Accountability Mechanisms and Civil Society meet in Lima, Perú
The Accountability Mechanisms of some International Financial Institutions and Civil Society Organizations met on Monday October 5th, 2010 in the city of Lima, Peru, The event had the objective to promote access of Civil Society to the mechanisms, and to learn, first-hand, about their concerns regarding development in the Region.
The “Accountability Mechanisms and Civil Society Workshop” was jointly organized by four Accountability Mechanisms and by the Regional Working Group on Financing and Infrastructure (GREFI). The four organizing Accountability Mechanisms were: the Inspection Panel (IPN) from the World Bank, the Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (MICI) from the Inter-American Development Bank, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) from the International Finance Corporation, and the Complaints Mechanism from the European Investment Bank. Collaboration from GREFI came from: the “Asociación Ambiente y Sociedad”- AAS (Colombia); Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales - DAR (Perú), Fundar Centro de Análisis e Investigación (México) and Fundación para el Desarrollo de Políticas Sustentables - FUNDEPS (Argentina).
The event had the participation of 70 representatives of Civil Society and was inaugurated by Mr. Gabriel Quijandría Acosta, Vice-Minister of Strategic Development and Natural Resources of Perú. The first session included presentations about the Accountability Mechanisms, their origin, policies, and operational schemes. The presenters were Dilek Barlas (IPN), Victoria Márquez-Mees (MICI), Gonzalo Castro De La Mata (IPN), Osvaldo Gratacós (CAO) and Felismino Alcarpe (CM).
The second session afforded Civil Society representatives the opportunity to share their experiences with Mechanisms. The workshop also included Mini-Clinics, where participants had the opportunity to approach the mechanisms and to ask specific questions about the different processes and requirements.
During the plenary session the group pondered about the innovative experiences with governments, companies and civil society organizations, as relates to the promotion of compliance with operational policies in the Region.
Lastly, the closing session allowed panelists to share insights and conclusions resulting from the workshop, and to make specific recommendations for improving communications between Civil Society Organizations and the Accountability Mechanisms in the future.
The day concluded with a reception. Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Peruvian Environment Ministry, was the guest of honor.