Partnership with civil society is of growing importance. The Bank is enhancing tools for civil society participation, providing resources to build capacity among nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and working with governments to promote civil society involvement in countries’ development agendas.
Policy dialogue. During fiscal 2000, in-country processes to prepare Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) provided for civil society engagement in policy dialogue and monitoring of outcomes. Consultations with NGOs, religious groups, and universities got under way, and a special PRSP link was created in the Bank’s NGO/Civil Society web site. Civil society participation in Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) formulation also increased, and CAS public disclosure improved. Policy dialogue has varied in content, depending on regions’ needs: the CDF (Africa); gender strategies (South Asia); poverty reduction, post-conflict issues, governance, and the environment (Europe and Central Asia); employment, income generation, safety nets, and the social impacts of reform (Latin America and the Caribbean); and anticorruption measures, NGO legislation, and gender equity (Middle East and North Africa).
Operational collaboration. The Bank collaborated actively with NGOs in fiscal 2000 in the context of natural disasters, social emergencies, and long-term development. In East Timor, the Bank—UNTAET (United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor) donor meetings of December 1999 and June 2000 included civil society organizations involved in Bank-supported reconstruction programs. Other notable collaboration supported HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention in Africa, rehabilitation programs following cyclones in India, and post-conflict reconstruction in the Balkans.
Global partnerships. To promote global dialogue with national and international NGOs, the Bank organized a series of briefings for NGOs at both the joint Bank—Fund Annual Meetings in September 1999 and the Spring 2000 Meetings of the Development Committee. They covered such topics as HIPC, civil society engagement in CDF, and the Bank’s Inspection Panel.
