BSTDB participated at the 9th Annual Meeting of IFIs Independent Accountability Mechanisms (IAMs)
News | 02-Oct-2012
During the last week of September the 9th Annual Meeting of IFIs Independent Accountability Mechanisms was hosted in Luxembourg and Brussels by the European Investment Bank’s Complaints Mechanism and the European Ombudsman.
The main objectives of the meeting were to identify current accountability trends, exchange views on substantive and technical operationalisation of respective mandates and strategies, contribute in supporting institutional capacity building of community of practice, identify good practices and knowledge, share experiences, lessons learnt and challenges ahead, and explore the possibility of greater harmonization among the IFIs’ Accountability/ Complaints mechanisms.
As part of the events, an international symposium was organized by the European Investment Bank Institute and the University of Luxembourg, where representatives of international financial institutions and international development banks exchanged views on the Accountability of International Financial Institutions and their capacity to monitor the impact of IFI-financed projects on human rights. Peer accountability mechanisms were discussed to explore best practices of inquiries which led to assessment of social impacts of projects, to the establishment of corrective measurements mitigating the social impact and to the monitoring of the latter. The discussion was steered by international scholars and officials of relevant international organizations, including the EU.
Furthermore, the European Ombudsman in cooperation with the Complaints Mechanism of the European Investment Bank hosted the ‘International Right to Know Day’ at the European Parliament in Brussels, on 28 September. The meeting focused on transparency and accountability in European and international development banks and highlighted the importance of every individual’s right of access to information, given that approximately one third of the inquiries carried out by the Ombudsman’s Office annually concern lack of transparency.
The next meeting will be hosted by the World Bank’s Inspection Panel in 2013.