1818 Society WBG History Thematic Group and WBG Library Hybrid Event
Have the World Bank’s approaches to including participation in the design and implementation of projects had a long-term, positive development impact? The jury is still out. Vijayendra Rao and Michael Woolcock, both of the Research Department, have engaged with this topic for many years and will present their personal perspectives in a session that will be moderated by Jonathan Fox, Director of the Accountability Research Center, American University.
Urban sites and services, local water management and integrated rural development—in these (admittedly exceptional) cases, the Bank took its first steps in the 1980s toward more participatory implementation. Twin tracks emerged in the early 1990s: the Participation Learning Group convened two dozen Task Managers; and social and environmental safeguards began to require informed participation. This was followed by the Voices of the Poor initiative and a growing acknowledgment of social capital as a development resource. Community-driven development projects spurred large-scale, rapid disbursement of funds for local infrastructure. By the early 2010s, there was a further push for citizen engagement in all investment projects, including provision for grievance redress mechanisms. But have projects seriously promoted the institutional change needed to enable and sustain broad-based participation? Have they led to sustainable institutional change?
Discussants:
- Michael Woolcock, Lead Social Scientist, DEC, WB
- Vijayendra (Biju) Rao, Lead Economist, DEC, WB
Moderator: Professor Jonathan Fox, American University
If you will attend in person, please RSVP. Venue: MC C3-214
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Meeting number: 2324 093 2056
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