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Evolution of the World Bank's Disclosure Policy
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| Since 1985, the Bank’s disclosure policy has evolved in response to changes in its business, the growing expectations of stakeholders, expanding access to information in member countries generally, and the Bank's continuing commitment to enhancing transparency about its activities. | | 1985 | The Bank issued its first instructions to staff on information disclosure, the Directive on Disclosure of Information. It established a “presumption in favor of disclosure” in the absence of compelling reasons not to disclose. It listed certain information that could be disclosed (“positive list”) and set out restrictions. | | 1993 | The Board of Executive Directors approved the Bank’s first policy on information disclosure. The policy introduced the Project Information Document (PID) and expanded the types of existing documents to be made publicly available, including Staff Appraisal Reports, Sector Policy Papers, Environmental Data Sheets, and Environmental Assessments. It also established Public Information Centers(PICs) in Washington and several client countries to handle in-country dissemination. | | 2001 | The Board of Executive Directors approved major revisions to the policy. They agreed to disclose the Board calendar, Executive Directors’ Work Program, and Chairman's Concluding Remarks on Board discussions on Country Assistance Strategies (CASs) and Sector Strategy Papers (SSPs); a greater number of program-related documents, including Letters of Development Policy and Tranche Release documents for adjustment loans; Implementation Completion Reports (ICRs); and a more systematic approach to accessing historical information in the Bank Archives. The Disclosure Handbook was issued. | | 2002 | Unprecedented surge in demand for information led to significant adjustments in Bank facilities to cope with responses during first full year of policy implementation. | | 2003 | The Board agreed to strengthen the PICs and adopted a Translation Framework to broaden access and dissemination globally. The InfoShop was established in Washington as a one-stop shop for information on the Bank's work. | | 2005 | Executive Directors approved the disclosure of CASs and CAS public information notices for all borrowing countries, Board minutes (except those in executive sessions), operational policy and strategy papers, information related to IDA Mid-Term Reviews, Procurement Plans, the Board paper on the Bank’s administrative budget, the Board paper on staff compensation, the Staff Manual, and annual reports for specific funds. The Board also approved simplified clearance procedures for disclosing information not on the “positive list”, and a proposal to pilot the disclosure of Board drafts before Board deliberation (“simultaneous disclosure”). | Today the Bank discloses most operational documents. It is also more open with information relating to its institutional and internal decisionmaking processes. |
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