The World Bank is planning to improve the oversight and management of resettlement practices after an internal report identified serious shortcomings in the implementation of its resettlement policies.
Three reports, which reviewed over two decades of World Bank projects involving possible resettlements, found that oversight of those projects often had poor or no documentation, lacked follow through to ensure that protection measures were implemented, and some projects were not sufficiently identified as high-risk for populations living in the vicinity.
"We took a hard look at ourselves on resettlement and what we found caused me deep concern," said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. "We found several major problems. One is that we haven't done a good enough job in overseeing projects involving resettlement; two, we haven't implemented those plans well enough; and three, we haven't put in place strong tracking systems to make sure that our policies were being followed. We must and will do better."
The action plan involves strengthening systems, staffing, and policy implementation, and focuses on improving preparation, supervision and implementation of resettlement.
The plan also includes the use of a new Tracking Social Performance (TSP) Database, in response to a weakness found in two of the reviews that information on the scale and scope of project impacts is difficult to obtain in World Bank systems. This database was developed to better track resettlement issues for all Bank-funded projects with involuntary resettlement, and enable resettlement reports to be generated in real time. A similar tracking system is also now in place for environmental issues.
"Our policy is that if we resettle someone from their home, we will assist efforts to improve, or at least to restore, their incomes and living standards," Kim said. "Strong policies like ours require strong execution and it requires properly funding reviews and empowering those who work on safeguards. That will change with our action plan."
