Revisions to the World Bank Disclosure Policy

March 17, 2005 - On March 8, 2005, the Board approved a number of revisions to the Bank’s policy on the disclosure of information.  These changes reaffirm the Bank’s commitment to ensuring increased transparency about its activities (see Additional issues - follow-up consolidated report for details). The policy revisions pertain to the following key categories of information/documents:

1. Country Assistance Strategies and CAS Public Information Notices;
2. Board minutes;
3. Operational policy and strategy papers;
4. Information related to IDA Mid-Term Reviews, procurement plans, IMF-Bank Relations Annexes, Country Re-engagement Notes, Project Completion Notes, the Staff Manual, the budget paper, the staff compensation paper, the Trust Funds Annual Report, and annual reports for specific trust fund programs;
5. Documents related to grant programs funded by the Development Grant Facility (DGF); and
6. Board documentation related to project modifications. 

The Board also approved a simplified disclosure clearance procedure for documents that are not explicitly listed in the disclosure policy, and a proposal to pilot-test the disclosure of operational policy reviews simultaneously with their distribution to the Board. 
 
All policy changes will be effective April 1, 2005.  The current policy, The World Bank Policy on Disclosure of Information, published as a booklet in 2002, and the Disclosure Handbook (360k pdf), which provides detailed work-flow guidance to staff, are being revised to reflect the changes.   

For more information on the World Bank and information disclosure, see
http://www.worldbank.org/disclosure/