When Development Goes Wrong in the MENA - Part 1

September 2022

In this month's edition of the Console Newsletter, Research Associate Marisa Lenci provides a look into complaints in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This article analyzes complaint and project data across regions and shows disproportionately severe limitations on communities' access to accountability and remedy from harm in the MENA specifically. We have spent months investigating why complaints in this region fall short relative to other regions and what can be done to improve accessibility and efficacy of IAMs for impacted communities, in the MENA and beyond. The data explored in this article is the basis for the forthcoming report by Accountability Counsel and Arab Watch Coalition, entitled Our Last and Only Resort, which is set to launch on September 12.

Research: What Happens When Development Goes Wrong in the MENA? Part 1

By Marisa Lenci — Sept. 7, 2022

The MENA region has the fewest complaints to IAMs, and extremely low rates of those complaints reaching outputs from the process. Our upcoming report, Our Last and Only Resort, set to launch next week, details important findings about why complaints in the MENA region fall short relative to other regions. The report draws on research from 20 years of complaint and project data, and nearly a dozen interviews with groups in the MENA about their experiences in IAM complaint processes. This article provides a look at the complaint and project data that first waved a red flag about the implications of uneven IAM complaints for communities experiencing harm from projects in the MENA.

Accountability Spotlight

Noteworthy updates on Bank and IAM policy and practice

Inspection Panel Procedure Open for Public Comment

The Inspection Panel procedure is open for public comment until 12 September 2022. This is an opportunity to offer recommendations on how to make the World Bank’s accountability process more effective for the communities who access it.

World Bank Accountability Mechanism Procedure Open for Public Comment

The World Bank Accountability Mechanism procedure is open for public comment until 12 September 2022. This is an opportunity to offer recommendations on how to make the World Bank’s accountability process more effective for the communities who access it.

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