Copyright 1993 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
an inter press service feature
by pratap chatterjee
amsterdam, aug 26 (ips) - the world bank and the united nations
development programme (undp), two of the world's largest lenders
of development money, are unable to work together on joint
environmental projects, claims a leaked bank report.
an internal world bank report leaked to ips shows that the two
agencies are at loggerheads over projects for the global
environment facility (gef), a new 1.1 billion dollar agency that
they set up together with the u.n. environment programme (unep).
the report which was prepared by anne lomond, a member of the
bank's audit department, looks at the success of the pilot phase
of the gef, which has been in operation for almost three years.
the report says, ''of the 13 (joint) projects we reviewed in
depth, we noted that on three projects there were significant
disagreements between bank and undp staff concerning such matters
as project ownership and the objectives and structures of the
projects.''
''in only one project was there significant cooperation. of the
balance, in two or three instances, the task manager appears to
have seriously tried to involve undp but was unable to get useful
support.
''in the remaining seven projects, the task manager appears to
have made an early judgement that actively trying to involve undp
was not a worthwhile effort and simply excluded the local undp
office from active participation.''
lomond also noted that in general, neither the bank and undp
review documents that the other agency sends them. then it notes
that at the implementation committee meetings (of the three
agencies) ''suggests a process that is often highly competitive
and occasionally acrimonious''.
this is often a problem for projects because in many cases the
two agencies ''are independently trying to prepare similar types
of projects or proposing additional projects in countries where
the other agency already has a gef project under preparation''
resulting in duplicated time and costs.
the lomond report also reviews all the bank's own gef projects
where it does not get help from undp. many of these have come
under fire from activist groups like the world rainforest movement
(wrm) for simply painting a environmental veneer on other larger
destructive world bank projects. (more/ips)
environment: u.n. development agency at war with world bank(2)
other groups have said the world bank seeks to take complete
responsibility for the gef and its funds and has been strongly
critical of their u.n. partners before.
but in fact the leaking of the report comes at a time when the
focus of criticism is on the bank management -- not its u.n.
partners.
a recent controversial study by one of its former vice
presidents, willi wapenhans, concluded that over a third of
completed projects are economic failures, that others failed to
follow the bank's own environmental assessment rules or the social
consequences of the project have been disastrous.
many activists say bank management is the principal mover behind
several environmentally and socially disastrous loans.
a undp official in new york preferred not to comment on an unseen
report, but commented that it should only be fair for the undp to
have access to it before it is circulated.
the purpose of the gef is to fund innovative projects that would
not otherwise get funded. the idea is that they will change the
bad bank projects but activists say that the effect is really more
of a public relations image for bad projects.
for example wrm is opposing a five million dollar gef project in
laos where the gef plans to work with local communities to develop
sustainable uses of the forest.
they say that this is just a ''greenwash'' for a bigger world
bank funded 15 million project that will allow companies to come
in and chop down the forests.
but lomond says the opposite. she says that these gef projects
have very high operating costs because they are small and that
they should be further integrated into the bank's work rather than
the other way round.
she recommends that the bank should study gef policies to find
out why it has not integrated itself into the bank's operations
and either ''propose changes in the criteria used to select
projects prepared by the bank for gef financing to ensure that
they are more integrated with bank operations or recommend changes
in present bank policy regarding gef so that it confirms with the
expected degree of integration.''
but activists say that this would effectively make it no more
than a tool of the bank. they say that the gef is supposed to be
different and to challenge the bank so that eventually the bank
will change. even if this is more expensive in cash terms, the
idea is to prove that the benefits outweigh the costs. (more/ips)
environment: u.n. development agency at war with world bank(3-e)
another issue raised by lomond that is likely to face opposition
is a suggestion that limits be placed on the amount of information
and services that should be available to gef 'participant'
governments.
lomond noted that one participant ''requested and received
special services which if viewed as a precedent by other
participants could be burdensome on both the coordinator's and
administrator's offices as well as other bank staff.''
she recommends that, based on an evaluation of the efficiency and
effectiveness of communications activities that have taken place
to date... the gef administrator should ''establish a policy that
places a limit on the service that gef provides to individual
participants and provides a basis for refusing requests for
excessive services when they occur.''
all of this is likely to upset governments who feel that they
should get more information about projects.
some governments, like the u.s., are separately campaigning to
get this information released to groups outside the bank, like
environmentalists. (end/ips/en/pc/pt/93)
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