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Panel Joins Other IAMs at Impact Assessment Meeting in Japan

​The Inspection Panel, along with accountability mechanisms from five other international financial institutions, held a session for the first time at the annual meeting of the International Association for Impact Assessment.

The annual meeting in Nagoya, Japan, brought together some 800 practitioners in impact assessment from around the world. The May 11 session discussed the experiences of the IAMs and how they can help build resilient and sustainable projects and respond to the needs of the communities affected by projects supported by development institutions like the World Bank.

Chairman Gonzalo Castro de la Mata presented lessons from Panel cases involving environmental and social assessment over the last 22 years. Those lessons will provide the basis for a Panel report to be published later this year as part of the Panel’s “Emerging Lessons Series.” The series was launched at the 2016 International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group Spring Meetings with a report on lessons from cases involving involuntary resettlement. The Panel also plans reports on lessons emerging from cases related to indigenous peoples and requirements for consultation, participation and disclosure of information.