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Panel Takes Part in Virtual Outreach Workshop for Community Representatives in 3 Central American Countries

Central American Outreach

The Inspection Panel this week took part in a virtual workshop to inform community representatives in three Central American countries about the work of independent accountability mechanisms (IAMs) at international financial institutions.
 
The Panel has recently increased its use of virtual workshops as Panel members and staff continue working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  
On July 1, Operations Officer Birgit Kuba joined counterparts at the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman and the IAM of the Inter-American Development Bank to present a workshop for representatives from some 40 community groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), trade unions and foundations from Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama who work on rural development, environmental, human rights, and accountability issues.  
 
Numerous issues were discussed at the workshop including whether the three mechanisms also coordinate their accountability efforts with national development banks, the types of harms communities can seek redress for, and if complainants have any recourse when the banks’ boards do not approve an investigation recommended by the mechanisms.
 
The webinar was co-hosted with six Central American civil society organizations: undación Arias para la Paz y el Progreso Humano and Fundación para la Paz y la Democracia  (Costa Rica); Red Latinoamericana por Justicia Económica y Social/LATINDADD and Centro Humboldt (Nicaragua); and Fundación para el Desarrollo Integral Comunitario y Conservación de los Ecosistemas en Panamá and Red Nacional de Derechos Humanos de Panamá (Panama).  
 
In May, the three IAMs had held a similar workshop for community groups, NGOs and labor unions from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
 
Since April, the Panel has organized or participated in virtual workshops with civil society representatives in other parts of Latin America, Southern and Western Africa and the Middle East and North Africa. Please contact the Inspection Panel at ipanel@worldbank.org if you are interested in taking part in a virtual workshop.
 
The Panel will resume in-person workshops as the pandemic eases and the World Bank permits mission travel.