§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what efforts have been made by his Department to secure greater public scrutiny of the activities of the International Development Association of the World bank.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe World bank circulates monthly an operational summary containing information about all projects which it is considering for possible financing, and their environmental categorisation. This includes projects financed under the International Development Association as well as those financed on normal Bank terms. Copies of the operational summaries are available in the libraries of the House. All financial decisions made by the board and a wide range of technical and policy papers are also published.
Bank procedures require that information on projects with potentially significant environmental impacts is made available to the local groups and non-governmental organisations in the borrowing country well in advance of consideration of the project in the board. We have supported the development of these arrangements.