Civil Society Policy Forum

Registration for Civil Society Representatives is now closed. Please wirte to CSOregistration@worldbank.org if you have any questions. 

The Civil Society Policy Forum (CSPF) is open only to CSO representatives who have been accredited to the 2019 Annual Meetings through online registration. Registration for civil society representatives was open from July 22, 2019 to September 30, 2019. CSO representatives were encouraged to apply for registration as soon as possible. 

Costs

Registration and participation in the CSPF is free, but please be aware that participants are responsible for covering their own travel, accommodation, and costs. Participants are also responsible for applying for their entry visa to the USA. Unfortunately, we have come across some entities offering to register participants for a fee. If you come across any such entity, please report them to civilsociety@worldbank.org so we can take appropriate action.

Application Process

All CSO applications go through an initial review by the Civil Society Team of the World Bank Group to ensure that the applicants represent CSOs involved in international development policy operations and/or dialogue on issues relevant to the work of the Bank Group and IMF. (See "What are CSOs?" paragraph in the overview page)

Once this criteria is met, applications are reviewed by the relevant Executive Directors' offices (based on the country where the CSO is based or mainly operates and/or the nationality of the requester) for clearance. The Executive Directors have eight working days to review the requests for registration.

At the end of this process, the participants will be notified by email of the final decision. There is no limit on the number of applicants from a single organization, but each applicant must apply individually.

Since the applications approval process can take up to 21 days, we encourage CSOs to apply early, to allow for the relevant reviews and clearances, and to give themselves enough time to make travel and visa arrangements. 

Visas

If you need a visa to enter the United States, please request registration as soon as possible, noting that the approval of your registration request can take up to three weeks. The World Bank Group and IMF do not assist with the visa application process in United States Consulates as this is the responsibility of each traveler.

Following registration approval, you can use your confirmation email as evidence of the purpose of your visit to Washington during your visa interview. The Bank Group and IMF will not be responsible for delays in visa processing.

2019 ELECTIONS TO THE CSPF WORKING GROUP

 Voting for the 2019 CSPF Working Gorup Eleciton was open from October 18 to October 31, 2019. The results of the election can be found here. 

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MEET THE CANDIDATES:

Candidate for North America:

• Katelyn Gallagher, Bank Information Center

Candidates for Latin America:

• Maria Emilia Berazategui, Transparency International
• Marcelo de Jesus, FORES

Candidate for Europe and Central Asia:

• Luiz Vieira, Bretton Woods Project

Candidate for Middle East and North Africa:

• Shereen Talaat Faik, Arab Watch Coalition

Candidates for Africa:

• Abdulahi Abdulraheem, Initiative for Sound Education, Relationship & Health
• Camille Brou, Urban Agriculture International Program
• Mathias Lyamunda, Foundation for Environmental Management and Campaign Against Poverty
• Julius Mukunda, Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group
• Habeeb Salami, Pathfinder International

In this document you will find information on the 2019 election process. 

What is the CSPF Working Group?

The CSPF Working Group is a group of civil society reppresentatives that serves as an interlocutor with the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) civil society teams to effectively achieve the objectives of the forum as a means for engagement and a platform for a globally and thematically diverse group of civil society to voice their concerns, share ideas and experiences, and dialogue with staff on a wide range of issues and development topics. CSPF Working Gruop members contribute their time on a volunteer basis. It works on two-year terms, and the current working group term is abou to expire.

Read the full Terms of Reference (TOR) here.
To see the bios of the current members, please click here. 

SELECTION CRITERIA FOR CANDIDATES TO THE 2019-2021 CSPF WORKING GROUP:

• Familiarity with World Bank, IMF and CSPF: Candidates must have attended the CSPF at least twice in the last 5 years.
• Commitment: be eager to actively engage with civil society in their region, volunteer few hours a month for calls, mails, meetings and other work, and more intensively prior to and during the CSPF at Spring and Annual Meetings for the two-year term period.
• Regional representation: Ideally candidates will be based in the region they represent. However, in situations where a candidate has ties with the region through their work but is based elsewhere, they should provide an explanation for why they are applying under that region.
• Re-election of current WG members: Only one immediate re-election is possible.
• Attendance to 2019 Annual Meetings CSPF: Candidates are strongly encouraged to participate in the launch of the election process at the 2019 Annual Meetings CSPF to present their candidacy.

CALL FOR CANDIDATES:
The call for candidates was open from August 22 until September 30, 2019. 

The Civil Society Policy Forum (CSPF) has become an integral part of the World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring and Annual Meetings, providing an open space for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to dialogue and exchange views with Bank and IMF staff, their peers, government delegations, and other stakeholders on a wide range of topics.

The 2019 Annual Meetings Civil Society Policy Forum will take place in Washington DC from Tuesday, October 15  to Friday, October 18, 2019. The program includes:

• an orientation session on the World Bank Group;
• a roundtable discussion with World Bank Group Executive Directors;
• a CSO Townhall with the WBG President and the IMF Managing Director;
• and CSO-organized, policy dialogue sessions that reflect the diversity of CSO policy concerns. These sessions will be selected from submissions from CSOs sent to us during a call for proposals, which is open until July 26, 2019.

What are CSOs?

CSOs include non-governmental organizations, community groups, labor unions, indigenous peoples movements, faith-based organizations, professional associations, foundations, think tanks, charitable organizations, and other not-for-profit organizations.  Representatives from the private sector, academia or governmental bodies must apply for accreditation through the "Guests" or other respective registration category as clarified on the main 2019 Annual Meetings website.

A core component of the Civil Society Policy Forum (CSPF) is CSO-organized policy dialogue sessions that will run concurrently throughout the Forum.

THE CALL FOR SESSION PROPOSALS FOR THE 2019 ANNUAL MEETINGS CSPF IS NOW CLOSED.

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and CSO networks who were interested in organizing sessions were invited to submit their proposals during the Call for Session Proposals which ran until Friday, July 26, 2019. Session organizers will be notified if their session has been selected for inclusion in the CSPF, prior to posting the preliminary CSPF program schedule online by late-August 2019.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Please note that we cannot guarantee that every proposal will be accepted. Due to the growing demand for sessions in recent years and space constraints, we ask that each organization sponsor only one session, although you may co-sponsor additional sessions that other organizations are leading on. Proposals jointly sponsored with other CSOs - especially from other regions of the world - are highly encouraged!

If you want to submit a joint proposal, and/or would like to work on your proposal offline, please follow these two steps:

All proposals, without exception, must be submitted electronically using the online form above. 

The deadline for submitting a session proposal is Friday, July 26, 2019.

REMINDERS

• Sessions will only be open only to those accredited to the 2019 Annual Meetings. No day passes will be issued for panelists or guests attending the sessions. All participants will have to be registered.  
• Registration and participation in the CSPF is free, but please be aware that participants -  including session organizers and speakers - are responsible for covering their own travel and accommodation costs.  See the Registration tab for more details