Parliamentary Network on the World Bank

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Progress Report

From Helsinki to Cape Town

October 2005- March 2007

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD.............................................................................................................................4EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................6PNoWB: MOBILIZING PARLIAMENTARIANS FOR DEVELOPMENT...........................7WORK PROGRAMME.............................................................................................................9

Annual Conferences...............................................................................................................9The Parliamentarians’ Implementation Watch.....................................................................10Parliamentarians in the Field Programme............................................................................11PNoWB Committees: HIV/AIDS and Trade.......................................................................14

REGIONAL AND NATIONAL CHAPTERS.........................................................................17PNoWB AT WOLD BANK/IMF MEETINGS.......................................................................24PARTNERSHIPS WITH PARLIAMENTARY ORGANISATIONS.....................................25LEGAL AND FINANCIAL ISSUES......................................................................................27The Board of the PNoWB........................................................................................................28Funding....................................................................................................................................29PNoWB Staff...........................................................................................................................31World Bank Development Policy Dialogue Team - Parliamentary Relations.........................31

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FOREWORD

Message from Bert Koenders, Chair, PNoWB

As Chair of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB), I am delighted that you are able to attend the Seventh Annual Conference of PNoWB and we are indeed privileged that South Africa is the host of this first conference outside Europe. We are extremely grateful to the government and parliament of South Africa for hosting us in this historic city, traditionally home to many leaders of the anti-apartheid movement.

Our members will no doubt draw great inspiration from the city where in one of the most famous moments marking the end of apartheid, Nelson Mandela made his first public speech in decades on 11 February 1990 from the balcony of Cape Town City Hall hours after being released. His speech heralded the beginning of a new era for the country, and the first democratic election was held four years later. We hope Cape Town will provide a similar setting for a new era in parliamentarians as development champions. Of course the significance of South Africa as Chair of the G20 is not lost on our members: reform of International Financial Institutions tops its agenda. The G8 too reflects Africa’s importance on the global agenda with the German Presidency has putting strengthening global growth and Africa at the top.

PNoWB places huge emphasis on the responsibility of parliamentarians to scrutinise both governments and the International Financial Institutions. This year’s conference title “Forging partnerships to Deliver on Development Results-G20 G8 and IFIs-will seek to highlight the role of parliamentarians as committed and effective partners in eradicating poverty once and for all. Yet parliamentarians are often overlooked by donors, however in its dealings with the Executive, the Legislature has more than proved its worth as a champion of development. Assembling top representatives from the G20, the G8, International Financial Institutions and donor governments is a unique opportunity for PNoWB to influence principle decision-makers and to bring the parliamentary voice into the series of key development negotiations in 2007. PNoWB is determined to ensure that parliamentarians have a say in future discussions on development, beginning with those taking place in 2007.

PNoWB also continues to grow in membership and through chapters, with plans underway to set up a Southern Africa Chapter after the very successful launches of the PNoWB West Africa Chapter, as well as Balkans Chapter. This report highlights our activities since our last annual conference and shows how successful partnerships with others has added to our efforts to ensure that MPs play their part in influencing the development agenda over the period, particularly through the field visits which have taken members to Rwanda, Lao PDR and Kenya.

 I have of course had to step down as Chair following my recent appointment as Minister for Development Cooperation for the Netherlands. I am honoured to have had the opportunity to serve with this great Network and I am proud of our achievements over the last six years where we have worked together to build PNoWB into the independent and equal partner in our dealings with our Bretton Woods partners, the World Bank and IMF.  I would like to convey my best wishes for a productive and enriching conference.

Bert Koenders

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The PNoWB’s mission

The mission of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB) follows these guiding principles:

Accountability: to facilitate and encourage direct dialogue between parliamentarians and multilateral development institutions in order to promote greater transparency of the policies and practices in particular of the World Bank, and to also encourage collective accountability;

Advocacy: to provide the PNoWB Members with a platform for coordinated parliamentary advocacy on international development issues;

Networking: to encourage concerted action, early debate and exchange of information among parliamentarians on major issues of international development, finance and poverty eradication;

Partnerships: to take initiatives to further cooperate and encourage partnerships among parliamentarians and policy makers, the academic community, the business sector and non-governmental organizations on development issues;

Progress Review: to promote the development of parliamentary mechanisms and practices for the effective democratic control of development assistance in all its phases.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The report summarizes the objectives and activities of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank from October 2005 (when PNoWB presented its latest progress report) to February 2007.

Key PNoWB developments October 2005-February 2007:

Launched chapters in West Africa (June 2006), and the Balkans (September 2006); Undertook three field visits (Rwanda, February 2006; Lao PDR, March 2006 and Kenya,

September 2006); Agreed with the government and parliament of South Africa on hosting the PNoWB Annual

Conference in Cape Town, 15-18 March 2007; Participated, together with representatives from three other parliamentary organizations, in

the April 2006 and September 2006 World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings and side events.

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PNoWB: MOBILIZING PARLIAMENTARIANS FOR DEVELOPMENT

Created in 2000, PNoWB is an independent and non-partisan network of parliamentarians from developing and developed countries who are interested in development. PNoWB now has some 800 members from 110 countries, drawn inter alia from the participants in the six PNoWB Conferences with Parliamentarians which were held in The Hague (May 2000), London (January 2001), Bern (May 2002), Athens (March 2003) Paris (February 2004), and Helsinki (October 2005).

