Shrinking funding and civic space make effective citizen input ever more critical
Washington D.C., 9 October 2025 – In an open letter addressed to the World Bank's leadership, CSOs urge them to fulfil their stalled promises on civic and citizen engagement.
It aims to hold the Bank accountable for its commitments and to demand urgent action to ensure its programs are more inclusive and effective by genuinely involving communities and civil society where World Bank-funded programs are implemented.
The letter is coordinated by Accountability Lab, Partnership for Transparency Fund and Accountability Research Center and has been publicly endorsed by non-governmental organizations, other entities, bodies and companies, as well as by individuals who work on or have worked on anti-corruption issues.The 283 signatories are from across 60+ countries and include Oxfam, the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), and Transparency International.
It aims to hold the Bank accountable for its commitments and to demand urgent action to ensure its programs are more inclusive and effective by genuinely involving communities and civil society where World Bank-funded programs are implemented.
The letter is coordinated by Accountability Lab, Partnership for Transparency Fund and Accountability Research Center and has been publicly endorsed by non-governmental organizations, other entities, bodies and companies, as well as by individuals who work on or have worked on anti-corruption issues.The 283 signatories are from across 60+ countries and include Oxfam, the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), and Transparency International.
The letter lays out six promises the Bank has made to improve CSO and citizen inclusion:
– Renew the Civic and Citizen Engagement (CCE) Framework,
– Publish a CCE Indicator with disaggregated data publicly available,
– Integrate CCE into the new approach to country engagement, strengthen the quality and implementation of Stakeholder Engagement Plans (SEPs) in investment projects and invite CSOs to play an expanded role,
– Establish a new CSO funding facility (CIVIC)
– Consult civil society on a progress report on “quality of citizen engagement” as part of the International Development Assistance 21 Mid-Term Review.
– Renew the Civic and Citizen Engagement (CCE) Framework,
– Publish a CCE Indicator with disaggregated data publicly available,
– Integrate CCE into the new approach to country engagement, strengthen the quality and implementation of Stakeholder Engagement Plans (SEPs) in investment projects and invite CSOs to play an expanded role,
– Establish a new CSO funding facility (CIVIC)
– Consult civil society on a progress report on “quality of citizen engagement” as part of the International Development Assistance 21 Mid-Term Review.
President Banga has called for the World Bank to work “better and faster.” Yet on the civic engagement agenda, the Bank has been slow and hesitant. Swift action now would rebuild trust with civil society partners; demonstrate seriousness to IDA21 donors and shareholders; and equip the Bank to deliver responsive, accountable development at scale. The credibility of IDA21 – and of the Bank’s pledge to put people at the center of its mission – depends on fulfilling these commitments.
