2024 - a year to remember

As 2024 draws to a close, I want to reflect on some of the achievements of the World Bank Accountability Mechanism over the last 12 months – and to look forward to next year too.

It’s been a source of great pride to see the continued development and growth of the Dispute Resolution Service (DRS), set up three years ago to provide communities adversely affected by World Bank-funded projects with the option of an independent, mediated process to address their concerns.

In March, the DRS helped secure an agreement between parties relating to two hydropower projects in Cameroon, and it is working on two further cases – the Coastal Cities Sustainable Environment project in Vietnam and the Khyber Pass Economic Corridor project in Pakistan.

Its impact owes everything to the professionalism and dedication of the team behind it and I want to pay a huge tribute to William Romans , Scott Adams , Carissa Western, PhD , Marcos Favero , Orla Said , Harini V , and Diana Kyabega for their excellent work.

I also want to recognize the work of the many mediators and experts with whom we work on the cases. We hope to meet in 2025 to discuss lessons learned and share knowledge.

The Inspection Panel has continued to carry out its essential work through the year too, assessing community complaints and undertaking independent compliance investigations into projects financed by 世界银行 .

It was a great pleasure to welcome Ibrahim Pam as its new chair in November and I look forward to working closely with him and his fellow Panel members, Evelyn Dietsche and Mark Goldsmith , and their team of compliance.

Helping to raise awareness of all parts of the AM and what we do has continued to be a major part of our work through this year to ensure that communities can access the mechanisms available to them.

In January, I was delighted to be able to speak online to representatives of more than 60 local, regional and international civil society organizations (CSOs) about the AM and World Bank accountability – and I spoke with Parliamentarians at the Bank’s spring meetings in April too.

We have also been working to raise awareness and build capacity among regional CSOs to support dispute resolution as one route for affected communities. In May, we jointly hosted two events – in Sao Paulo and Montevideo – with our colleagues at the Inter-American Development Bank, and last month we were in Senegal with the African Development Bank.

In June, we joined eight other partner organizations within multilateral financial institutions in Nairobi to engage with East African CSOs about the value of accountability and to hear their views about how we can improve our work.

I want to thank all these organizations, communities and people from across the world that we have engaged and worked with over the last 12 months. Every case, every discussion, every workshop and every meeting enable us to learn and to improve – and I look forward to more of this in 2025.

I also want to thank all those we work with at the World Bank for your support and commitment to strengthening accountability.

It has been a busy year, but I am blessed to be working with a fantastic AM Secretariat team who inspire me every day. So, a huge thank you to Oriana Bolvaran , Jennine Meyer , Katalin Horvath, Rob Doherty , Yoshiko Ogushi , Rabi Thapa , and Ed Owen !

I plan to spend the holidays with family and friends who support me daily to maintain a healthy head and heart. I’m looking forward to recharging with them and to returning to work in 2025 reenergized to continue our essential work.

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