Sessions will take place in the Civil Society Space of the Annual Meetings (World Bank Group, Second floor, I Building, 1850 I St. N.W., Washington DC) and are open to all participants who have been accredited to the 2016 Annual Meetings. A few sessions will take place in the IMF HQ2 and the World Bank's Main Campus (MC). 

The Civil Society Policy Forum (CSPF) is open to all CSOs and other delegates who have been accredited to the 2016 Annual Meetings. CSO registration for the 2016 Annual Meetings is now closed.

The CSPF will be held from Tuesday, October 4 to Friday, October 7 in the World Bank’s I Building located at 1850 I Street, N.W., which is the same location as registration and badge pick-up. A few sessions will also be held at IMF HQ2 Building (1900 Pennsylvania Ave.)

The CSO Center is located on the 2nd floor of the I Building, which is comprised of three large conference rooms (I 2-210, I 2-220, I 2-250), and a meeting room (I 2-440) for smaller meetings. There is also a CSO office where you can liaise with members of the World Bank and IMF Civil Society Teams. The full-schedule of the CSPF along with room location is available on this same website, clearly marked as “Day 1”, “Day 2”, “Day 3”, and “Day 4”.

Three large conference rooms will be used for the CSPF sessions. In addition, a separate meeting room (I 2-440) can be used by CSO representatives for smaller meetings. Please send an e-mail to Sabina Grenaderova (sgrenaderova@worldbankgroup.org) to reserve this space, and requests will be accommodated on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please note, these meetings will not be promoted and advertised on the CSPF schedule.

There will be multiple desktop computers with internet access available in the CSO Center, as well as a copy machine. In addition, there is Wi-Fi connectivity throughout the building. This year, a Satellite Lounge for CSOs will be made available in the IMF HQ2 Building (1900 Pennsylvania Ave), room number HQ2 3B 948. This room will be equipped with a few laptops and is on the same floor as the Annual Meetings Press Center.

The CSPF is open to media and journalists who do not require a World Bank/IMF staff escort to access the CSO Center. CSOs will have access to the Press Center in the IMF HQ2 Building; however, CSOs should be mindful of journalists’ workspace and independence. While CSO representatives are not allowed in the official press conferences, as these are reserved for journalists, they will be able to follow press events via a live TV feed located in the Press Center. Please note that CSOs will not be allowed to distribute leaflets in the pressroom, but instead a table will be available just outside the pressroom for CSO press materials.

There will also be a dedicated table for CSO promotional materials located in the CSO Center at the I Building. CSOs are responsible for delivering, displaying and replenishing the relevant materials themselves during the week of the Forum.

If you are planning to film or record a session for external distribution, we ask that you please give us advance notice as we are required to abide by local privacy laws and to seek permission from session presenters prior to the session.
 

The online registration system for CSOs IS NOW CLOSED. It was open until Friday, September 16, 2016. 

The Civil Society Policy Forum (CSPF) will only be open to CSO representatives who have been accredited to the 2016 Annual Meetings.

Since the applications approval process can take up to 21 days, therefore some applications will be processed after the regsitration close date. We encourage CSOs to apply early, to allow for the relevant reviews and clearances, and to give themselves enough time to make travel and visa arrangements. 

CSO representatives accredited for the 2016 Annual Meetings are able to participate in all open events that are part of the wider 2016 Annual Meetings program of events.

Application Process

All CSO applications go through an initial review by the Civil Society Team of the World Bank Group to ensure that the applicants represent CSOs involvement in interational development policy operations and/or dialogue on issues relevant to the work of the Bank Group and IMF.

Once this criteria is met, applications are reviewed by the relevant Executive Directors' offices (based on the country where the CSO is based or mainly operates and/or the nationality of the requester) for clearance.  The Executive Directors have eight working days to review the requests for registration.

At the end of this process, the participants will be notified of the final decision by the Civil Society Team.  There is no limit on the number of applicants from a single organization, but each applicant must apply individually.

