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CIAO DATE: 02/04
Foreign Policy
Online Ombudsman
Jennifer Kuo*
Few international agencies have more faith in the Internet than the World Bank Inspection Panel (WBIP) (www.inspectionpanel.org), an international legal institution through which private individuals and communities dispute the implementation of bank projects and policies. Because the claimants and staff involved in WBIP disputes are often spread over several continents, the panel uses the Web to receive claims, render judgments, and publicize investigations.
Edith Brown Weiss, the panel's chairperson, says her institution "amplifies the voices of poor people and allows them to be heard" by connecting to individuals directly through the Internet. The panel undermines conventional notions of sovereignty because claimants can bypass their national governments when submitting a complaint. It also represents an important step in the bank's direct accountability to the communities it serves. There's just one problem: Because of a lack of Internet access, the panel's inspection mechanism remains unknown in most of the developing world.
In the past, a network of activists has spread the word to potential claimants about the panel and the claims process against the bank. Several U.S.-based environmental, human rights, and watchdog nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) — including the Center for International Environmental Law (www.ciel.org), the International Campaign for Tibet (www.savetibet.org), and the Bank Information Center (www.bicusa.org), respectively — have assisted claimants, either by serving as legal advocates or by creating publicity campaigns. As word gets out about the panel, however, some affected communities are relying less on international activists and more on local NGOs to file claims. Claimants in the Manila Second Sewerage Project case, who allege the project is polluting the environment, found local legal representation and started a Philippines-based Internet campaign to prevent the project from dumping waste into the South China Sea (see www.trainandlearn.com/snthisis/timpuyog).
The WBIP's use of the Web is serving as a model for inspection mechanisms at other development banks, including the Asian Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. But, as with the WBIP, the digital divide means that knowledge of these institutions still spreads mainly through sound bites, not kilobytes.
Notes
Note *: Jennifer Kuo is a researcher at Foreign Policy. Back