Dialogue with Civil Society

At the global and regional levels the Bank maintains ongoing dialogue with many civil society sectors such as NGOs, faith-based organizations, indigenous people’s organizations, labor unions, and foundations on a variety of topics and issues.  One such example are the World Bank-Civil Society Strategic Policy Workshops that aim at providing a moment and a space for a constructive and open debate on opportunities for improving consultation, collaboration and information exchange between civil society actors and the World Bank on a variety of critical development issues. Another example are the World Bank - InterAction Technical Workshops on a variety of development topics such as disaster relief, HIV/AIDS, and education.

The Bank also established an electronic venue called the Development Forum for carrying out dialogues with civil society on a variety of relevant and timely development issues.

At the country level, the Bank undertakes ongoing dialogue on country strategy, sector studies, and specific projects and programs.  This dialogue generally occurs between the Bank and civil society, but can also include local governments and other donor agencies among others.  In many countries, the Bank’s Country Director and other managers meets regularly with civil society leaders to discuss pending issues and address concerns expressed by CSOs.  For more information on these dialogues please refer to the web sites maintained by the country offices.

1. New! National NGO Platforms Visit the World Bank
   Leaders of seven national platforms from Africa, Asia, Europe and the US visited the World Bank on May 9, 2008.  These leaders were in Washington to attend the InterAction Forum held earlier in the week. They met with World Bank senior managers and staff to allow the World Bank to better understand the institutional role and policy views of these national networks and strengthen relations with the national NGO networks in order to promote greater program collaboration.  More information
   
   
2. Annual Meetings, October 20-22, 2007
   The Civil Society Policy Forum was again held during the week of the Annual Meetings.  It featured 31 discussions on a variety of topics.  Also, World Bank President and IMF's Managing Director held a Townhall discussion with accredited CSO representatives and talked with them during a reception that followed.  More information
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3. President Zoellick's Video Conference with Civil Society, October 3, 2007
   The video conference was the first opportunity for President Zoellick to interact with civil society representatives from seven countries: Angola, France, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, Tajikistan, and Timor Leste. It allowed Mr. Zoellick and participating CSOs to exchange views on such issues as Bank governance, climate change, agriculture, post-conflict reconstruction, and how the Bank interacts with civil society.  More information
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4. Spring Meetings, April 12-17, 2007
   As in previous years, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s Civil Society Teams organized a series of policy dialogue sessions for civil society representatives participating in the Spring Meetings.  These were hosted within the Civil Society Policy Forum (CS Forum). More information
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5. Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor: World Bank Dialogue with Civil Society Organizations, February 26 - 28, 2007
   The World Bank and Freshwater Action Network (FAN) held a series of policy dialogue events in Washington, DC around Water Week 2007. Over 20 CSO representatives participated in Water Week sessions, had bilateral meetings with Bank managers, and joined Bank staff in a workshop geared to designing a scoping study on how to promote more systematic dialogue on water and sanitation issues. Joint statement
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6. Meeting between Mr. Paul Wolfowitz and European Civil Society Organizations, November 15, 2006
   During his trip to Brussels, World Bank President met with European Civil Society Organizations.  Meeting participants prepared a joint report of the meeting.  Report
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7. World Bank and IMF 2006 Annual Meetings, September 2006
   A Civil Society Policy Forum was held on September 14 – 20 during the Annual Meetings of the institutions. The Forum brought together Bank and Fund staff, CSO representatives, government officials, academics, and others to discuss issues of common concern. A group of 20 CSOs from East and South Asia worked with Bank and Fund staff to help invite CSO representatives, select session topics, and host their own sessions. The policy sessions were either convened by the Bank, CSOs, or jointly. As part of the Forum, two discussions involving heads of the institutions and CSOs were held allowing for wide ranging discussions of issues:
   
   Town Hall Meeting With Paul Wolfowitz, World Bank President, IMF Managing Director, Rodrigo de Rato, and Civil Society Organizations, September 15, 2006 Transcript of the discussion
   
