Oversight and Accountability
World Bank Group Boards
The World Bank Group Boards refers to the respective Boards of the IBRD, IDA, IFC, and MIGA. The World Bank Group institutions have nearly identical governance structures, and each Board is responsible for the general operations of their respective organization. In governance matters, as outlined below, references to “the World Bank” include both IBRD and IDA.
The Boards of Governors, and Council of Governors in MIGA’s case, consist of one Governor and one Alternate Governor appointed by each member country. The World Bank Governors and Alternates serve for terms of five years and can be reappointed. If the country is a member of the Bank and is also a member of IFC or IDA, then the appointed Governor and his or her alternate serve ex-officio as the Governor and Alternate on the IFC and IDA Boards of Governors. They also serve as representatives of their country on the Administrative Council of ICSID unless otherwise noted. MIGA’s Governors and Alternates are appointed separately and do not serve fixed terms.
The World Bank
The Board of Governors delegates most powers to 25 resident Executive Directors (EDs) who comprise the Board of Executive Directors for IBRD and IDA. The EDs represent the World Bank’s 189 member countries and are responsible for the conduct of the general operations of the Bank. The EDs select a President, who serves as Chair of the Board. The current Board term is from November 2024 through October 2026. The EDs oversee the Bank’s strategic direction and represent member countries’ viewpoints on the Bank’s role. They are responsible for providing the Board of Governors with an audit of accounts as well as the approval of the annual administrative budget. The approved budget is then incorporated into the annual report for the Board of Governors at their annual meeting.
IFC and MIGA’s governance structures align with the World Bank's overall framework and strategic objectives while maintaining their operational independence as reflected in their respective policies and procedures.
IFC
IFC’s Board of Directors consists of 25 individuals. By virtue of IFC’s Articles of Agreement, they are the same individuals as the EDs of IBRD and IDA. IFC’s Board of Directors approves policies and investments and is responsible for the general operations of IFC.
MIGA
A Council of Governors and a Board of Directors, representing 182 member countries, guide MIGA’s programs and activities. Each country appoints one Governor and one Alternate. MIGA’s corporate powers are vested in the Council of Governors, which delegates most of its powers to a Board of 25 Directors. In practice, in most cases the same individuals are chosen to serve on the IBRD Board of Executive Directors and the MIGA Board. MIGA’s Board meets regularly to review and decide on investment guarantee projects and oversee general management policies.
Board Committees
The Executive Directors’ Steering Committee, on which all EDs serve, meets quarterly to discuss the Board’s strategic work program. Each ED also serves on one or more of five standing committees (described in Figure 1), which help the Boards discharge its oversight responsibilities through in-depth examinations of policies and other key documents. In addition, an Ethics Committee provides guidance on matters covered by the Code of Conduct for Board Officials. Through its committees, the Board regularly engages on the effectiveness and efficiency of World Bank Group activities with management and with the independent Accountability Mechanism and the Independent Evaluation Group, both of which report directly to the Board.
FIGURE: COMMITTEES OF THE BOARDS OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
Office of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman
Established in 1999, the Office of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent accountability mechanism for projects supported by IFC and MIGA. People affected by the environmental and social impacts of these projects can raise their concerns with CAO, which reports directly to the IFC and MIGA Boards of Executive Directors. For 25 years, CAO has worked to facilitate the resolution of complaints in a fair, objective, and constructive manner; enhance environmental and social project outcomes; and foster public accountability and learning to improve IFC/MIGA’s environmental and social performance. CAO’s Dispute Resolution function helps resolve issues between affected people and the institutions’ clients using a neutral, collaborative, problem-solving approach. CAO’s Compliance function carries out reviews of IFC/MIGA’s compliance with its environmental and social policies, assesses related harm, and recommends remedial actions where appropriate. Through its Advisory function, CAO provides advice to improve IFC/MIGA’s systemic performance on environmental and social sustainability.
In fiscal 2025, CAO handled 63 cases related to IFC and MIGA projects in 26 countries. During the year, CAO received 14 new eligible complaints related to projects in agribusiness, financial markets, infrastructure, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and medicine manufacturing, and telecommunications. Of these, CAO initiated assessments of 10 cases and referred two to IFC and two to MIGA at the request of the complainants for an attempt at early resolution by IFC/MIGA and their clients. CAO closed 18 cases, two after assessment, one after dispute resolution due to lack of participation from one of the parties, five after monitoring the implementation of dispute resolution agreements, four after compliance appraisal, and six after compliance monitoring IFC’s actions in response to investigation findings. During fiscal 2025, the IFC Board approved three IFC Management Action Plans in response to CAO compliance investigations in Jordan, Kenya, and Liberia, which are now being monitored by CAO.
For more information, visit https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/.
The ICSID Administrative Council
The Administrative Council is the governing body of ICSID. Its composition, functions, and decision-making procedures are outlined in the ICSID Convention (Articles 4 to 8). The ICSID Administrative Council consists of one representative and one alternate representative from each Contracting State. Unless otherwise designated, the Governor for the World Bank appointed by that State serves as its representative on the ICSID Administrative Council.
Each Contracting State has one vote on the Administrative Council, and there is no weighted voting on any matter. At the end of fiscal 2025, 158 Contracting States were represented on the ICSID Administrative Council. The ICSID Administrative Council does not play a role in the administration of individual cases at ICSID.
