The World Bank’s strategy on Governance and Anti-Corruption, or GAC, is in its third year and has made governance issues an integral part of the bank’s strategies and processes.
Since its launch in autumn 2007, the World Bank’s GAC strategy has become part of the bank’s change management processes and includes participation from the most senior members of the organisation.
Through regular GAC Council meetings senior management and bank directors are sought out for their participation and advice on governance issues.
While each of the regions and networks of the bank are continuously requested to report on how governance issues have been addressed in their field.
“Governance is seen more and more as a key ingredient toward development,” said Piet Hein van Heesewijk, Senior Programme Officer for the Governance Partnership Facility at the World Bank. “So it’s not a goal in itself or a tool in itself – corruption is seen as a symptom of the failure of governance.”
To watch a video interview with Mr Hein van Heesewijk, click on the icon below.
With this relatively new approach, the bank makes a distinction between working in governance at the country level, the project level and at the sector level.
At the country level, the bank tries to take into account the country’s governance impediments to growth. At the project level, the bank works to ensure that safe guards are built in to programmes so that country systems can be increasingly used without governance issues being compromised.
Governance in sector operations is the newest area of intervention for the bank, but is of increasing importance, according to Mr Hein van Heeswijk.
“Governance at sector level is possibly the least developed part of the Governance and Anti-Corruption Strategy at the moment, but it’s getting more and more attention and traction,” he said.
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