19 September 2006
CIVIL SOCIETY URGES MORE TRANSPARENCY FOR IMF, WORLD BANK
Amidst the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank this week in Singapore, a coalition of civil society organisations, including ARTICLE 19, have launched a global charter calling for these institutions to end their "highly secretive practices" and bring their own practices in line with the transparency standards they advocate for governments.
The Transparency Charter for International Financial Institutions calls for a "radical overhaul" of the existing information disclosure policies of institutions such as the IMF, World Bank, World Trade Organisation and intergovernmental banks.
The Charter was drafted by the Global Transparency Initiative, a coalition of eight non-governmental organisations that campaigns to give citizens the right to access information held by international financial institutions (IFI's).
Magda Stoczkiewicz of the CEE Bankwatch Network, a member of the coalition, says: "Although a wealth of information is available on IFI websites, their boards of directors operate behind closed doors, much important project information is not made available and, as a rule, information that is disclosed is provided only after relevant decisions have effectively been taken."
ARTICLE 19 says most IFI's disclosure policies do not establish a right of access nor do they set out clear and narrow grounds for refusing access. They also limit the types of documents that can be disclosed, and lack independent oversight mechanisms to ensure proper implementation of the policies.
The need for greater openness among the IFIs was highlighted last week by the initial failure of the World Bank and IMF to criticise the repressive actions of the Singapore government, which banned more than 25 accredited individuals and organisations from attending the annual meeting.
Only after civil society groups announced a boycott of the meetings on 15 September and staged protests did the IMF criticise Singapore. Singapore later allowed most of the banned activists to enter the country, though campaigners said the move came too late.
Visit these links:
- ARTICLE 19: http://www.article19.org/pdfs/press/transparency-charter-launch.pdf
- Text of the Charter:
http://www.article19.org/pdfs/standards/transparency-charter-english.pdf
- GTI: http://www.ifitransparency.org/
- IFI WatchNet: http://www.ifiwatchnet.org/
- Bank Information Center: http://www.bicusa.org/en/index.aspx
- Singapore Activists Protest Censorship: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/19/asia/AS_GEN_Singapore_Protest.php
- Singapore Blogger Comments on IMF Meetings: http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2006/yax-647.htm
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