On November 15, 2018, the World Bank Group (WBG) hosted a unique learning event, facilitated by the Office of Suspension and Debarment (OSD) and the WBG Sanctions Board Secretariat (SBS), for a delegation of 16 public officers and elected officials from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, Laos, and Brazil. The one-day seminar was part of a broader Governance and Anti-Corruption Methods course, hosted by the International Law Institute in Washington, D.C. The seminar included contributions from staff from the WBG's various departments and initiatives promoting integrity and building anti-corruption tools: the Integrity Vice Presidency, OSD, SBS, Governance Global Practice, International Finance Corporation's Business Risk & Compliance division, the WBG's Operations Policy and Country Services, and the Bank's Stolen Asset Recovery initiative (StAR). Presentations covered the WBG's multifaceted approach to assisting countries with governance and anti-corruption support, and to promoting integrity and addressing misconduct through due diligence, sanctions, and working directly with member states and private parties to ensure that the WBG's financing does not fall prey to corruption risks.
The event served as a forum for meaningful discussions, with the participants sharing their experiences and questions about field-related challenges at the intersection of governance, integrity, and global development. OSD and SBS warmly thank the following units and staff for their substantive contributions to the seminar's success:
Governance Global Practice: Jim Anderson;
OPCS Procurement: Diomedes Berroa;
Integrity Vice Presidency: Samuel Ade Bwana and Joseph C. Mauro;
International Finance Corporation: Yannick Stephant;
Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation (Stolen Asset Reovery Initiative (StAR)): Shervin Majlessi;
Office of Suspension and Debarment: Jamieson Smith, Collin Swan, and Alexandra Manea;
Sanctions Board Secretariat: Eugenia Pyntikova and Ryan Velandria McCarthy.
