Videoconferences Dialogue Series

Dialogues by Videoconference with High level MPs from around the World

PURPOSE

For the last 5 years, EXTEU has been facilitating and coordinating World Bank policy dialogue with parliamentarians worldwide and has created platforms for dialogue to strengthen the participation of parliamentarians in development processes. EXT Parliamentary Team together with the PNoWB has launched a dialogue series for World Bank senior leadership and Parliamentarians.

Parliamentarians have clearly expressed the willingness for frequent and regular interaction with the World Bank on key development issues. In a progressively borderless world, parliamentarians are indeed increasingly paying attention to issues such as aid effectiveness, trade, security, agriculture, environment, infrastructure, migration…as key drivers in fighting poverty and promoting sustainable development.

This program provides a dialogue platform for the senior leadership of the World Bank to discuss key topics on the development agenda (i.e. trade, aid effectiveness, sustainable development governance and corruption ) with parliamentarians from both donor and recipient countries and to engage them as agents for change and advocates for development.

The briefing sessions usually last 90 minutes.

For each briefing session, a topic is selected by a steering committee consisting in:

• World Bank staff
• One member of the PNoWB board.
• Partner organizations if any (CGIAR, AfDB. Asian Forum on Population and Development, Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie …)

Up to 8 countries are identified in collaboration with World Bank country offices. Participating countries include both donor and recipient countries - Special attention is paid to ensure that parliamentarians from the selected countries have a common and specific interest in the selected topic. This is crucial to ensure quality of the debates, concrete follow-up and sustained relationship.

Prior to each session, a background paper is commissioned to an external expert. This briefing paper is distributed in advance to all participants to frame the debate. Each session is chaired by an MP.

A multimedia package -including transcripts, background materials, videos is assembled after each session, and distributed to participating parliamentarians to help them present the outcomes of the discussions to their own Parliament. We also disseminate widely through the parliamentary organizations involved in the World Alliance of Parliamentarians for Development.

In the past years, we have organized such VCs on hot issues such as:

• The Chad Cameroon pipeline project;
• Governance and Corruption ;
• HIV-Aids;
• Trade and development
• Agriculture and Development (subject of the 2008 World Development Report) in partnership with the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR).

Upcoming VC briefings could include one with World Bank President Zoellick, who could present the outcome of the Spring Meetings, but also its six strategic priorities and vision of the World Bank to parliamentarians.