PNoWB mobilizes parliamentarians in the fight against poverty, promotes accountability and transparency in development and provides a platform for policy dialogue between parliamentarians and the World Bank and the IMF.

Strategic directions

The PNoWB board members prioritized the objectives of the organization between 2006 and 2009:

Ensure the systematic early involvement of parliaments in Country Assistance Strategies and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers;

Develop a resource guide on best practices for parliamentary involvement in World Bank activities;

Increase the number of PNoWB chapters to five fully functional groups over the next three years;

Ensure that the PNoWB has early input into World Bank policy; By 2007, secure an observer position on the World Bank/IMF Development

Committee, with speaking rights for the PNoWB’s chairperson.

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“A vital and innovative tool to realize the MDGs”Judging by testimonials from parliamentary bodies, media, civil society and academia, PNoWB has become a respected player in the international community. Some examples:

Said the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in a June 2005 report and resolution on the World Bank and the IMF: “The role of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank, a discussion forum for parliamentary groups worldwide in which the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe actively participates, deserves further strengthening and is fully in line with the Parliamentary Assembly's quest for increased parliamentary involvement in international institutions." PNoWB was seen as "a vital and innovative tool to realize the Millennium Development Goals."

Academics Devesh Kapur (Harvard University) and Moises Naim (Foreign Policy magazine) in a January 2005 Journal of Democracy article on the ‘The IMF and Democratic Governance’ suggest that "one option [to improve the IMF’s democratic governance] might be to involve the Fund more with PNoWB, a group whose goal is to bring legislators into more contact with officials of the Bretton Woods institutions."

Reporting on the fifth annual PNoWB conference in February 2004, French newspaper Le Monde said: “PNoWB regional groups seem to be seen as examples. Already the IMF, OECD, WTO and ICC are working on their own strategies aimed at parliamentarians, inspired by the PNoWB.”

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WORK PROGRAMME

Annual Conferences

PNoWB’s flagship event, the annual conference seeks to identify what parliamentarians can do to promote action on development and global issues, and help strengthen the accountability and transparency of international financial institutions by providing a platform for dialogue. 

The Annual Conference brings together on average 200 PNoWB members, in addition to top officials from the World Bank, the IMF and multilateral development agencies.   This also includes representatives from parliamentary organisations, development NGOs and civil society at large.  Presidents of Senegal, Brazil and Indonesia have also participated in PNoWB annual conferences. 

The 2005 Annual Conference in Helsinki brought together about 200 members of parliament from 96 countries, who used this opportunity to engage with World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy (by video link) and Mary Robinson, Executive Director, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative and former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on pressing development and global issues. The agenda of the conference during the “2005 Year of Development” was topped by the outcomes of the G8 leaders’ summit in Gleneagles, the UN World Summit in New York, and the forthcoming WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong, on the Doha Development Agenda.

The 2007 annual PNoWB Conference will be hosted by the government and parliament of South Africa, in Cape Town on 15-17 March, 2007. This year's conference, outside Europe and in Africa for the first time, provides an excellent opportunity for legislators from around the globe to take the lead in putting Africa and poverty reduction at the heart of the global agenda.

We’re not fans of the World Bank. We’re critics when necessary, supporters when necessary. PNoWB promotes the role of parliamentarians in fighting poverty. Bert Koenders, MP, the Netherlands, and PNoWB Chair

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The Parliamentarians’ Implementation Watch

The Parliamentarians’ Implementation Watch (PIW) was launched on August 30, 2002 during the UN Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, as part of the global effort to involve parliamentarians towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). PIW envisions that parliamentarians with their representation and oversight functions can promote and monitor governments’ efforts to put countries on track to meet the MDGs.

The objectives of PIW are to:

(1) help translate commitments into real action on the ground benefiting the poor;

(2) assess the role and increase the accountability of governments and multilateral organizations, such as the Word Bank, the IMF, the regional development banks and the UN. The PIW’s main tasks are to: 1) produce and disseminate regular updates for parliamentarians on selected issues; 2) connect parliamentarians with other parliamentary networks, civil society organizations, multilateral organizations, the private sector and the media; 3) identify appropriate parliamentary action to support the MDGs; 4) build a knowledge base and boost parliamentary capacity.

At the country level, the PIW is implementing pilots in two East African countries: Tanzania and Uganda focusing on education and HIV/AIDS (MDGs 2 and 6) and Kenya, focusing on governance goals, particularly corruption (MDG 8). For the education component, in December 2004, the PNoWB East Africa chapter obtained $70,000 in seed money from the Norwegian Education Trust Fund administered by the World Bank. PNoWB East Africa has organized two parliamentary workshops on education.

At the global level, the PNoWB board identified education and trade as key priorities for the first phase of Implementation Watch activities. In preparation for PNoWB’s Annual Conference in February 2004, Intelligence Briefs on each of these issues were produced by PNoWB in collaboration with civil society organizations and the World Bank. These Briefs (available online on www.pnowb.org) outlined how parliamentarians might keep their governments to account on their international pledges on trade and education.

