World Bank Seeks Feedback on Environment and Social Safeguard Policy Review in Brussels

The World Bank Group Brussels Office engaged a wide range of stakeholders in consultations on the Review of the World Bank’s Environmental and Social Safeguard Policies on 10 November 2014. In a meeting that brought together an array of governmental actors, including representatives of the Belgian and Netherlands governments, UN institutions, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank, the World Bank was able to exchange views on different donor and institutional approaches to environment and social standards. A second meeting gathering civil society actors such as Oxfam, ITUC, Human Rights Watch, Light for the World, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, as well as independent researchers from the universities of Antwerp and Brussels, provided the Bank the opportunity to hear concerns and interests of key Bank interlocutors who have a proximity to peoples affected by World Bank projects.

Safeguard policies are a cornerstone of the WBG’s support to sustainable poverty reduction. The objective of these policies, established over 20 years ago, is to prevent and mitigate undue harm to people and their environment in the development process. The ongoing review aims to build on and extend the existing safeguard policies, consolidating them into a more modern, unified framework that is more efficient and effective to apply and implement.

A detailed report of the meetings will appear on  the World Bank Safeguard consultations page

You can still contribute to the Review by sending comments to safeguardconsult@worldbank.org before January 15 2015.