§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the role of her Department in assisting the World Bank group in the promoting of dialogue between indigenous people and(a) project organisers and (b) private sector organisations. [41042]
§ Clare ShortThe World Bank's indigenous peoples policy—first introduced in 1982 and revised in 1991—is currently being revised again as part of the programme of revisions to the Bank's Operational Policies (OPs). We have strongly encouraged the Bank to undertake wide consultation on its OPs, as we have for other areas of policy development and project implementation. We have
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Name of inquiry/review Name of chair Date of establishment Changing Roles Group (examining the prospective role of new health authorities) Joint chairs Jeremy Hallett and David Pritchard February 1995 Child Care Procedures and Practice in North Wales Adrianne Jones December 1995 The Environmental Impact of the Sea Empress Oil Spill (by the Sea Empress Environmental Evaluation Committee) Professor Ron Edwards CBE March 1996 North Wales Child Abuse Allegations: investigation of papers Nicola Davies QC June 1996 North Wales Child Abuse Tribunal Sir Ronald Waterhouse June 1996 Welsh at Key Stage 4 in 10 secondary schools Rudi Plaut July 1997 also played a leading role in helping the Bank to increase its capacity to address social development issues, including those relating to indigenous peoples.
The Bank has prepared an Approach Paper outlining the revision process, and is currently designing a consultation strategy for stakeholder input—including that from indigenous peoples and their organisations. Consultation will take place over several months. We expect the revised policy to include guidance for private sector investments, drawing on the experience of the recently established Social Unit in the International Financial Corporation (IFC) and the Bank's Social Development Department, which undertakes training for Bank, IFC and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) staff on indigenous peoples and economic development.