   Rodrigo De Rato and Paul Wolfowitz Informal Discussion with CSOs, September 14, 2006 Transcript of the discussion
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8. Bank President and Infrastructure Vice President Discuss Lessons Learned on Infrastructure with Civil Society, May 29, 2006
   CSOs in five Asian countries met virtually with WB President Paul Wolfowitz and Bank's Infrastructure Vice President Kathy Sierra via a videoconference to share their views and discuss lessons from Bank's involvement in infrastructure sector around the world.  The event was organized as part of a program to seek feedback from stakeholders on the recently released report, “Infrastructure: Lessons from 20 Years of World Bank Engagement.”  That report, commissioned at the request of Wolfowitz shortly after he took office last year, outlines five key conclusions that have emerged from WB’s work in the sector, and how WB is adapting to incorporate the lessons learned.  More
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9. 2006 Spring Meetings
   Over 150 CSOs from around the world attended the Spring Meetings, including a series of policy dialogue sessions, press conferences, and a briefing with senior Bank managers. During Spring Meeting, the WBG and IMF Civil Society Teams organized the “Program of Policy Dialogue with Civil Society” which comprised 17 policy dialogue sessions on topics related to the Development Committee agenda as well as other important issues.  These sessions involved over 50 speakers including Bank/Fund staff, CSO representatives, donor agency officials, and academics.  Senior Bank and Fund managers participated on the panels, a third of which was organized by leading international policy advocacy CSOs.  Finally, there was a briefing for accredited CSO representatives by a panel composed of several VPs on the decisions made by the Development Committee. This was followed by the reception with President Wolfowitz.  More
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10. World Bank President Meets Virtually with Civil Society on Four Continents, January 18, 2006
    World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz held a videoconference with CSOs from Colombia, Germany, Mali, Pakistan, Poland, and Zambia.  It was the first time he has participated in such a multi-country virtual dialogue with CSOs.  More
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11. The Bank Interactions with CSOs during WTO Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong, December 2005
    The Bank's team interacted with CSOs in Hong Kong through participating in a Fair Trade Fair and Symposium, speaking on several panels during the Symposium. Head of Bank delegation hosted a policy luncheon with CSOs on December 15. Summary of outreach activities.  The team also held a VC on trade with CSOs in 7 countries on November 30. More
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12. Town Hall Meeting with CSOs, September 22, 2005
    President of the World Bank, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Chairman of the Development Committee and Minister of Finance, South Africa responded to questions from CSOs participating in the Annual Meetings during a townhall discussion which was part of the program of dialogues for civil society.  Transcript and photos from the discussion.  The discussion can be viewed at: rtsp://streaming3.worldbank.org/Annual/2005/am05csos22sept05.rm.
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13. World Bank President's Contacts with CSOs - First Three Months (June-August 2005)
    President Wolfowitz has had a number of opportunities to meet with CSOs during the first three months of his term. This has included several meetings with international NGOs in Washington, and numerous contacts with CSOs while in traveling in Africa, Balkans, and South Asia.
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14. Civil Society Pays Tribute to Wolfensohn's
    More than 100 civil society representatives participated on May 26, 2005, in a farewell reception for President Wolfensohn hosted by over a dozen leading global CSOs, and held on Capitol Hill. Elaine Wolfensohn was also honored by several of the speakers for having lead her own programs on behalf of girls education.
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15. World Bank - Civil Society Global Policy Forum, April 20-22, 2005
    The Forum brought together some 200 civil society leaders, government officials, parliamentarians, donor agency representatives, IMF staff, and Bank managers to assess the PRSP process and discuss the way forward for Bank – civil society engagement at the global level. The Forum represented an important milestone for Bank - civil society relations as it was the first time that the World Bank has convened such a multi-stakeholder set of actors, including Southern CSOs, government officials, parliamentarians, and Bank Executive Directors, to discuss Bank – civil society relations at the global level.  This diversity produced a more balanced and useful exchange of views, particularly on country-based issues such as the PRSP.
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16. World Bank President Holds a Pre-Spring Meetings Video-dialogue with Civil Society, April 11, 2005 - WB President hosted a video conference discussion with CSO representatives from Belgium, Ghana, Japan, Peru, Senegal and Venezuela. Mr. Wolfensohn has held similar video conferences with CSOs from a variety of countries during each Spring and Annual Meetings of the WB and the IMF over the past several years. Among the many issues raised by the participating CSOs included Bank's work with children and youth and persons with disabilities and access to Bank information for people with disabilities, World Bank presidential succession, poverty and structural causes of poverty, debt cancellation for African countries, World Bank strategy in Africa compared to the one in Asia, Bank's work on transparency, governance and corruption. List of participants.
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17. Global Bank - CSO Workshop on Water Policies Held in London - The Bank hosted on November 18-19, 2004 in London a policy dialogue workshop with international CSOs on urban water supply and sanitation issues.  It brought together Bank staff and representatives from 22 NGOs, labor unions, and community groups from across the globe.  The workshop was co-organized with Water Aid and a small group of CSOs which helped design the  agenda and invite participants.  The workshop included presentations on the Bank’s water policies and programs and CSO-managed community delivery systems, as well as a substantive discussion on such sensitive issues as cost recovery, performance of public utilities, and private sector participation. A number of follow-up actions were identified including more systematic sharing of the Bank’s  project documents, possible civil society panel during 2005 Water Week; and joint studies on good practice experiences for scaling-up community water delivery systems.
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18. WB President Visits India and Meets with Indian CSOs - Responding to an invitation from the Indian Finance Minister, WB President visited India on Nov. 17-18, 2004. The visit included tours of development projects focusing on education, rural development and health in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, as well as meetings with government leaders, representatives of civil society, business people, youth groups, and community leaders in New Delhi. On November 18 Mr. and Mrs. Wolfensohn met for breakfast with 11 Indian CSO representatives.  The meeting had two main objectives: (i) provide an opportunity for the CSOs to share their experience of working with the Bank at the community level in order to not only promote sustainable development and empower the poor, but strengthen civic engagement in the process; and (ii) an opportunity for them to listen to Mr. Wolfensohn's views on the important role civil society plays in promoting poverty reduction.
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19. World Bank-Civil Society Discussion on Advancing Civil Society Accountability: Standards, Self-Regulation, and Certification - The WB Civil Society Team on November 11, 2004 held its WB-Civil Society Lunch Discussion on the evolving issue of accountability among CSOs which is of growing interest to CSOs as well as for donor agencies, governments and individuals which support their activities.  It was the first of a series of discussions aiming to "unpack" the issues in the accountability debate and understand how different organizations are responding.  The session examined the case study of InterAction, an umbrella organization of over 160 US-based CSOs working internationally.  InterAction has been working for two decades to promote greater accountability among its member organizations and with its partners at the country level.  InterAction members have recently launched an initiative called "self-certification-plus" as well as a child sponsorship certification project in partnership with Social Accountability International (SAI).  The panel, composed of InterAction members, a representative from SAI as well as the WB, discussed these initiatives, preliminary lessons learned, and challenges for the future with a group of some 40 WB staff and CSOs.  Summary of the discussion.