Government leaders go to international meetings, make beautiful speeches but sometimes forget about their promises. Parliamentarians can make a difference, and I commend PNoWB’s efforts to monitor and promote action to meet the MDGs.Eveline Herfkens, UN Secretary General’s Executive Coordinator for the Millennium Development Goals Campaign

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Parliamentarians in the Field Programme

In collaboration with the World Bank, PNoWB has continued the Parliamentarians in the Field Programme, supported with an initial US$120,000 grant from the Finnish government. These visits allow parliamentarians to observe the Poverty Reduction Strategy process and Bank operations first-hand. So far PNoWB, the World Bank’s European External Affairs office and World Bank country offices have organized sixteen field visits: to India (July 2001), Nigeria (October 2001), Uganda (April 2002), Burundi (April 2002), Albania (November 2002), Kenya (July 2003), Serbia and Montenegro (December 2003), Ethiopia (January 2004), Yemen (April 2004), Nicaragua (October 2004), Vietnam (March 2005), Madagascar (April 2005) Ghana (July 2005), Rwanda (February 2006), Lao PDR (March 2006) and Kenya (September 2006).

Field visits during the report period:

Kenya (September 2006)

A delegation of fourteen parliamentarians participated in a field visit to Kenya organised on September 10-14, 2006 by the PNoWB and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).  The delegation included parliamentarians from Canada, Colombia, Finland, Iceland, India, Liberia, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania and Uganda, in addition to Tony Worthington, who was previously a member of parliament in the United Kingdom.

PNoWB members were accompanied by seven Kenyan parliamentarians in visits to the research Centers supported by the CGIAR in Kenya and to World-Bank-supported educational and health projects. 

The World Agroforestry Centre and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) organised field trips, where parliamentarians spoke directly to farmers, discussing the benefits and disadvantages of new crop varieties and farming systems.  The Centre presented briefings on climate change, agriculture, regional trade, agricultural subsidies, biotechnology, avian flu, donor harmonization throughout the week, which stirred up debates among parliamentarians.  One outcome was a request from PNoWB members for readily accessible and coherent information, which would enable them to influence national and international policy in favour of agriculture, science and technology. 

While agriculture provided the main focus, MPs had the opportunity to assess the Poverty Reduction Strategy process, in Kenya, in addition to issues such as corruption and trade.

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Lao PDR (March 2006)

A ten-member delegation of members of the PNoWB visited Lao PDR from March 5 to March 10, 2006 to assess the country’s PRSP, the National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy, and crucially the potential of the Nam Theun 2 hydroelectric dam project to reduce poverty in Lao PDR. 

The delegation led by Kimmo Kiljunen (Finland) and Beatrice Kiraso (Uganda) included the President of the Nordic Council and MPs from France, Germany, Greece, India, Republic of Korea, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda.

Members of delegation had the opportunity to conduct in-depth meetings with all major stakeholders of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Process, including a visit to the Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project, supported by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. 

The MPs congratulated the government of Lao PDR for its achievements in poverty reduction and appealed to both the donors and the government to help build the capacities of civil society in general, and of parliamentarians in particular, to enable them to fulfil their role in oversight of the projects, to ensure true ownership and sustainability of poverty reduction strategies.  They also stressed the importance of the government developing the private sector and trade as a viable long-term strategy, to expand its source of revenues, which currently relies very heavily on donors support.

With respect to projects like Nam Theun 2, the delegation underlined the need for effective mechanisms to channel the generated revenues, towards the improvement of infrastructure and the development of other programmes that would be equally beneficial to the community. 

Rwanda (February 2006)

A delegation of fifteen parliamentarians from Australia, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Czech Republic, India, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand and Niger visited Rwanda from January 31 to February 2, 2006. 

The delegation was received by the President of the Rwandan Senate and the speaker of the House, as well as the Word Bank office in Kigali.  Rwandan parliamentarians accompanied the delegation members to project site visits.

The MPs were confronted by the full horror of the genocide and its effect on Rwanda's development, especially on the visit to the genocide memorial and their meetings with former child combatants. They also had the opportunity to assess progress made towards primary education and healthcare services

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through the visits of both rural and urban local school; and a tour in a medical center. 

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PNoWB Committees: HIV/AIDS and Trade

PNoWB Committees aim to focus on outstanding development issues, in order to campaign for change, and to monitor progress made both at the national and global levels. Parliamentarians can also participate in policy discussions with experts from the World Bank and other organizations and access to knowledge about global issues.

HIV/AIDS Committee

The PNoWB HIV/AIDS Committee, under the leadership of U.S. Congresswoman Betty McCollum and Hon. Dorothy Hyuha, MP of Uganda, continues to mobilize parliamentarians in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The HIV/AIDS International Steering Committee has outlined four priorities for action:

• To encourage comprehensive parliamentary engagement by establishing networks of elected officials around the issues of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and malaria;

• To strengthen the capacity of parliamentarians for effective legislation, advocacy, resource mobilization and oversight in the field of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria;

• To advocate for improved and increased resource allocation in the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria;

• To promote cooperation between multilateral, bilateral, civil society, government structures and parliamentarians in the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria.

The following activities were undertaken during the report period:

Senator Michel Guerry from France represented PNoWB in the XVIth AIDS Conference in Toronto, on August 13-18, 2006. Senator Guerry emphasized his concerns over the lack of address of Tuberculosis and Malaria diseases during the conference and the inappropriateness of western-oriented solutions to tackle AIDS plight in the South.

