Streamlining Restructuring Procedures for Investment Project Financing and Program-for-Results 

Financing, Multiphase Programmatic Approach (MPA)

July 21, 2017

The United States (U.S.) thanks management for the constructive engagement throughout the 

review of the proposals on restructurings and on a new multiphase programmatic approach 

(MPA). 

Because the World Bank’s Board has authority over Bank operations, any delegation of authority 

can have significant implications for effective oversight and accountability. Accordingly, the 

U.S. takes seriously these requests to delegate the Board’s decision-making power to 

management. In the view of the U.S., earlier iterations of the proposals went too far in 

potentially compromising oversight and accountability. 

The U.S. therefore welcomes management’s commitment in the restructuring proposal to return 

projects back to the Board that are restructured from a lower category to Category A and that 

adopt the borrower’s procurement framework (during the current pilot). Similarly, with respect 

to the MPA, the U.S. is pleased that management has committed to bring back to the Board 

Category A subsequent phases under the current safeguards regime and “High” and “Substantial” 

risk projects under the new Environment and Social Framework (ESF). Continued Board 

oversight of these projects is important for environmental and social risk management, and the 

U.S. believes these commitments help improve the balance between adaptability and 

accountability. 

In addition, the U.S.’s support is based on the understanding that management will fulfill its 

commitments to disclose information to the Board and to the public – in a timely manner – on all 

restructuring and MPA decisions that, under current policy, would require Board approval. 

Because the Inspection Panel is a key element of Bank accountability, it is important to ensure 

that proposed changes to Bank policies and business processes not inadvertently create 

accountability gaps. Given the explicit interconnectedness of operations under the MPA, it was 

important to the U.S. that in considering complaints concerning an MPA program, the Panel be 

able to consider future phases, and not just those under implementation. The U.S. believes the 

text in the MPA paper on Panel oversight achieves this. The only exclusion is, as is currently 

standard, for phases that have closed or are 95 percent disbursed. 

The U.S. also believes that major changes to Bank business processes, such as these, should also 

be subject to a comprehensive and independent performance review and a subsequent formal 

Board decision to make changes, if necessary. The U.S. therefore welcomes the proposed 

reviews of the streamlining restructuring procedures and the MPA in three years. 

The U.S. also appreciates management’s confirmation that it will come back to the Board with 

any proposal to use country systems, as was agreed under the ESF. 
While recent revisions to the proposals strengthen the adaptability-accountability balance, the 

U.S. believes broader efforts to strengthen and more firmly institutionalize accountability and 

transparency at the Bank are also critical in the near-term. These efforts include:

 the Inspection Panel reform process, with the aim of expanding the Panel’s toolkit to 

give it the ability to act with greater flexibility and proportionality and to operate on an 

equal footing with the accountability mechanisms of other MDBs;

 the review of the Bank procedure on staff communication with Executive Directors, 

with the aim of eliminating undue restrictions on the provision of information to the 

Board. The U.S. appreciates the decision by the Board governance committee to take up 

this review at the request of the U.S.;

 the review of the Bank's Access to Information Policy, with the aim of bringing it in 

line with established best practice. This review was agreed by the Board governance 

committee last year and the U.S. looks forward to its start in the near-term; and 

 a review of the respective safeguards policies for all of the Bank’s financing 

instruments to ensure coherence and address any accountability gaps that may exist. 

The U.S. notes that management committed to this discussion during Board deliberations 

on the new safeguards policy last year. The U.S. urges management to schedule this 

review before any MPAs are brought to the Board.

Moreover, the U.S. affirms its prerogative to request at any time a full Board discussion on any 

management-approved operation and will use these opportunities to raise concerns, seek 

clarifications, or express disagreement with management decisions or project implementation. 

Ultimately, the U.S. would have preferred a more robust conversation on these proposals, 

informed by greater consultation with the public, so that a broad consensus could have been 

more easily established. The U.S. calls on management to consider this view in the future. 

Again, the U.S. appreciates the substantive engagement by management throughout on issues of 

importance to the U.S. As such, the U.S. supports these proposals and looks forward to 

continuing to work with management and other shareholders on efforts to further strengthen the 

World Bank’s accountability and transparency.