20. World Bank President Meets with European CSOs - During his visit to Brussels on October 20, 2004, World Bank President, James D. Wolfensohn held discussions with nine European civil society networks. The meeting provided an opportunity for high-level dialogue between the Bank and networks representing three key strands of European civil society: NGOs, trade unions and foundations. The meeting provided the first opportunity for a dialogue with the NGO umbrella organization CONCORD, which brings together 1500 European NGOs. Amongst the conclusions of the meeting was an agreement for further engagement between the Bank and civil society actors on how to advance the UN framework for protection of Orphans and Vulnerable Children affected by HIV/AIDS.

21. Pre-Annual Meetings Videoconference Discussion with WB President and the CSOs, September 21, 2004 - On September 21, WB President hosted a video conference discussion with CSO representatives from Brazil, Egypt, Georgia, Nigeria, Japan and The Netherlands. Mr. Wolfensohn has held similar video conferences with CSOs from a variety of countries during each Spring and Annual Meetings of the WB and the IMF over the past several years. The discussion provided an opportunity for the WB President to exchange views and interact with a range of CSO representatives from a number of developed and developing countries ahead of the Annual Meetings.  It also gave him and the Bank to get valuable feedback on how the institution can improve the quality of dialogue and engagement with CSOs, and on how the WB is handling specific issues which are of interest or concern to the CSOs.  Among the many issues raised by the participating CSOs included how the Bank is following up on the Extractive Industries Review; proposals for expanding debt relief to help countries reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); and the IFC's review of its environmental and social safeguard policies.

