were also invited to address session during the civil society forum.
The parliamentary delegation consisted of Ms. Corina Cretu, Vice-Chair of the Development Committee of the European Parliament; Dr. Alain Destexhe, a Belgian Senator and a former Secretary-general of Médecins Sans Frontières; Janette L. Garin, a medical doctor and member of the Philippines House of Representatives since 2004; Ms. Ndeye Fatou Touré, a lawyer by training, member of the Senegalese Parliament since 2007 and actively involved in several committees and international parliamentary organizations; Mr. Jerome Evrard, Head of the PNoWB Secretariat.
The delegation met with a wide variety of senior officials from the World Bank, IMF and other development institutions including Vice President for Concessional Finance and Partnerships (CFP) Axel van Trotsenburg; The Africa region’s Director for Strategy and Operations Colin Bruce; Special Representative for Europe Cyril Muller; and Senior Adviser and Head of the International Policy and Partnership Group Jeffrey Lewis. Through the frank and open discussions, MPs gained insight in the current state of the global economy and explored options for cooperation with the Bank, as well as how as parliamentarians they can better hold their governments accountable on aid commitments and development programs.
The World Bank highly encourages Parliamentarians’ participation in the World Bank and IMF Spring and Annual Meetings in order to make the meetings more transparent, but also in recognition of the importance of this constituency as an effective advocate for development.
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