1 JUNE 2009
World Bank Evaluation Body Keeps Disclosure Policy Secret

The World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) is considering rewriting its policy on disclosure, but is keeping its five-year-old existing policy under wraps. The IEG’s disclosure policy was written in 2004. An IEG official offered no explanation for not disclosing the disclosure policy, and said May 18 that posting it is under consideration. Calls to IEG for further comment May 28 and 29 were not returned.

The independent body’s mission includes “improv[ing] Bank work by identifying and disseminating the lessons learned from experience and by framing recommendations drawn from evaluation findings.” The WB-IEG releases its reports and describes its work in progress. It has sections on its website labeled “Select Ongoing Evaluations” and “Approach Papers.”

No Consultation Planned for IEG Disclosure Policy Review

With the Bank as a whole reconsidering its disclosure policy, the IEG is planning an update of its own. The Bank has released an “Approach Paper” outlining its ideas for changes, but IEG plans has not issued a proposal and plans to wait until the Bank’s policy is approved before taking parallel action, an IEG official said.

“We make our approach papers public only after they have been discussed at the Board,” according to Melanie Zipperer, senior communication officer with IEG. “Our new disclosure policy is still under preparation and therefore has not been discussed with the Board yet.”

The IEG has its own disclosure policy, Zipperer explained, that is based on the Bank’s disclosure policy. “It has been generally accepted by the Board that IEG's independence requires it to have its own disclosure policy approved by the Board and adhering closely to the principles and practices of the Bank's policy,” she said.

The IEG policy will likely adhere to the policy eventually adopted by the Bank, according to Zipperer, so there is no need for an external consultation process. The IEG will present a detailed proposal to the Board once there is a new Bank policy, she said.

Other IEG Offices Disclose Their Policies

Although the World Bank IEG disclosure policy is not mentioned on its own IEG website, it is referred to elsewhere. It’s mentioned, without a link, on the website page for the IEG office at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Bank’s private sector lending wing.

IEG offices at both the IFC and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) post their disclosure policies. The IEG-IFC publishes its 2006 disclosure policy on its “About” page. The same page indicates that the IEG-IFC policy “is consistent with” the IEG-WB Disclosure Policy statement approved by the WB’s Board of Directors in January 2004. The IEG- MIGA also posts its disclosure policy online.

By Toby McIntosh

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