22. Videoconference Discussion With CSOs from London, Tbilisi and Warsaw on the Draft Management Response to the Extractive Industries Review (EIR), July 15, 2004
    The World Bank EIR team and the Civil Society Team organized this multi-stakeholder and multi-country VC meeting in order to hear from interested CSOs, about their comments on the draft World Bank Management response, before it was sent to the Board for final approval.

23. World Bank Human Development Network Vice President Meets with CSOs During the Bangkok AIDS Conference, July 14, 2004
    As part of the World Bank program of nearly 40 events during the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, July 11-16, 2004, on July 14, World Bank Vice President for Human Development, Jean-Louis Sarbib met with civil society representatives participating in the Conference.  The in-depth discussion lasted about 1.5 hours.

24. World Bank-Civil Society Strategic Policy Workshop on HIV/AIDS, June 6-8, 2004
    Senior Bank managers and representatives of community groups, national NGOs, and international networks who work with HIV/AIDS issues discussed how to work together to fight the AIDS epidemic throughout the world. It brought together representatives of 30 CSOs from 5 regions to discuss the Bank’s AIDS policies and programs worldwide.

25. WB/IMF Spring Meetings 2004 Dialogues with CSOs, April 20-23, 2004
    The program of policy dialogues involved nearly 15 events and included panel discussins, meetings with senior managers, and technical briefings.  Several of the events were sponsored by CSOs and had WB/IMF staff invlved in the discussions.

26. Pre-Spring Meetings 2004 VC Discussion with Civil Society Representatives, April 20, 2004
    This videoconference was held to promote dialogue with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) prior to the World Bank’s Spring Meetings.  It was hosted by WB Group President, Mr. Wolfensohn. He were joined by CSO participants from Burundi, France, Morocco, Serbia & Montenegro and Zambia.

27. World Bank – Civil Society Global Video Link: HIV/AIDS in Central and Eastern Europe, March 23, 2004
    A group of CSO representatives from Moldova, Russian Federation and groups who are members of the AIDS Action Europe Network, held a video discussion on the topic of HIV/AIDS in Central and Eastern Europe with World Bank staff.  During the discussion, CSOs and Bank shared their experiences, learned about each other work in that area in the region and identified areas for joint work.

28. World Bank-Civil Society February Lunch Discussion on "Setting a New Development Path in Brazil?", February 23, 2004
    The discussion was co-sponsored by the Global Civil Society Team and the Latin America and the Caribbean Region Civil Society Team of the World Bank.  The discussion focused on the macro-economic and social policies of President Lula's administration, which are attracting a good deal of international attention.  The discussion also analyzed the role Brazilian civil society is playing in the government, as well as the evolving relationship between the government and the Bank.

29. Videoconference Dialogue: Discussing the Cases of China and India, February 13, 2004
    A three-hour videoconference on scaling up poverty reduction through good governance practices was held at Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) sites in Beijing, Colombo, Delhi, Hanoi and Paris on February 13, 2004.  The event was part of some 20 multicountry interactive videoconference dialogues being held prior to the poverty conference in Shanghai in May of 2004. The purpose of the dialogues is to discuss the draft case studies, and the conceptual approaches to "scaling up," to provide feedback to the authors, and to help build a global community of learning.

30. Videoconference Dialogue on Scaling up Poverty Reduction through Micro-Finance, December 16, 2003 
    As part of the build-up to the international meeting in Shanghai with the theme “Reducing Poverty, Sustaining Growth,” scheduled for May, a nine-month learning process has begun to bring together actors from across the development community through a series of interactive videoconferences, online dialogues and field visits.  Case studies analyzing factors that contribute to success of poverty reduction initiatives will form the basis for on-line discussions among practitioners, policy makers and representatives from academia and civil society. Field visits to selected sites will complement the process and add a human dimension through interviews and dialogues.  A videoconference on scaling up poverty reduction through Micro-Finance was held at Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) sites in Washington, Cairo, Egypt; Amman, Jordan; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; and Dushanbe, Tajikistan.  This was the first of some 20 multicountry interactive videoconference dialogues to be held prior to the conference. The purpose of the dialogues is to discuss the draft case studies, and the conceptual approaches to “scaling up,” to provide feedback to the authors, and to help build a global community of learning.

