Failure to carry out meaningful consultation over the new policy could raise serious concerns about the World Bank s good-faith commitment to participation and further alienate critics of adjustment operations, warned the NGOs. The Bank is currently simplifying a number of its internal operational policies.
Policies governing information disclosure, involuntary resettlement and forests are under review.
However, a senior World Bank official who did not want to be identified said it was premature for NGOs to raise concerns about the process as the Bank was still conducting internal consultations. But the document remains confidential, and is expected to guide the process. They need to give us an opportunity to discuss this internally first before we put it out to public input, said the Bank official. There is so much distrust of the Bank among NGOs, says Kathleen Selvaggio of the non-governmental Catholic Relief Service, which is leading the campaign. We want some assurance that the Bank will be willing to listen and will tolerate very diverse positions.