The World Bank (WB) is one of the leading institutions setting benchmarks for the international development sector. It started its operations in the 1940s providing loans to low-income countries and economies disrupted by World War 2. Initially these operations were purely economic. Various risks the WB faced eventually led to adoption of the Environmental and Social (E&S) Framework to ensure that adverse impacts of projects are properly mitigated and managed. However, over the course of 80 years, the very concept of international development has changed. The WB has broadened its development paradigm from “economic growth” to “ending extreme poverty” and “boosting prosperity.”
It is worth asking the questions: “What would be the next step in international development process?”, “Is the E&S Framework applied today effective in meeting the WB goals?”. Dr. Ilya Gulakov will assert that a significant contribution to international development could come from embedding community investment in the E&S frameworks of international financial institutions, and in social impact assessment and development practice. He will discuss how to implement this from both conceptual and pragmatic perspectives, and propose changes to the IFC Performance Standards that could be implemented by multilateral development banks and the Equator Principles Financial Institutions.
Dr. Ilya Gulakov is the Principal Social Consultant in RINA, UK.