31. December 12, 2003 - World Bank and Civil Society Discussion on Poverty Reduction Strategies and Governance 
    Discussion between the Bank staff and CSOs on governance and civil society participation in Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRSP) processes at the country level.  Two papers touching on the issues of governance and trade union participation within the PRSP initiative were presented and discussed.  Comments on both studies were made by Katrina Sharkey of the Bank's PRSP Team.

32. November 11, 2003 - WB-Civil Society Lunch Discussion on a report titled "Gambling with People"
    The report was released by three leading environmental CSOs – Environmental Defense (ED), Friends of the Earth (FOE), and International Rivers Network (IRN).   It analyzes the World Bank’s track record with high-risk projects and future investment plans in areas such as water, forestry, and mining.   The lunch discussion featured a panel with three report authors and four World Bank staff, as well as general discussion involving  participants from the World Bank, CSOs, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

33. September 21, 2003 - Annual Meetings 2003 Town Hall Meeting with CSOs
    President of the World Bank, James D. Wolfensohn; Horst Koehler, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Trevor Manuel, Chairman of the Development Committee and Minister of Finance, South Africa and Gordon Brown, Chairman of the International Monetary and Financial Committee and Chancellor of the Exchequer, United Kingdom responded to questions from representatives from civil society organizations present at the Annual Meetings.

34. September 10-14, 2003 - The Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference
    The World Bank participated in the 5th Trade Ministerial with a small but high level delegation.  While the Bank was at Cancun under an "observer organization" status, it did carry out several official activities.  In addition, the World Bank team carried out a proactive civil society outreach program.

35. September 3, 2003 - Video Dialogue Between Senior Bank Management and Civil Society
    This video conference involved World Bank President, James Wolfensohn, and other senior Bank management and some 60 civil society representatives from six countries: Cameroon, Colombia, Finland, Kyrgyz Republic, Malawi and Sri Lanka. (See participants list attached). Scheduled a few weeks before the Bank's Annual Meetings, the video conference afforded CSOs an opportunity to dialogue with Bank managers on such issues as governance and corruption, post-conflict reconstruction, Bank support for civil society, PRSPs and structural adjusment, and gender issues.

36. June 23, 2003 - Video Dialogue Between Bank Trade Team and Civil Society
    This was a video conference between the Bank's Trade Team and some 70 CSO representatives from Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Mexico, South Africa, and the United States.   It was scheduled a couple of months before the 5th WTO Trade Ministerial held in Cancun in September and allowed for a frank and substante exchange on such trade issues as agricultural subsidies, TRIPS and production of AIDS medication, and trade facilitation.

37. May 19-21, 2003 - Workshop on Rural Livelihoods
    This was a 3-day thematic workshop held in Oxfordshire, UK on May 19 - 21, 2003 geared to discuss rural livelihoods.  The workshop brought together some 40 civil society leaders from throughout the world and World Bank staff to discuss such issues as land policies, international trade, local markets, and financing rural development.

38. April 19, 2003 - Meeting on World Bank Group Harmonization/Procurement/Safeguards

39. April 10, 2003 – Dialogue on the status of the HIPC Initiative

40. April 9, 2003 – Dialogue between CSOs and the President of the World Bank 

41. February 18-19, 2003 - Video Dialogue on 2004 World Bank World Development Report 

42. February 10, 2003 - World Bank Presidential Fellows Lecture: Civil Society, Governance and Globalisation, by Dr. Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General & CEO, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation

43. September 12, 2002 – Dialogue between CSOs and the President of the World Bank 

44. March 2, 2002 – Dialogue on Financing for Development Initiative  

Dialogue with CSOs takes place everyday and is being convened by Civil Society Group staff in all regions, networks and teams in the Bank.

Last updated: June 2008