World Bank Safeguards Review – Phase 3 Consultations

A statement from a coalition of civil society organizations to the World Bank requesting a meeting to discuss recommendations for the third and final consultation phase of the Safeguards Review for the Environmental and Social Framework (ESF).

• Civil society organizations claim that the first two phases of the Safeguards Review consultations were flawed due to restricted invitation-only access, inadequate notice, and a failure to provide documentation in advance to ensure informed participation.
• The signatories express concern that the World Bank may implement a truncated Phase 3 consultation process lasting as little as two months and relying primarily on web-based methods, which they argue would be insufficient for reviewing materials and would undermine public confidence in the final Environmental and Social Framework (ESF).
• The coalition recommends a Phase 3 strategy that includes a minimum of 6 months' time and a budget to support three types of consultations: general in-country consultations (at least 2 countries per region across the Bank's six regions), thematic consultations on topics such as climate, human rights, and indigenous peoples (held in the global South and Washington DC), and targeted web-based consultations.
• To ensure inclusive participation, the organizations urge the World Bank to provide a minimum of 60 days' notice for consultations, translate all relevant documents into member country languages, and publish verbatim transcripts of all sessions to prevent inaccurate summaries of civil society input.
• The coalition requests that the World Bank publish a feedback report featuring a matrix that tracks consultation comments against the draft language, providing explanations for why specific recommendations were either incorporated or rejected, citing a similar process used by the Asian Development Bank.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2015). World Bank Safeguards Review – Phase 3 Consultations. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/05242015-Letter-re-Phase-3-consultations_FINAL1.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. World Bank Safeguards Review – Phase 3 Consultations. 2015. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/05242015-Letter-re-Phase-3-consultations_FINAL1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=World Bank Safeguards Review – Phase 3 Consultations |date=22 May 2015 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/05242015-Letter-re-Phase-3-consultations_FINAL1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2015world, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{World Bank Safeguards Review – Phase 3 Consultations}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2015}, month = may, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/05242015-Letter-re-Phase-3-consultations_FINAL1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }