Join our LinkedIn Group

This report on involuntary resettlement is the first in a series of papers to be published by the World’s Bank Inspection Panel drawing on the main emerg ing lessons from its caseload over 22 years. The Panel hopes the lessons presented in this study can highlight areas in which continued improvements can enhance the Bank’s and its member countries’ overall approach to resettlement and, in that regard, be useful to both the Bank and the global development community. The Inspection Panel was created in 1993 by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors to receive and investigate complaints submitted by peo ple suffering harm allegedly caused by Bank projects. Since then, the Panel has received 105 requests for inspection. Of those, 85 have been registered and 32 investigated. Two additional investigations are under way. Twenty-one of the 32 cases investigated have involved involuntary resettle ment. Those 21 cases and one relevant pilot case covered 15 countries in five regions; energy, rural development, and natural resources and extractives were the sectors most represented. While all of those cases were studied as part of this report, a special emphasis was put on drawing lessons from cases within the past decade. The report’s main conclusions from the cases investigated are as follows: • The frequency of resettlement complaints in the Panel’s caseload con firms that it is one of the most challenging aspects of development. Indeed, many of the emerging lessons that the Panel describes here are recurring and reinforce lessons derived from other recent studies of resettlement. That underscores the need for expertise and additional care  and attention when working on projects that involve involuntary resettlement. • The Bank’s ultimate policy goal of conceiving and executing resettlements as sustainable development programs has not been achieved in many of the cases investigated by the Panel. It is clear that project activities do not lead to this goal without a deliberate approach to resettlement. • Better analysis of the full economics of resettlement is needed and must go beyond project costs and budgets to include a thorough understand ing of what it takes to restore or improve the incomes and livelihoods of those who are resettled. • Panel cases have positively influenced Bank practices on involuntary resettlement over time and resulted in clarifications related to the scope of application of the Bank’s Policy on Involuntary Resettlement and guidelines to staff on how to address relevant aspects of the policy. While Panel cases tend to highlight challenging projects where things went wrong and therefore are not necessarily reflective of the Bank’s entire portfolio, the lessons nonetheless are important and, as mentioned above, reinforce the Bank’s own reviews. They are intended to help build the Emerging Lessons Series: Involuntary Resettlement v institutional knowledge base, enhance accountability, foster better results in project outcomes, and, ultimately, contribute to more effective development. This report will be followed by publications on the emerging lessons from  Panel cases involving environmental assessment, indigenous peoples, and the requirements for consultation, participation, and disclosure of information

Involuntary Resettlement

Resource Key: 3GU5LMXV

Document Type: Report

Creator:

Author:

  • World Bank & The Inspection Panel

Creators Name: {mb_resource_zotero_creatorsname}

Place: Washington D.C.

Institution: World Bank & The Inspection Panel

Date: 2016

Language:

This report on involuntary resettlement is the first in a series of papers to be published by the World’s Bank Inspection Panel drawing on the main emerg ing lessons from its caseload over 22 years. The Panel hopes the lessons presented in this study can highlight areas in which continued improvements can enhance the Bank’s and its member countries’ overall approach to resettlement and, in that regard, be useful to both the Bank and the global development community. The Inspection Panel was created in 1993 by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors to receive and investigate complaints submitted by peo ple suffering harm allegedly caused by Bank projects. Since then, the Panel has received 105 requests for inspection. Of those, 85 have been registered and 32 investigated. Two additional investigations are under way. Twenty-one of the 32 cases investigated have involved involuntary resettle ment. Those 21 cases and one relevant pilot case covered 15 countries in five regions; energy, rural development, and natural resources and extractives were the sectors most represented. While all of those cases were studied as part of this report, a special emphasis was put on drawing lessons from cases within the past decade. The report’s main conclusions from the cases investigated are as follows: • The frequency of resettlement complaints in the Panel’s caseload con firms that it is one of the most challenging aspects of development. Indeed, many of the emerging lessons that the Panel describes here are recurring and reinforce lessons derived from other recent studies of resettlement. That underscores the need for expertise and additional care  and attention when working on projects that involve involuntary resettlement. • The Bank’s ultimate policy goal of conceiving and executing resettlements as sustainable development programs has not been achieved in many of the cases investigated by the Panel. It is clear that project activities do not lead to this goal without a deliberate approach to resettlement. • Better analysis of the full economics of resettlement is needed and must go beyond project costs and budgets to include a thorough understand ing of what it takes to restore or improve the incomes and livelihoods of those who are resettled. • Panel cases have positively influenced Bank practices on involuntary resettlement over time and resulted in clarifications related to the scope of application of the Bank’s Policy on Involuntary Resettlement and guidelines to staff on how to address relevant aspects of the policy. While Panel cases tend to highlight challenging projects where things went wrong and therefore are not necessarily reflective of the Bank’s entire portfolio, the lessons nonetheless are important and, as mentioned above, reinforce the Bank’s own reviews. They are intended to help build the Emerging Lessons Series: Involuntary Resettlement v institutional knowledge base, enhance accountability, foster better results in project outcomes, and, ultimately, contribute to more effective development. This report will be followed by publications on the emerging lessons from  Panel cases involving environmental assessment, indigenous peoples, and the requirements for consultation, participation, and disclosure of information

Download Document