CSOs include non-governmental organizations, community groups, labor unions, indigenous peoples movements, faith-based organizations, professional associations, foundations, think tanks, charitable organizations, and other not-for-profit organizations.  Representatives from the private sector, academia or governmental bodies must apply for accreditation through the "Guests" or other respective registration category as clarified on the main 2016 Annual Meetings website.

Since the application's approval can take up to 21 days, we encourage CSO representatives to apply early to given themselves enough time to make travel and visa arrangements and to ensure that there is enough time to complete the relevant reviews and clearances.

Costs

Registration and participation in the CSPF is free, but please be aware that participants are responsible for covering their own travel, accommodation, and per diem costs.  Participants are also responsible for applying for their entry visa to the USA.   Unfortunately, we have come across some entities offering to register participants for a fee.  If you come across any such entity, please report them to civilsociety@worldbank.org so we can take appropriate action.

Visas

If you need a visa to enter the United States, please request registration as soon as possible, noting that the approval of your registration request can take up to three weeks and we will not be able to provide an invitation letter until that process is complete. The World Bank Group and IMF do not assist with the visa application process in United States Consulates as this is the responsibility of each traveler.

Following registration approval, you can use your confirmation email as evidence of the purpose of your visit to Washington during your visa interview. The Bank Group and IMF will not be responsible for delays in visa processing.

Last Updated: Sep 20, 2016

A core component of the Civil Society Policy Forum (CSPF) is some 40, mainly CSO-organized policy dialogue sessions that will run concurrently from the afternoon of October 4-7.

The Call for Proposals is NOW CLOSED. No new requests will be accepted. We received more than 130 proposals. A full list of submissions can be found here.

An initial schedule will be posted on our website on September 6 and we will be in touch with CSOs who submitted proposals to let them know if their session was selected before that time.

The following guidelines inform the selection of sessions:

1. CSPF Themes: The CSPF aims to cover a diverse range of topics with priority given to those that are thematically relevant to the work of the World Bank Group and the IMF, and which invite debate beyond the focus of one civil society organization or country.
   
2. Session Proposals: Session run concurrently throughout the day and can be organized solely, or with other entities, by CSOs, the Bank and the Fund. In order to promote inclusiveness and global CSO participation, however, we encourage each CSO to limit its proposal to one session per organization and/or work jointly with other CSOs and regional partners to co-organize a session that showcases a variety of perspectives on the specified topic. If we receive multiple proposals on similar themes we may ask submitting organizations to consider working together on their sessions. To promote transparency and facilitate collaboration, we will be making submitted proposals available on our website from August 22, if the submitting CSOs agree.
   
3. Session Format: We encourage and seek to identify CSO-proposed sessions that promote dynamic and interactive discussions. Thematic relevance/prominence and expected audience numbers will be the primary determining factors for session room selection.

Please note that in recent years demand for sessions has been much higher than the total number of slots available. We cannot guarantee that your proposal will be accepted, but will do our best to accomodate as many sessions as possible within the available slots. We will let session proposers know if their sessions have been selected for inclusion by early September.  An initial session schedule will be posted on September 6 and linked to the 2016 Annual Meetings main events website.

Once their sessions are confirmed on the schedule, CSO representatives are responsible for promoting their own sessions within their CSO networks and among the attendants at the Annual Meetings. Sessions will only be open to those accredited to the 2016 Annual Meetings.

Registration and participation in the CSPF is free, but please be aware that participants -  including session organizers - are responsible for covering their own travel, accommodation, and per diem costs.  See the CSO Registration tab for more details.

Annual Meetings registration opened on July 25 and will run through September 16. To ensure the timely processing of your registration request, we strongly encourage you and your potential panel participants to register early.

If you have any questions regarding this call for proposals or have difficulties accessing the session proposal form, please contact us by email at: civilsociety@worldbank.org (World Bank) or NGOliaison@IMF.org (IMF).

Last Updated: Aug 22, 2016