ODAC disappointed with the closure of the World Bank’s Access to Information Unit

Cape Town, 7 June 2016

The Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC) has expressed its disappointment with manner in which the World Bank handled the closing down of key departments that have been at the forefront of advancements on transparency and accountability in public institutions. According to ODAC’s executive director, Mukelani Dimba, “ODAC had expected the World Bank to walk the talk on stakeholder engagement and consultation before such a far-reaching decision was made”. Dimba also pointed out that it will be difficult for the World Bank to persuasively claim to be a partner in the fight against corruption while at the same time weakening its own capacity to support anti-corruption campaign work globally by felling these two important departments.

The Governance & Inclusive Institutions department and the Public Integrity & Openness department were very vocal and very present World Bank champions of the global campaign for transparency and accountability. They were a critical partner to the civil society campaign against secrecy in the conduct of public affairs and management of public resources. Failure to be open about the World Bank's plans to shut down these critical departments and lack of engagement with stakeholders that were likely to be affected by such changes is unfortunate given the World Bank's publicly stated support for civic participation and consultation. 

ODAC has called on the World Bank to review its decision and engage the transparency and accountability sector on its future direction for supporting the global campaign for access to information.

ODAC is a signatory to a letter written by the African Platform on Access to Information (APAI) to the World Bank President. The letter (you can read it here) calls on the World Bank to review its decision regarding the two departments.

For more information: Mukelani Dimba, ODAC – Transparency in Action at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.