The President of the World Bank Group serves as the Chair of the Administrative Council (Article 5 of the ICSID Convention). The Chair does not have a vote on matters before the Administrative Council but is responsible for convening and presiding over its meetings.
For more information, including an up-to-date list of members of the ICSID Administrative Council, visit https://icsid.worldbank.org/about/member-states/administrative-council.
Independent Evaluation Group
The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) strengthens the development effectiveness and efficiency of the World Bank Group through program and project evaluations that help deliver better services and results to clients. IEG’s recommendations inform the World Bank Group’s directions, policies, programs, and operations. IEG is independent of the management of the World Bank Group and reports directly to the Executive Board.
In fiscal 2025, IEG evaluated the World Bank Group’s progress against thematic priorities including support for the Blue Economy, protecting biodiversity, and promoting financial inclusion. IEG also produced its annual report on the results and performance of the World Bank Group, and validated management’s self-assessments of their implementation of IEG recommendations from fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2023.
IEG evaluated the World Bank Group’s private sector engagement on gender and IFC’s platforms approach to address development challenges at scale. To support the World Bank Group’s focus on country-level outcomes, IEG completed Country Program Evaluations on Ecuador, Nepal, and Somalia. IEG also evaluated corporate policies relating to procurement and the multiphase programmatic approach, which allows countries to structure a long, large, or complex engagement as a set of smaller linked operations (or phases), under one program.
For more information and the IEG’s annual report, visit ieg.worldbankgroup.org.
Accountability Mechanism
The World Bank Accountability Mechanism (AM) comprises two independent entities—the Inspection Panel (IPN) and the Dispute Resolution Service (DRS)—that serve people and communities who believe that they have been, or are likely to be, harmed by a Bank-funded project.
In fiscal 2025, the Board of Executive Directors changed the structure of the AM. The IPN and the DRS now operate as two parallel entities, each reporting to the Board and operating independently of Bank management. As before, affected communities can submit complaints to the IPN. The IPN determines complaint eligibility, and if warranted, recommends an investigation to the Board. If the Board approves the IPN’s recommendation, the investigation is held in abeyance and the Head of DRS offers a voluntary dispute resolution process. If this is declined or unresolved, the IPN proceeds with the investigation. If the parties sign a dispute resolution agreement, the process is concluded.
In fiscal 2025, the IPN processed nine complaints regarding projects in Ecuador, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Serbia, Tajikistan, Tanzania, and two in India. Following the IPN’s Tanzania investigation report, the Board approved a Management Action Plan. The Request from Pakistan is currently undergoing a dispute resolution process, while mediation in the ongoing Viet Nam case has been extended by six months. The DRS continues to monitor the implementation of agreements reached in Uganda and Cameroon.
For more information, visit accountability.worldbank.org/en/home and inspectionpanel.org.
Group Internal Audit
Group Internal Audit (GIA) is an independent function reporting to the President and overseen by the Board’s Audit Committee. Its assurance and advisory services help the World Bank Group to more effectively serve clients.
In fiscal 2025, GIA’s priority engagements included enterprise risk management, the Environmental and Social (E&S) simplification initiative, global IT networks, the Global Reporting Initiative and sustainability reporting, the E&S incident toolkit, Grievance Redress Service management, loan pricing, management of the World Bank’s advisory and analytical services, next generation firewalls, travel management, and the World Bank Group’s cloud solutions. GIA continued to advance its Country Assurance and Advisory Program and develop its Ukraine Oversight Program.
GIA partners with bilateral, multilateral, and development organizations to strengthen oversight in challenging contexts, including in countries affected by fragility, conflict, and violence.
For more information and the Group Internal Audit’s annual and quarterly reports, visit www.worldbank.org/internalaudit.
Sanctions System
The World Bank Group’s Sanctions System addresses allegations of fraud, corruption, collusion, coercion, and obstruction—collectively known as sanctionable practices—in our operations.
In fiscal 2025, based on Integrity Vice Presidency unit (INT) investigations, the World Bank Group sanctioned 32 firms and individuals through uncontested determinations of the Bank’s Chief Suspension and Debarment Officer, decisions of the World Bank Group Sanctions Board, and settlement agreements. Eighteen entities met their conditions for release, one entity converted its debarment to conditional non-debarment, and one entity converted its conditional non-debarment to debarment with conditional release. The World Bank Group recognized 20 cross-debarments from other multilateral development banks, and 26 World Bank Group debarments were eligible for recognition by other multilateral development banks. INT investigated 37 cases of alleged fraud and corruption involving World Bank staff and corporate vendors, substantiating six cases.
For more information about the Sanctions System and its annual report, visit www.worldbank.org/integrity. To report suspected fraud or corruption in World Bank Group–financed projects, or by World Bank Group staff and corporate vendors, visit www.worldbank.org/fraudandcorruption.
Ethics and Internal Justice Services
The Ethics and Internal Justice Services Vice Presidency unit (EIJ) fosters a values-based workplace culture and helps staff uphold the World Bank Group’s ethical standards and model its core values. EIJ also provides an integrated, empathetic, and efficient approach to resolving workplace conflict, allowing staff to focus on delivering for clients. EIJ offers a range of services, including training, advice, early interventions, and formal recourse, for all World Bank Group staff. In fiscal 2025, EIJ launched a central intake and triage function to point staff to the most appropriate service to address their concerns; 3,435 staff contacted EIJ.
For more information about Ethics and Internal Justice Services, visit https://www.worldbank.org/en/about/unit/ethics-and-internal-justice-services.