The HIV/AIDS Committee issued recommendations, on the 2005 World

Bank report on HIV/AIDS, as part of the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group, which evaluates Bank projects and programmes, pointing out the need to improve effectiveness on HIV/AIDS Assistance. Recommendations address how:

in the next phase of its response, the Bank should help governments use human and financial resources more efficiently and effectively to have an impact on the epidemic; 

to help governments to be more strategic and selective, and to prioritize activities that will have the greatest impact;

to strengthen national institutions for managing and implementing the long-run response, particularly in the health sector;

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to improve the local evidence base for decision-making and create incentives to ensure that programmatic decisions are guided by relevant local evidence and rigorous analytic work.

The Rwanda field visit (February 2006) with a focus on HIV/AIDS allowed PNoWB members to discuss with all stakeholders and especially local MPs the challenges their countries face in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

To leverage its resources, the Steering Committee has established ties with the Inter-European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development, the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development, Parliamentarians for Global Action, AWEPA-European Parliamentarians for Africa as well as leading civil society organisations, including Jurisaids and the World Bank’s HIV/AIDS team.

Documents on the PNoWB HIV/AIDS Committee are available on our website www.pnowb.org under the topic of HIV/AIDS.

Committee on Trade for Development

Parliamentarians from Brazil, Kenya and several European countries joined World Bank Trade Director Uri Dadush and UN Special Representative Eveline Herfkens in an April 2004 video conference to establish the PNoWB Committee on Trade for Development. In February 2005, the committee created two sub groups to explore more closely 1) trade in agriculture and 2) trade in services.

Participants agreed that a successful Doha development round is key to meeting the MDGs. Opening rich-country markets to products from developing countries (such as sugar and cotton) was particularly pertinent to reducing poverty. Parliamentarians could promote progress on international trade negotiations by holding their governments accountable to international commitments, by challenging their governments to make positive steps, and by spurring public debate on trade-related issues.

“MPs throughout the developed and the developing world have to ensure that the world trade talks focus on our global priorities be it tackling absolute poverty in the South or creating new employment rather than see a slide back behind protectionist walls or states trying to simply appease special interest groups - they all have a real responsibility in ensuring that their own national governments play a positive part in the current negotiations by raising the issue in their parliaments and undertaking effective scrutiny of the negotiation process”. Ann McKechin, MP, UK Co-Chair of the PNoWB Trade Committee.

As part of PNoWB members’ ongoing campaign for a successful Doha outcome, co-Chairs of the PNoWB Committee on International Trade wrote on behalf of their members, to Peter Mandelson, European Commissioner for External Trade and Competitiveness. Members voiced their concerns over

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the lack of action and urged European Union to take the lead on achieving a pro-poor outcome of the Doha Trade Round. PNoWB Committee on International Trade urged all its members and those of PNoWB at large to put pressure on their governments to successfully complete the Doha round.

Ann McKechin, MP, United Kingdom and Kahlifa Ababacar Sall, MP, Senegal chair the Trade Committee.

Policy Dialogue Programme

Policy Dialogue Series are jointly run by PNoWB and the World Bank, using video links to connect parliamentarians from around the world to exchange views on relevant development issues. Most recently, PNoWB has been involved in a Video Conference Series initiated by the Bank’s Development Policy Dialogue team as part of the greater plan to strengthen parliamentary inputs to World Bank and IMF policies. The VC series with World Bank country offices will lay the ground for effective dialogue between the MPs and the World Bank. The VCs provide the opportunity for the country office staff to share success stories and difficulties in engaging parliamentarians; and ultimately build upon the outcomes of these exchanges to develop a comprehensive and sound mechanism to dialogue with MPs, across the field offices. So far VCs have involved Francophone and Anglophone Africa World Bank offices.

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REGIONAL AND NATIONAL CHAPTERS

PNoWB’s regional and national chapters facilitate regular interaction between local parliamentarians and staff in World Bank country offices, including consultations on Country Assistance Strategies, Public Expenditure Reviews, and on World Bank policies and individual projects. In developing countries, this level of engagement, as well as the field visits programme, has proved invaluable in improving country ownership and involvement in the poverty reduction process.

Since 2000, PNoWB has expanded through the creation of a national chapter in India, a chapter in East Africa, a chapter in Japan, a chapter in the Middle East and North Africa, a chapter in West Africa, launched in June 2006 and a Balkans Chapter launched in September 2006, as well as a Southern Africa chapter to be launched at the Cape Town Annual Conference in March 2007. Also an informal group of donor country parliamentarians was established in Naples, Italy in February 2005.

India Chapter

The PNoWB India chapter was the first chapter to be set up in December 2001.

PNoWB India has set the following priorities for 2005-2007:

To provide critical input into CAS; To exchange views with World Bank and other donors; To expand consultations to provinces; To strengthen communications with elected representatives of the provinces

on PNoWB activities.

Activities during the report period included:

In December 2006, the Chapter held its annual meeting and elected a new executive Committee, appointing Kishor C. Dev as chair and Santosh Bagrodia, and Dinesh Trivedi as deputy-chairs.

PNoWB India supported its members to stand for HIV/AIDS issues.

