| The World Bank-Civil Society Strategic Policy Workshops are convened by the World Bank with financial support from the Government of Finland. The purpose of these workshops is to bring Bank staff and civil society leaders, specially from the developing world, together to discuss pressing global issues in a setting which allows for thoughtful and in-depth exchange of views. The workshop methodology used is participatory and residential in order to ensure greater ownership and involvement by participants. A steering group composed of Bank and CSO staff are generally established at the very beginning to jointly define the date, themes for discussion, agenda, and list of participants. The steering group also helps select independent professionals to facilitate the workshop, record the proceedings, and produce the final report. Chatham House rules, whereby comments by participants are recorded but not attributed, are adopted in order to ensure informal, interactive, and frank discussion among participants.
Three workshops have been held to date, all in the United Kingdom but with participants from throughout the world. The first workshop was held in May 2002 and examined issues of global trade, with a focus on the Doha development round. The second workshop, held in May 2003, focused on rural livelihoods and related issues of land management, agriculture, and local markets. The third workshop, held in June 2004, was on HIV/AIDS focusing on ways to strengthen Bank - civil society collaboration on fighting the AIDS epidemic. Please see below for agenda, participants lists, and meeting reports for each of these workshops.
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 met on June 6 – 8 in Windsor, UK to deepen efforts to work together to fight the AIDS epidemic throughout the world. It brought together representatives of 30 CSOs from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Europe to discuss the Bank’s AIDS policies and programs worldwide. The Bank team was led by Debrework Zewdie, Director of the Global HIV/AIDS Program, and included Keith Hansen, Manager of ACTafrica. Report summary is also available in French and Spanish. World Bank-Civil Society Strategic Policy Workshop on Rural Livelihoods, May 19-21, 2003
This was a 3-day thematic workshop held in Oxfordshire, UK 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. World Bank-Civil Society Strategic Policy Workshop on Trade, May 7-8, 2002
The first in the series workshop under the theme of: “Making Doha Work for the Poor: Different Perspectives” was held at Wilton Park, UK. It brought together civil society leaders and Bank staff to discuss global trade policies. Several ideas were raised and discussed on follow-up action including the need for the Bank and donor agencies to work with CSOs in undertaking social impact assessments of trade liberalization, as well as more systematically incorporating trade issues into PRSPs. Last updated: July 27, 2004 |
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