This month marks the third anniversary of the World Bank Accountability Mechanism (AM), set up by the World Bank Board to promote accountability for project-affected people through a new Dispute Resolution Service (DRS), as well as through the long-established Inspection Panel.
Since the AM Secretary, Orsolya Székely, began her work in July 2021, the AM has not only set up, staffed, and operationalized the AM Secretariat and the DRS, it has also facilitated milestone mediation agreements between parties in Nepal, Uganda, and Cameroon, the first of their kind for the World Bank—all the while continuing the excellent compliance work of the Inspection Panel.
By August 2021, the AM had recruited William Romans, who became Head of Operations for the DRS the following year. In October 2021, the Interim AM-DRS Operating Procedures were issued. By the end of the year, the AM made its first DR offer in Uganda, followed by a second in Nepal in April 2022, and a third in Togo in July 2022. The first two offers were accepted by all Parties and became the focus of the newly constituted DR team.
In light of the increasing volume of work of the AM Secretariat and the DRS, and the need to harmonize activities with the Inspection Panel, an Internal Protocol was developed clarifying responsibilities within the framework of the Accountability Mechanism. This was duly signed by the AM Secretary and the IPN Chairperson in May 2022. In December 2022, the AM Operating Procedures were issued.
Meanwhile, recruitment of staff for both the Inspection Panel and the DRS enabled the Secretariat to ramp up its reporting, outreach, and networking activities, including through the publication, in January 2023, of the AM Annual Report for FY21-22 and a revamped quarterly newsletter, Accountability Matters. The newsletter features original articles and interviews from the world of accountability and is evolving as a key tool for thought leadership for the AM.
As part of the presentation of the enhanced accountability structure of the World Bank, the new AM website was launched in September 2023.The following month, the AM Secretariat organized the Annual IAMnet Meetings, a conference of independent accountability mechanisms and civil society organizations, in London.
In April 2023, the DRS successfully facilitated its first dispute resolution agreement, in Nepal—nearly thirty years from the receipt of the first Inspection Panel Request from the same country. Shortly after, the Parties in Uganda also came to an agreement. Monitoring commenced immediately for both agreements, and is continuing to ensure that the agreements reached are implemented in good faith. In the last year, DR offers have also been made in Tanzania and Vietnam, and in May 2024 the DRS secured a third agreement in Cameroon.
The Accountability Mechanism is still young. But it has managed, in a relatively short period of time, to enable the World Bank to offer both compliance and dispute resolution to communities who feel they are being harmed by its projects. Through monitoring and evaluation of its casework, lessons learned are being used to continuously improve the AM Secretariat and the DRS. The Secretariat, the Panel, and the DRS have also been engaging on a regular basis with accountability stakeholders across the world. This is key to bolstering the World Bank’s standing as a leader not only in the work necessary to eradicate poverty on a liveable planet, but also as a responsible and accountable actor in the field of sustainable development.
