Retrospective Analysis of CAO Interventions, Trends, Outcomes and Effectiveness 2006

At the request of the Committee on Development Effectiveness (CODE), CAO commissioned a review of the trends and effectiveness of our interventions since the office opened in 1999. The review also analyzed the extent to which CAO has contributed to its mission of enhancing IFC/MIGA accountability, social and environmental outcomes, and dispute resolution.

Findings

CAO found the review of its effectiveness on 55 complaints on 19 different IFC and MIGA projects to be honest and thorough. The review has helped CAO clarify what has gone well since 1999 and where there is room for improvement. In almost all cases, CAO’s involvement has contributed to our mission of improving social and environmental outcomes and accountability. However, it is clear that the commitment of IFC/MIGA, as well as the project sponsor, is critical to our dispute resolution role, and in this regard there is more to be done to enhance our success. 

To contextualize the findings of the report, it is important to note that the 55 complaints received by the CAO are generally complex and come to the office after a protracted period of conflict. Parties are often highly polarized, and may already have failed to achieve redress through the project sponsor and IFC/MIGA.

With respect to analysis of trends, we expect the key sectors, regions and issues identified in the trends analysis are not likely to be significantly different in the coming year. The CAO does anticipate new challenges as implementation of IFC’s new social and environmental policies begins. 

Next Steps

  

The CAO accepts all the recommendations in the review and will now work closely with our key stakeholders to implement them. We believe our procedures will benefit from greater clarification, and this will result in a revision of the CAO Operational Guidelines. We have already revised our communication strategy and will be conducting outreach activities to stakeholders who are both familiar with our services, and those who are new to CAO.

 

Documents

A Retrospective Analysis of CAO Interventions, Trends, Outcomes and Effectiveness 2006

English/pdf

 

CAO Annual Report to CODE 2006

English/pdf

This page last updated: 08/28/2006