Suresh A Keswani, Associate member of the PNoWB Board, coordinates the PNoWB India chapter.

East Africa Chapter

The PNoWB East Africa (EA) Chapter was launched during a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya on July 23-24, 2003.

PNoWB EA includes Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania (national group launched and executive committee elected on February 7 , 2007) and Uganda (national group launched and executive committee elected on December 13, 2006)

PNoWB’s East Africa chapter has set the following priorities for 2005-2007:

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Provide input into Bank CASs and country-owned PRSPs. Target: input into two CASs and two PRSP by end of period

Establish regular policy dialogue with the World Bank and other donors, and the government according to Kenya Model;

Enhance capacity of parliamentarians to improve education policies; Link members of parliament with knowledge and best practices on the role of

parliamentarians in improving good governance; Monitor and evaluate the impact of interventions on performance and

economic governance practices; Strengthen parliamentarians’ capacity to identify, prepare and implement

high quality, nationally owned and financially sustainable education policies and legislation in Tanzania.

Budget engagement and capacity building activities during the report period included: Pre – Budget Meeting : Analysis of the Education Sector March 2nd 2006 Pre – Budget Workshop: The Role of MPs in Public Finance, May 14th – 16th 2006 Meeting with the Education Research and Technology Committee, June 30 th 2006 Fiscal Analysis and Appropriations Committee Workshop: Strategic Pace Setting,

August 20th – 23rd 2006 Hiring of Budget Expert, August 20th 2006 Post Budget Workshop: The Finance Bill, September 27th – 29th 2006 Uganda Study Visit Workshop: Enhancing Parliamentary Oversight in the budget

process: The Uganda Experience, December 10th – 13th 2006

PNoWB EA engages MPs in discussions with developing partners through the Governance and Development Dialogue Forum (GDDF) on issues identified as of priority by MPs through a consultation process.

GDDF activities in Kenya during the report period included: Meeting to discuss the Community Driven Development Project and the Natural

Resource Management Project 2 projects earmarked for funding by World Bank, February 1st 2007

Arid & Semi Arid Lands Workshop, October 29th – 31st 2006 Social Safety Nets Meeting with DFiD, June 6th 2006 and July 13th 2006 Achieving Wealth Creation through the Constituency Development Fund: Effective

Planning and Implementation, May 4th 2006 Joint Government/Kenya Private Sector Alliance Symposium, 10th March 2006

Chapter’s members in Kenya meet regularly with the World Bank office in Nairobi to exchange views on World Bank-supported projects and policies.

Consultations held during the report period included: Meeting to discuss report on: Assessment of Kenya’s Governance and anti-corruption

progress, undertaken by a governance mission consisting of the World Bank and IMF led by Dr. Daniel Kaufman, 13th February 2007.

Meeting to discuss the Corporate Governance and anti-Corruption strategy, on January 18-19, 2007;

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Meeting to discuss the Community Driven Development Project and the Natural Resource Management Project 2 projects earmarked for funding by World Bank, February 1st 2007

Introductory meeting with IMF Delegation, 25th January 2007 Review of World Bank Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) report, November 21 st

2006 World Bank – MP partnership Meeting (World Bank Group Managing Director, Juan

Jose Daboub present), November 1st 2006 Meeting to discuss the Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Programme on May 8-12,

2006. Governance & Anti Corruption Meeting with the World Bank (World Bank Institute

Director, Daniel Kauffman present), July 4th 2006

Japan Chapter

The PNoWB Japan Chapter was launched on May 31, 2004 at a ceremony held at the Japanese Diet. Masahiko Koumura, an LDP Diet member and former Minister of Foreign Affairs co-leads the Chapter along with Upper House LDP member Keizo Takemi. The Japan chapter has also an Advisory Board comprising of several former distinguished Japanese politicians including former Prime Minister, Toshiki Kaifu and Tsutomu Hata.

The objective of the PNoWB Japan Chapter is to engage Japanese members of parliament into the issues related to development and to encourage elected officials from Japan to take part in the global activities of the Network. Through the dialogues with The World Bank, PNoWB Japan also aims at promoting understanding and cooperation on the Bank’s activities, various development issues, poverty reduction, debt relief, governance, anti-corruption as wells the MDGs.

The Japanese Chapter is meeting on a regular basis with World Bank senior leadership and facilitating exchanges views between the Japanese Diet members and the World Bank.

Activities during the report period included:

Breakfast meetings with the World Bank:

On October 26, 2006, the Japan Chapter met with Francisco Refschneider, Director of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR);

On September 21, 2006 the Japan Chapter met with John Page, Chief Economist of Africa Region;

On July 20, 2006 the Japan Chapter met with Praful Patel, Vice President of South Asia Region;

On January 26, 2006 the Japan Chapter met with Ajay Chhiber, Director of Independent Evaluation Group;

On January 11, 2006 the Japan Chapter met with Gobind Nankani, Vice President of Africa Region;

On December 9, 2005, the Japan Chapter met with Homi Kharas, Chief Economist of East Asia and the Pacific.

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On May 30, 2006, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz addressed the Japan Chapter annual meeting.

Donor Country Chapter

The PNoWB established an informal alliance of donor country parliamentarians, at a high level seminar convened in Naples, Italy on February 27-28, 2005.

