THE REQUEST
On June 20, 2023, two individuals from Tanzania submitted a Request for Inspection. They asked the Inspection Panel to keep their identities confidential due to fear of retaliation. They asked the Oakland Institute, a US-based non-governmental organization, to be their advisor in the Panel process.
CASE DESCRIPTION
The Request alleged that the Resilient Natural Resource Management for Tourism and Growth (REGROW) Project did not follow several Bank policies and procedures. With respect to involuntary resettlement, the Request alleged that communities in five villages (with an approximate population of 21,000) in Ruaha National Park (RUNAPA) were notified that they will be evicted. The Request alleged they face violence, actual and threats of retaliation, which has created a sense of constant fear among affected community members. The Request claimed that the Project provides direct material, policy, and institutional support to Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) for the management of RUNAPA, including equipment that is being used for patrols. The Request also claimed that TANAPA rangers have practiced “extreme cruelty” while conducting cattle seizures from pastoralists, and have engaged in “extrajudicial killings” and the “disappearance” of community members. The Request alleged that over the past two years the cattle of community members have been seized in large numbers to the detriment of pastoral livelihoods. The Request alleged the seizure of cattle impacted Indigenous Peoples groups, including Maasai, Sukuma and Datoga pastoralists, who inhabit the project area. It claimed that the Bank failed to trigger its policy on Indigenous Peoples, causing irreparable harm to the identity, culture, and rights of the indigenous communities in the project area.
On July 20, 2023, after conducting its due diligence, the Panel registered the Request. Bank Management submitted its response to the Panel on August 21, 2023.
MANAGEMENT RESPONSE
In its Response, while recognizing the serious nature of the allegations Management stated that the conflict between pastoralist communities and nature conservation efforts undertaken by Government of Tanzania is a longstanding and widespread matter that predates the Project by decades and go well beyond the Project area. According to Management, the issues raised in the Request are outside the Project and therefore beyond the scope of the Bank’s environmental and social safeguards and other policies. Management stated there is no basis for the Requesters’ assertion that the alleged harm is related to the Bank’s compliance with its policies and procedures. The Response stated that the Bank is neither responsible for the alleged harm, nor is in a position to review or ascertain the veracity of the claims raised in the Request. The full Management response can be read here.
PANEL RECOMMENDATION/BOARD APPROVAL/REFERRAL TO DISPUTE RESOLUTION
A Panel team visited Tanzania from August 21 to September 2, 2023, and met with Project stakeholders including Government officials, the Project’s implementing agencies, the Requesters, and local community member to inform its report and recommendation to the Board of Executive Directors as to whether an investigation into the matters alleged in the Request is warranted. The Panel determined that the Requesters and the Request for Inspection met the technical eligibility criteria set forth in the Panel Resolution with the exception of the claims relating to the application of the Indigenous Peoples and to the involuntary resettlement policies. The Panel observed that, because the migration of the Datoga, Maasai, and Sukuma into the Project area occurred in the middle of the last century, the policy is not applicable for these groups in the context of this Project. The Panel also observed that no physical relocation activities have been triggered by the Project as it is the Panel’s understanding that no resettlement can take place until the General Notice is signed by the President of Tanzania.
The Panel noted that if involuntary resettlement is triggered in the Project area within the life of the Project, the Requesters retain their right to submit a new Request for Inspection if they believe they are experiencing or likely to experience harm due to non-compliance with Bank policies. The Panel submitted its Report and Recommendation to the Board on September 19, 2023, in which it recommended carrying out an investigation into the Bank’s review and due diligence of the capacity and processes of one of the Project’s lead implementing agencies, i.e., TANAPA, and whether risks to communities were identified in project documents and appropriate mitigation measures put in place, and the Bank’s supervision of TANAPA. The investigation will review the related, possible non-compliance with the applicable World Bank policies, focusing on the Bank’s Policy on Environmental Assessment (OP/BP 4.01) and the Bank’s Investment Project Financing policy. This investigation pertains to the Bank’s actions and omissions and would not consider other parties mentioned in the Request for Inspection.
On November 15, 2023, the World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved a recommendation from the Inspection Panel to investigate the Project. Under the Inspection Panel resolution and the World Bank Accountability Mechanism (AM) resolution, after Board approval of the Panel’s investigation recommendation, the AM Secretary offered the complainants and the Borrower the option of dispute resolution. On December 11, 2023, the AMS informed the Board and the Panel that there is no agreement from both parties to enter dispute resolution.
PANEL INVESTIGATION
On December 14, 2023, the Panel published its investigation plan on its website and commenced its Investigation. At the time of publishing the case update, the Panel team was conducting the investigation. The Panel is expecting to submit the investigation to the Board in July 2024. Learn more about the case here.