The World Bank Board of Directors is entering the final stage of its review of the Inspection Panel's toolkit, which has been ongoing since late 2017. The purpose of the review is to update and modernize the Panel, which currently has a very limited set of functions compared with other Independent Accountability Mechanisms. Strengthening their mandate by adding these three functions could address the deficiencies and conflicts of interest inherent in the current system, and improve the Panel's ability to provide accountability. The Board is now inviting feedback via a questionnaire until May 31. A link to the questionnaire can be found here: Feedback on the Inspection Panel Toolkit Review.
The review was originally supposed to be completed in October of 2018, but the Board was unable to come to a decision on whether the Panel's toolkit should include three of the most important functions under consideration: monitoring, dispute resolution, and extending the time eligibility of requests. However, the Board did approve measures to recognize the Panel's advisory role, clarify its jurisdiction over Bank-Executed Trust Funds, formalize its current practice of coordinating with IAMs in co-financing situations, and update procedures for sharing information with requesters. While we welcomed these measures, BIC also signed onto a statement from dozens of CSOs around the world expressing our disappointment that the remaining three measures were not adopted. The statement also outlined how we thought those three functions should be implemented at the Panel as follows:
The Panel was created to be a citizen-driven accountability mechanism, reporting directly to the Board of Directors, to ensure communities could bring their concerns to the highest levels of the Bank when its projects cause harm. We urge the Board to approve the three remaining measures in order to ensure that the Panel is empowered with all of the tools necessary to provide meaningful redress and institutional accountability.