Rather than creating a formal chapter, donor country parliamentarians decided to maintain an informal platform for dialogue with meetings on a regular basis –including holding a side meeting at the PNoWB conference-

On February 9, 2007 PNoWB Board member, Monica Frassoni participated in a discussion held at the European Parliament with Rodrigo De Rato, Managing Director of IMF, as well as Josep Borell, President of the Development Committee of the European Parliament and Benoît Hamon, author of the draft of the IMF reform report for the European Parliament. The debate addressed the question of “World Poverty: how does the IMF see it?” Mr. De Rato asserted that free trade was key to promote sustainable growth based on macro-economic stability and stressed the necessity to coordinate donor aid, thus overcoming likely discrepancies between poverty reduction and the need for increased public expenditures. On the controversial issue of IMF governance structure, De Rato recognized the need to empower emerging economies in the decision-making process, contending that economic performance would continue to prevail over democratic principles of equality between countries. The resolution reached last September in Singapore during the IMF/World Bank meeting, to increase quota shares for developing countries was deemed good but not sufficient. But building an efficient and legitimate governance structure requires a system that is able to enhance the voice of the poorest countries and not limited to strict economic weighting criteria.

PNoWB Board member Monica Frassoni, MP, Italy convened a breakfast meeting at the European Parliament in October 2006 to introduce PNoWB activities to new members.

Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Chapter

The MENA Chapter was launched in Alexandria, Egypt in June 2004. Ghassan Moukheiber, MP Lebanon was nominated to act as the interim coordinator in the meeting convened in Rabat before electing a steering committee in the annual conference in Cape Town.

At the launching meeting in Alexandria, parliamentarians from Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen set the following priorities for the chapter: to provide input into World Bank CAS; to monitor government policies in the World Bank and the IMF; and to track budget expenditures for gender promotion.

Activities during the report period included:

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The MENA Chapter convened a meeting in Rabat in May 2006, in partnership with Moroccan Parliament, Arab Region Parliamentarians against Corruption (ARPAC), USAID, SUNY Center for International Development, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) and The World Bank. The conference brought together some 50 MPs from the region and focused on their role to fight corruption along with other topics such as budget oversight and conflict of interest legislation. Members proposed to develop a joint initiative with ARPAC on Parliamentary Budget offices.

The MENA Chapter organised in partnership with the World Bank, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and Arab Region Parliamentarians against Corruption the “MENA Development Forum” in Beirut on April 5-9, 2006. The session brought together around 30 parliamentarians from the region, along with civil society organisations and representatives of bilateral and multilateral donors’ agencies, to discuss parliamentarians role as champions for reform.

It is expected that the annual conference in Cape Town will double as the opportunity to elect a steering committee and to agree upon an action plan.

West Africa Chapter

The West Africa Chapter was launched in Bamako, Mali on June 14-16, 2006.

The West Africa Chapter’s structure is based on the PNoWB International model, with an executive committee chaired by Khalifa Ababacar Sall, MP Senegal; the vice-chair is Habeeb Fansiro, MP Nigeria. Moussa Tayé serves as the coordinator.

The West Africa chapter is expected to encompass the sixteen countries of the region, and aims at raising the MPs participation in the country’s assistance strategies, as well as building their capacities to review the progress towards the millennium development goals, focusing more specifically on agriculture, education and HIV/AIDS.

Activities during the report period included:

On January 23, 2007, the West Africa Chapter, including parliamentarians from Gambia and Guinea Bissau participated in a workshop organised by the Word Bank on the theme of “governance and fight against corruption”, in Dakar, Senegal.

On December 19 and December 20, 2006, meetings took place in Dakar with MPs and the World Bank Country Director and representatives from the Canadian Parliamentarian Center (Centre Parlementaire Canadien), which has a formal partnership with the West Africa Chapter to conduct joint activities in the region.

A steering committee will be elected at the sidelines of the 7th

PNoWB annual conference in Cape Town and members will also

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decide on a regional strategic plan and action plans for national groups.

Balkans Chapter

The PNoWB launched its Balkans chapter at a meeting in Athens, Greece on September 29-30, 2006. PNoWB member Christodoulakis was the key driver behind the initiative, which is aimed at fostering dialogue between parliamentarians in the region and the World Bank/IMF.

At a critical time in the process of European Union integration, with countries engaged in various stages of negotiations to join the Union, the establishment of a Southeast Europe PNoWB aims to mobilize parliamentarians to take concrete action to enhance cooperation and to lay the ground for a common economic space.

The meeting brought together 40 parliamentarians from Southeast Europe around the theme “Towards an Economic Space in Southeast Europe”, with World Bank experts and donors, including European institutions, the IMF, Stability Pact and others. The participating parliamentarians were from Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, FYR of Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey.

The conference included keynote addresses from Greek Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis and Greek MP and former European Union Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou, and discussions on themes critical to the region’s development such as good governance, energy, trade, transport, labour markets and immigration.

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Southern Africa

PNoWB annual conference in Cape Town in March 2007 will double as an opportunity to launch the Southern African Chapter.

