Making development work for the MENA region

On December 6, 2023, the World Bank Accountability Mechanism co-hosted a Massive Open Outreach Seminar, “Making Development Work for Communities”, with six independent accountability mechanisms (IAMs) and the Arab Watch Coalition (AWC), focusing on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The online event, held in English, French, and Arabic, aimed to boost awareness about IAMs across the region.

Participants were led through sessions on the role of civil society organizations in the accountability ecosystem; how to access the IAMs; how to file complaints and eligibility requirements; dispute resolution and compliance processes; and how the mechanisms address reprisal risks and confidentiality requests. Cases from Yemen and Egypt provided real-world examples of how IAMs can serve communities in the MENA region.

One challenge is that IAMs have received very few complaints from this region. The AWC’s Mariyah Sahnouni explained why: “I don’t think a lot of people know about the existence of IAMs—hence the importance of such outreach seminars—mainly because of language problems because people speak Arabic; because IAMs are not headquartered in the MENA region; but also because of fear. A lot of communities would be afraid, and would not feel secure enough, to file complaints if the project is financed by their government or a big company.”

The seminar also discussed the possibility of flexible sequencing between compliance review and dispute resolution to better meet the needs of communities. Acknowledging that most accountability mechanisms, including the World Bank’s Accountability Mechanism, have a rigid process, Serge Selwan, Inspection Panel (World Bank Accountability Mechanism) cited an “out-of-the-box” example of working with the EIB’s Complaints Mechanism on a case from Kenya. On this case, according to Selwan, the Panel and the EIB mechanism conducted a joint investigation on the impacts of a geothermal power plant. As a result of the investigation, since the EIB had a dispute resolution function [the World Bank did not have such a function at the time], Bank Management, in agreement with the community, participated in the EIB-conducted dispute resolution process following the compliance investigation to prepare a Management Action Plan. The agreement that resulted from the dispute resolution process became part of the Management Action Plan at the World Bank. Selwan concluded, “This process worked well for the community.”

Another instance where both dispute resolution and compliance could work together for communities is in the case of partial dispute resolution agreements. Scott Adams, Dispute Resolution Service (World Bank Accountability Mechanism), observed that in cases where parties pursuing dispute resolution are able to agree on several but not all issues, then the complainants may be able to refer back to a compliance investigation to resolve these outstanding issues.

“Making Development Work for Communities” drew on the expertise and experience of the Independent Redress Mechanism (AfDB), the Project-affected People’s Mechanism (AIIB), the Complaints Mechanism (EIB), the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (IFC/MIGA), the Independent Complaint Mechanism (IKI), the Social and Environmental Compliance Unit (UNDP), and the Accountability Mechanism (World Bank), as well as the AWC. A recording of the event is available here.

Making development work for the MENA region

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