World Bank President's Interactions with CSOs

During the 2009 Spring meetings .Mr. Zoellick, together with IMF Managing Director, Mr. Dominique Strauss Kahn hosted a Reception for civil society representatives (participants list). Mssrs. Zoellick and Strauss-Khan made informal remarks and responded to questions from participants on the multilateral responses to the financial crisis. The Reception followed a well attended session focused on the financial crisis and the G20 Summit. Over a hundred civil society representatives attended the Reception and asked questions on the World Bank’s plan for IDA Replenishment, the IMF’s planned gold sales, and debt relief, among others. Photos More

On March 26, President Zoellick convened the fourth high level dialogue session between the Bank and CSOs on the global crises. Civil society leaders representing NGOs, farmers' organizations, faith-based organizations, and research centers participated. Please see: (agenda) and (participants list), as well as a short video on the Bank’s multi-pronged and participatory response to the food crisis. Next steps that emerged from the roundtable included a continued push to conduct similar policy dialogues at the country level in order to promote greater on-the-ground operational collaboration between the Bank and CSOs, and exploring the possibility of joint research on the social and political impacts of these crises. More

The World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) hosted a week-long series of meetings with global unions to discuss the global financial crisis, governance reform, and gender equality. Mr. Zoellick participated in the High Level Meetings between the leadership of all three institutions. (see agenda). Some 80 leaders from the International Trade Union Confederation and 10 Global Union Confederations were present at the week-long series of meetings, representing some 168 million workers worldwide (see participants list). This was the fourth high level meeting held since 2002, and it attracted the highest level of union participation. More

Mr. Zoellick had a number of interactions with civil society representatives during the 2008 Annual Meetings. He met with some 100 CSO representatives during the Townhall and Reception (summary, video, transcript, photos) , alongside IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, to discuss a wide range of topics. [The photo at the left depicts Mr. Zoellick receiving a letter signed by 40,000 Cameroon youth calling on the Bank to protect the rainforest - see original letter and Bank response. ] He also met with the heads of some 25 CSOs over breakfast to discuss ways to improve Bank - civil society relations.

President Zoellick convened a second roundtable on the global food crisis with CSO, IMF, and UN representatives on July 15,2008. The purpose of the meeting was for Mr. Zoellick to report on the G8 Meeting, and on what actions the Bank, CSOs, and the donor agencies have undertaken in the last month to promote food delivery and increase funding for food security measures. CSOs raised a number of issues and recommendations including the need to close the gap between donor financing commitments and action at the country level, encourage greater media coverage of food crisis, and the need to integrate CSOs in donor agency – government initiatives...More

President Zoellick joined a roundtable on May 23, 2008 to discuss the global food price crisis. Also in attendance were the heads of the IMF, UNICEF, the UN Food Crisis Taskforce, and leaders of some 30 CSOs that work with food delivery and security issues. The meeting was chaired by World Bank Group Manging Director, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

In the meeting, Zoellick outlined policy initiatives that the Bank and its partners are taking to address the problem. He also explained a fast track financing mechanism that the Bank has set up to assist the 15 most vulnerable countries. The crisis presents a solutions-focused opportunity for collaboration and cooperation among a wide array of actors. Zoellick welcomed continuing dialogue with CSOs, and encouraged ongoing dialogue at the country level...More

On April 10, 2008, President Zoellick and Dominique Strauss-Kahn (International Monetary Fund Managing Director), hosted a reception for civil society representatives as part of the Spring Meetings events. They were introduced by Andrew Kumbatira, Executive Director, Malawi Economic Justice Network. Mrss. Zoellick and Stauss-Kahn spoke briefly about the policy agenda of the Spring Meetings, and particularly the global food crisis. This was followed by a question and comment period in which a number of issues were raised including climate change, food security, and aid for Africa...More on 2008 Spring Meetings

President Zoellick visited Liberia from January 29-30, 2008. The purpose of the visit was to learn first hand of the developmental challenges facing the country and the efforts being made by the government and people of Liberia to promote growth and poverty reduction, as well as improve their standard of living. The highpoint of the trip was the visit to Kakata township in Margibi County in order to attend a regional Poverty Reduction Strategy Stakeholders’ consultation with government officials, local leaders, and civil society representatives. Deliberations were jointly led by the President of Liberia, Ms. Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, and Mr. Zoellick, and included ministers of state, UN officials, the Bank’s county director local government officials, community leaders, and CSOs. The issue of pro-poor growth and the equitable distribution of resources were top on the agenda, as were efforts to increase broad-based political participation at all levels. Civil society representatives made clear what role they expect their government and development partners to play in their communities. President Zoellick reiterated the importance of inclusive development and improved governance in Liberia, and pledged the full support of the Bank in this endeavor. More on President's visit to Liberia

During his visit to Mauritania, on January 28, 2008 President Zoellick visited a World Bank-financed Urban Development Project in the Nouakchott slum community in El Mina. He met with local government officials, community leaders, and CSO representatives. He then held a discussion with civil society representatives to learn about their concerns and priorities, and hear their views on their relations with the World Bank. He listened to CSO concerns on specific issues such as capacity building, gender, democracy building, governance, and the role played by the Bank in these areas. The CSO representatives present requested the Bank’s support for capacity building programs and for a closer partnership with the Bank in implementing development programs.

