The World Bank Group's twin goals are to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030 and to boost shared prosperity for the bottom 40 percent of each developing country. For the diverse workforce of the World Bank Group, integrity, ethical behavior, and adherence to corporate values are core to the success of these goals.
The World Bank Group's Ethics and Business Conduct Department (EBC) in the Ethics and Internal Justice Services Vice Presidency Unit promotes the development and application of the highest ethical standards by staff members in the performance of their duties. EBC is committed to integrity, impartiality and independence in its work.
EBC focuses on four key areas:
- Standard setting through the design and stewardship of ethical policy, practices, decisions, and behavior, including administering Declaration of Interests Programs to ensure public confidence.
- Outreach and training to strengthen World Bank Group values, foster a culture of respect and integrity, and build bridges between scientific research and practice in ethical development.
- Advice to staff and clients by sharing ethics expertise and spotting trends—providing counsel on conflicts of interest and compliance-related issues as needed.
- Addressing misconduct by reviewing concerns, recommending actions, and facilitating resolutions.
WBG Action Plan for preventing and addressing sexual harassment. At the World Bank Group, we are committed to providing a safe environment for our people to do their best work. This means doing all we can to uphold systems of accountability and transparency. We must create a culture in which we feel safe to report incidents of sexual harassment and are able to trust that robust systems are in place to address them—a culture of zero tolerance where sexual harassment is being systematically addressed. Read the Action Plan here.
Read the EBC fiscal year 2022 annual report to learn more about our recent initiatives.
Last Updated: Jan 19, 2023
