WASHINGTON, October 27, 2020—World Bank Group President David Malpass today announced the appointment of Janine Ferretti as the new Vice President for the Office of Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the independent accountability mechanism for projects supported by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) -- the two World Bank Group organizations that focus on the private sector.
“Successful development outcomes can only occur if we have high standards of stakeholder engagement where people are free to express their concerns and hold institutions like IFC and MIGA accountable,” said Malpass. “Janine Ferretti has dedicated her entire career to sustainable development. Her deep understanding of environmental and social risks makes her an ideal appointment as our new CAO VP. Janine knows that people in the countries we serve are our partners in development, and their meaningful participation in our work is vital to our credibility as a trusted steward of development resources, and to achieving good development outcomes.”
Ferretti, a Canadian and US national, is an environmental and social expert with over 16 years of experience in policymaking, design, and implementation of development operations for both the private and public sectors. She is currently a Professor of the Practice of Global Development Policy, Pardee School of Global Studies, at Boston University, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate level courses on environment, climate, and development issues; environmental and social risk management, sustainable finance; and sustainable development trends.
Ferretti previously worked at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as the first Chief of Environmental and Social Safeguards, where she had the opportunity to establish, develop and shape the Environmental and Social Safeguards Unit (ESG), and its operations; and led the development of new policies and practices, including the initial work on the IDB’s new Environmental and Social Policy Framework.
As the Vice President, Office of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), Ferretti’s immediate priorities will be to act as an independent Advisor to the President and to update the Board on matters of environmental and social impacts raised by communities to the CAO; to address complaints by people affected by IFC or MIGA supported projects in a manner that is fair, objective and constructive; and to co-lead the preparation of a new accountability policy including the transfer of CAO’s reporting and oversight to the Board.
Malpass added, “I would like to express my gratitude to Osvaldo Gratacós, our outgoing CAO Vice President, for his years of dedicated service.”
Ferretti was selected for this position through an international, competitive and participatory recruitment process. She has a Master’s degree in Environmental Policy from York University, Toronto, and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from University of California, Santa Cruz.
Ferretti’s appointment effective date is anticipated to be on or around January 1, 2021.