Latin America and Caribbean

As part of PNoWB's evolving plans to launch a Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Chapter, a presentation of PNoWB was made at the plenary session of the Central American Parliament on January 28, 2007 in Guatemala City, which resulted in the commitment of more than thirty parliamentarians.  PNoWB board member Santiago Castro, MP, Colombia is also coordinating further involvement of MPs from Guatemala and Mexico in the LAC Chapter. On November 28, 2006, Santiago took the lead to present the Network to an audience of 40 parliamentarians during a meeting in the Andean Parliament (AP) in Bogotá.  Key outcome is that twenty parliamentarians of the AP have already become members, in addition to the existing PNoWB members in the LAC region. 

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PNoWB AT WORLD BANK/IMF MEETINGS

A delegation of PNoWB members led by Santiago Castro, Board member, MP Colombia and Tony Worthington Africa Chapters Director and former MP, UK, attended the IMF/World Bank Spring Meeting on April 22-23, 2006. The delegation had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues such as the Bank’s policy in Africa, governance and anti-corruption, migration, remittances and development, debt relief initiatives, gender; microfinance, and conflict prevention and reconstruction. The delegation also heard about IMF’s medium term strategy and met with the World Bank Institute that supports training services for parliamentarians. The team in charge of the Global Monitoring Report on the Millenniums Development Goals gave a brief review of the report. Key outcome of participation in the meeting was knowledge and confidence MPs gained to put forward development-related issues onto the floor of their national parliaments.

Janette Garin, PNoWB Board member and Khalifa Ababacar Sall, PNoWB West Africa Chapter Chair, participated in the IMF/World Bank meeting on September19-20, 2006 in Singapore.

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PARTNERSHIPS WITH PARLIAMENTARY ORGANISATIONS

PNoWB participated in a Regional Development Seminar for Asian Parliamentarians jointly organized by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the World Bank on February 27-28, 2006 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The seminar aimed at informing MPs about the World Bank’s work and exploring parliamentary involvement in development challenges relevant to Asia, also doubled as an opportunity for the PNoWB Board to meet.

On February 27-28 and March 1, 2006, a regional seminar of Parliamentarians for Global Action entitled "the role of parliament and parliamentarians in light weapons, conflicts' prevention, democratic transition and justice in Africa" was held in Dakar, Senegal. The event which was a joint initiative of several partners: the Parliament of Senegal, the Association of European Parliamentarians for Africa (AWEPA), the Canadian Parliamentarian Center, PNoWB, the World Bank, UNDP and UNOWA, brought together among others MPs from several West Africa countries and laid the ground for PNoWB to establish the West Africa Chapter.

Janette Garin, MP Philippines, PNoWB Board member, and Kimmo Kiljunen, MP Finland, PNoWB Board member, participated in the 27 th

General Assembly of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Organisation (AIPO) on September 10-15, 2006 in Cebu City, Philippines. AIPO, established in 1977 by the parliaments of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand promotes inter-parliamentary cooperation and seeks for common legislative ground to better address economic, social and political challenges among ASEAN countries. PNoWB attended as a guest along with ASEAN Secretary General, media and civil society representatives (Hanns Seidel Foundation, Centrist Democrat International)

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COMMUNICATIONS

PNoWB’s Website: www.pnowb.org

PNoWB maintains a regularly updated website where members and visitors can find information related to the Network’s activities. Reports from field visits, intelligence briefs from the Parliamentarians Implementation Watch, the Parliamentarians guide to the World Bank and other documents related to the role of parliamentarians in development can be downloaded from the Website. News items and videos of the Annual Conference sessions and the videoconferences related to the work of the Network are also posted on the website.

Regular email updates

PNoWB members receive regular email updates about the activities of the Network and about policy developments in the field of international development, international affairs and finance, for example, the previously mentioned action alerts. Media Coverage of PNoWB

PNoWB has been featured by media outlets worldwide, including:The London Observer; Le Monde (France); Le Figaro (France); Liberation (France); Deutsche Welt; Reuters News Service; Canadian Broadcasting Service; EFE (Spanish news agency) ; Voice of America - Africa World Tonight and VoA Website; Agence France Press; Voice of America - Talk to America; WPFW (Pacifica) Africa Meets Africa; KPFK -FM (US); CNN Radio news; BBC World Service; BBC Radio 5 Live; BBC Radio 4 Today programme; BBC Scotland (TV and radio); BBC TV Newsnight Scotland; BBC World Service News; BBC World Update; ITV GMTV (UK); The Financial Times; Los Angeles Times; Kompas (Indonesia); Republika (Indonesia); Koran Tempo (Indonesia); Bisnis Indonesia; Helsingin Sanomat (Finland); Taloussanomat (Finland); STT (Finland); Turun Sanomat (Finland); Aamulehti (Finland); Hufvudstadsbladet (Finland).

Parliamentarian’s Guide to the World Bank

PNoWB and the World Bank published a Parliamentarian’s Guide to the World Bank. The Guide presented the history, structure and operations of the Bank and suggests ways in which elected representatives can interact with the organization at the global and the national level. The guide was also made available on the internet on www.pnowb.org.

Thanks to support from the Agence Internationale de la Francophonie, the Guide has been translated into French. Versions in Arabic and Spanish have also been completed.

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LEGAL AND FINANCIAL ISSUES

Legal identity and relations

Since the annual conference held in Bern in 2002, PNoWB has taken steps to clarify its legal relationship with the World Bank. PNoWB and the Bank in December 2004 completed comprehensive administrative and service agreements, so that PNoWB is now an independent NGO with its own staff, bank account, and administrative system. The PNoWB has been registered as a non-profit association under French law since February 2003.

