We, the undersigned organizations, welcome the opportunity to provide comments on the draft Access to Information Policy (the “Policy” or the “draft Policy”) proposed by the private sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank, IDB Invest (“the Bank” or formerly “IIC”). Our organizations are civil society organizations, people’s movements and labor groups that have worked to support communities impacted by projects financed by development institutions, including by IDB Invest. This document builds on the comments contained in a previous submission, dated 28 September 2017, which elaborated on our experiences supporting communities to advance their own development priorities rated on our experiences supporting communities to advance their own development priorities, and on our engagement in policy reform at numerous international financial institutions.
We urge IDB Invest to facilitate an open and inclusive consultation process for the Policy, ensuring the presence of vulnerable groups and people who have been affected by IDB Group projects, amongst others. We were pleased to see that the consultation period involved in-person consultations in Panama, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia and Jamaica, in addition to Washington DC. However, we note that some of these in-person consultations occured right before the official end of the consultation period, limiting the ability for these in-person consultations to feed into written comments. Additionally, some of the consultations were held with very limited prior notice, preventing broad and informed participation from civil society.