Zoellick reemphasized the Bank's commitment to working with CSOs as partners, and said that the Bank is developing a comprehensive regional strategy for engaging civil society which will provide more guidance and direction for Country Teams on how to engage with CSOs. Zoellick thanked everyone for coming and congratulated CSOs on the important role their organizations play, particularly fighting inequality, supporting governance and anti-corruption programs, and helping with the implementation of development projects such as the community’s Urban Development project. More on President's visit to Mauritania

During his visit in Beijing, World Bank President, Robert B. Zoellick met on December 17, 2007 with a group of 10 Chinese CSO representatives working in the areas of environment, women, youth, migrants workers and their children, and ethnic minorities. The CSO representatives raised a number of issues that they deemed important and called for more attention from the World Bank. Issues facing women in China, adaption of Chinese youth to the changing world, sustainable development of the CSO sector and its influence on government policy, promotion of a more sustainable life style and eco-culture, situation of rural migrant workers, access to education for migrant children in the cities, the need for capacity building training by NGOs, were among the topics that were discussed. Mr. Zoellick responded point by point to all the issues raised. He also said that the Bank would try to build CSO support into the projects in China and also use the Bank's role as an intermediary to mobilize resources from other donors. More

Mr. Zoellick joined a group of over a dozen leaders of US-based international development CSOs during the 2007 NGO Leaders Forum held in Greentree Conference Center, New York, on December 3, 2007. He made some informal remarks in which he talked about the need to make globalization inclusive and sustainable. He also outlined the Bank's six strategic policy themes for the coming years: increased aid for Africa, improving support to fragile states; continued engagement in middle income countries, financing for global public goods, outreach to the Arab world, and focus on knowledge management. CSO participants discussed how CSOs can be involved in these six strategic themes. They also raised several other issues including: the Bank’s Extractive Industries Review Implementation Report; project-level reporting at the IFC; Bank's work on anticorruption and governance; provision of basic services by private sector in developing countries; and mechanisms to allow opportunities for the Bank to better cooperate and engage with the civil society community. Among suggestions raised was the establishment of a global mechanism for Bank - civil society engagement, and the create of an “account representative” structure to help CSOs navigate the Bank’s hierarchy and identify appropriate connections. A sub-group of the meeting participants will work together to clarify the type of relationship that would be most useful to CSOs in an effort to strengthen exchange on policy issues or improve operational partnerships. Other suggestions included exchange of visits between senior leadership teams at the Bank and selected CSOs, as well as consultations with European CSO partners on their desired relationship with the Bank.

World Bank President met in Washington, DC with representatives of environmental CSOs in the morning of December 3, 2007. During discussion CSO participants highlighted their efforts and collaboration on the environment, including conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems, and regular strategic discussions on issues of mutual interest. They stressed the importance of focusing on the needs of developing countries while addressing the challenges of climate change, as well as supporting market transformation, payment for ecosystem services and engaging the corporate sector. The CSOs were interested in working closely with the WB to protect global public goods and to support the Bank in addressing the ecological footprint of its operations. It was agreed that the Bank works with CSOs to establish an advisory group to support WBG efforts on the environment and promote regular dialogue. Mr. Zoellick acknowledged the work of NGOs and, using climate change as an example, he outlined his vision on environment.

World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick had two occasions to meet and engage on policy dialogue with civil society representatives (CSOs) in the run up to the 2007 Annual Meetings. These not only allowed him to share his views on issues related to the Annual Meetings agenda, but provided a wide range of CSOs with the opportunity to share their perspectives and concerns on multiple issues with the head of the World Bank. The first event was a video conference on October 3, 2007 with over 100 CSO representatives from seven countries: Angola, France, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, Tajikistan, and Timor Leste. More

On July 2, 2007 Robert B. Zoellick became the Bank's 11th President. Already as a nominee to the World Bank post, Mr. Zoellick made trips to Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Latin America, meeting with Bank's stakeholders, to listen and learn how the Bank can play a more effective role in promoting global development. Mr. Zoellick has also been having informal meetings with individual CSOs throughout his first two months in office. During his first official trip as World Bank Group President, he traveled to East Asia and held talks with CSOs in Cambodia and Vietnam. More

More Resources:
Office of the President
Dialogue with Civil Society