Staff

Zuleikha Salim Said continues to serve as Coordinator for PNoWB International. In June 2006, PNoWB hired Moussa Tayé as a coordinator for PNoWB West Africa Chapter.

Governance Structure

The PNoWB is governed by a Board of Directors, composed of nine members. Members and Chair of the PNoWB Board are elected for a three-year term. The Association’s by-laws require a yearly partial renewal of the Board members at the PNoWB annual conference which also doubles as the PNoWB Annual General Meeting, the last of which was in Helsinki, in October 2005. To set the renewal system in motion, three Board members will leave the Board and three new members will be elected by the Network at the next Annual Conference. Current Board members may stand for re-election.

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The Board of the PNoWB (as of February 2007)

The Board of the PNoWBMonica Frassoni Italy

Member of European Parliament

Phone: + 33 22 845 932Email: mfrassoni@europarl.eu.int

Hideki Wakabayashi JapanMember of Parliament

Phone: +8145 902 2052Email: waka@wakahide.com

Kimmo Kiljunen FinlandMember of Parliament

Phone: + 358 9 4323 088Email:kimmo.kiljunen@eduskunta.fi

Bert Koenders Netherlands Chair

Phone: + 31 70 3182 764Email: koenders@tk.parlement.nl

Norbert Mao UgandaMember of Parliament

Phone: + 256 77 8856 88Email: nmao@parliament.go.ug

Janette Garin PhilippinesMember of Parliament

Phone: + 632 931 5001Email:janetteloretogarin@yahoo.com

Betty McCollum United States of AmericaMember of Parliament

Phone: +651 603 1505Email:betty.mccollum@mail.house.gov

Santiago Castro ColombiaMember of Parliament

Phone: + 57913824096/7Email:scgcalicol@hotmail.com

Suresh Prabhu IndiaMember of Parliament

Phone: +91112332 7374Email: spprabhu1@gmail.com

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Funding

Since its inception, the PNoWB has received financing from the following sources:

2001-2003 2004-2006Admin. Field Visits/

ToursAdmin. Field Visits/

ToursMeetings1

Netherlands (MFA) €150,000 €150,000 $72,400 $72,400Finland (MFA)

$120,000€450,000 €250,000

Norwegian TF $70,000WB MENAVP $50,000UK (DFID) £55,000Switzerland (Seco) €200,000Greece (Min. of Econ. and Fin.)

€150,000

France (MoF) €160,000French Senate €80,000UN Foundation $20,0002

IMF3 $10,000 $50,000WB MAP $30,0004

WB ECAVP $25,0005

Notes:

PNoWB is finalising discussions with the government of the Netherlands for a new grant 0f $ 450 000 for the period 2007-2009

PNoWB has also opened discussions with the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to replenish the field visits’ grant.

1 Amounts include in-kind contributions.2 Launch of the Parliamentarian Implementation Watch in Johannesburg in Aug. 2002.3 The IMF provided $10,000 to the East Africa chapter and $30,000 to the 2004 Annual Conference.4 HIV/AIDS Working Group meeting in Addis Ababa, January 2003 and participation of Working Group members in the HIV/Aids Conference in Bangkok July 2004.5 The World Bank country directors of Russia, Turkey, South East Europe, Central Asia, and the South Caucasus contributed $5,000 each to provide simultaneous interpretation into Russian and to finance the travel of parliamentarians from their region to the 2004 conference in Paris.

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Resource Mobilization

PNoWB seeks to ensure its financial health by mobilizing funds from a range of potential donors. Recent steps taken include:

PNoWB staff and Board members met with potential donors during the Vienna conference in June 2005 (Belgium, Germany’s GTZ, Finland, Canada’s CIDA and IMF). PNoWB is preparing donor proposals to be sent in the fall of 2005.

PNoWB and Bank staff met with an accounting firm to agree on mandates and responsibilities for PNoWB auditing and Financial Manual. An agreement with accountants has been reached and the related changes needed to PNoWB operations and procedures agreed upon.

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PNoWB Staff (as of February 2007)

Zuleikha Said SalimPNoWB CoordinatorEmail: zsalimsaid@pnowb.orgTel: + 33 1 40 69 30 55 Fax: + 33 1 47 23 74 36

Moussa TayéWest Africa CoordinatorEmail: mtaye@pnowb.orgTel: + 221 823 33 39/631 64 39Fax: +221 823 94 02

Betty MainaEast Africa Chapter CoordinatorEmail: betty.maina@gmail.comTel.: + 254 020 445 30 93

Tony WorthingtonAfrica Chapters DirectorEmail: tony@tonyworthington.com

World Bank Development Policy Dialogue Team - Parliamentary Relations

Jean-Christophe BasDevelopment Policy Dialogue ManagerEmail : jbas@worldbank.orgTel. : + 33 1 4069 3035Fax : + 33 1 4723 7436

Naye Bathily-SyllaEmail : nbathily@worldbank.orgTel. : + 33 1 4069 3017

Pierre GirardierEmail : pgirardier@worldbank.orgTel. : + 33 1 4069 3017

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