Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Vice President for Countries Otaviano Canuto distributed today to the 26 Country Office Representatives, a copy of “Bridge for Development,” the roadmap adopted at the conclusion of in the Eighth Regional IDB-Civil Society Meeting.
The meeting, held in Montevideo, Uruguay, on October 17-18, was attended by the IDB’s top managers, as well as more than 130 representatives of civil society in Latin America and the Caribbean.
IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno and Vice President for Countries Otaviano Canuto were two of the Bank’s main presenters. Moreno led a question-and-answer session that enabled IDB staff to hear civil society’s main concerns.
During the dialogue with representatives of civil society organizations from 25 countries, President Moreno emphasized that the Bank’s reorganization and other recent initiatives would lead to new opportunities for collaboration. Civil society representatives gave the meeting good marks and expressed their interest in strengthening ties with the Bank.
Topics discussed during the two-day meeting included ways to improve access to the IDB’s Independent Investigation Mechanism, how civil society can participate in IDB-financed projects, transparency and accountability, and strengthening of each Country Office’s civil society advisory council.
The roadmap, designed in coordination with participants representing civil society, reflects the concerns expressed during the Meeting. One among many examples of Bank-civil society collaboration, the document sets concrete goals for evaluating the IDB’s progress in specific areas one year from now.
The roadmap includes goals for implementation of the Bank’s new Development Effectiveness Framework, the IDB’s Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Initiative (SECCI), the Independent Investigation Mechanism, strategic environmental assessment, updating of the Bank’s policy on women in development, and good governance.
IDB Representatives in all countries in the region receive the roadmap in order to ensure that they begin to take the necessary steps to meet the agreed-upon goals by October 2009.