What's New!

What's New! World Bank MDG Efforts Help Save 13 Million Lives Since 2000:  In his opening statement to world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly on September 20, 2010 on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), World Bank Group President, Robert B. Zoellick, said that the World Bank has helped to save the lives of 13 million people with its MDG-related IDA fund for the world’s poorest since 2000, and will redouble efforts to mobilize substantial new investments agriculture, education, and health to close the overall MDG gap over the next five years.  More...   CSO Participants Provide Useful Feedback on 2010 Spring Meetings:  CSO participants surveyed after the 2010 Spring Meetings gave high marks for the logistics, policy sessions, and overall usefulness of the Civil Society Policy Forum. They also shared comments on what they felt worked well (e.g. diversity of topics, better understanding of the Bank ) and provided specific suggestions on how to improve the CS Forum in the future. These included: avoiding too many simultaneous sessions, more time built into the schedule for participants interactions, and greater access to Bank / Fund staff. More...   CSOs Collaborate Actively on Access to Information Policy: A number of CSOs played a significant role in the implementation planning phase of the Bank’s new Access to Information policy which was rolled out on July 1. CSO representatives worked closely with the Bank’s Access to Information Working Group (AIWG) in order to provide input and make suggestions on various aspects of the implementation plan such as translation requirements, user accessibility, and staff training. More... World Bank Frees Up Development Data: As part of a larger effort to increase access to information at the World Bank, the Bank Group President, Robert B. Zoellick on April 20, 2010 announced a free and easy access to the institution's more than 2,000 financial, business, health, economic and human development statistics that had mostly been available only to paying subscribers. Experts say the Bank's open data initiative has the potential to stimulate more evidence-based policymaking in developing countries by bringing more researchers and innovative analysis into the development process. More...    Civil Society eNewsletter – September 2010 New!!: This edition of the newsletter carries interesting stories about World Bank support for the MDG, World Bank Vice President at the CIVICUS Assembly, new World Bank/CSO Health page, etc.  Also included are important appointments like the Egyptian natioanl Managing Director and the new clean energy expert.  To read more and to subscribe click here.