By Toby McIntosh
Virtually all governments receiving World Bank loans are preventing public disclosure about proposed loans in advance of deliberations by the Bank Board, according to a survey by eyeonglobaltransparency.net.
The secrecy is permitted under Bank policy, but it significantly curtails public scrutiny of projects just before they go to the Board for approval.
A dramatic example of this lack of transparency is playing out in Tanzania. Civil society groups belatedly caught wind of a controversial Bank education project. They are protesting in the final days before the Jan. 28 Board meeting at which the $500 million loan will be considered.
The key document about the loan was not disclosed, as Tanzania used a loophole in Bank disclosure policy.
However, as protests grew, the document was released on the morning of July 27 as the Bank’s country director was on a group phone call to civil society leaders. View the 111-page document, dated Dec. 31, on the Bank website. A Bank official said that “because of the heightened public interest” in the education loan, the Bank and government “mutually agreed to disclose the PAD ahead of the Board discussion.”
The Bank at the last minute delayed consideration the the loan. No new date has been set.
Opponents of the education loan objected that the Bank had reversed course and now seemed to condone a Tanzanian law requiring the expulsion of pregnant girls from school.
Thirteen months ago, the Bank delayed action on a similar education project in 2018 after Tanzanian civil society groups, international organizations and some Bank member countries raised concerns about the expulsion policy. (See EYE article.)
Now the Bank staff is recommending approval of the loan, apparently accepting Tanzanian assurances that pregnant girls will be taught elsewhere through “alternative education pathways.”
Limiting understanding of the Bank’s thinking was the absence of the key document, called the Project Appraisal Document (PAD). PADs describe projects and set forth the Bank’s appraisal and justification for them. Often over 100 pages long, they are prepared by the Bank staff and are usually completed three weeks before Board meetings.
The PAD for the Tanzanian Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project could have been released in advance of the meeting, but it wasn’t. Tanzania blocked its disclosure.
Under the Bank’s Access to Information Policy, PADs are “posted before the Board discussion.” However, the policy continues, PADS are only issued in advance “if the member country consents to such early disclosure.”
Under a process known as “simultaneous disclosure” members of the public can sign up to be informed by e-mail of the public availability of documents when they are sent to the Board. But PADs because disclosure is often blocked, the pre-meeting warning system isn’t relevant.
PADs must be released after the Board meeting.
For the Tanzanian school loan, the only hint of renewed Bank action was a one-line entry in early January on the Board’s calendar for the month.
Follow EYE @tobyjmcintosh
Loophole in Bank Access Policy Much Utilized
Tanzania’s preference for keeping PADs quiet is neither new, nor exceptional.
Bank records show that Tanzania prevented PAD disclosure for five other Bank projects dating back at least three years.
Other governments also use the blocking loophole, according to an informal survey done eyeonglobaltransparency.net.
EYE looked at Bank records posted online for 20 countries, including Tanzania, to see whether PADs were issued for the most recently considered projects in each country.
For all but one of the 20 projects, pre-meeting disclosure did not occur, indicating that government had not consented to pre-meeting disclosure.
Of the 20 instances reviewed, the PAD was issued in advance only once, for a project in Ghana.
That PAD, for an Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project, is dated Oct. 2, 2019, and was released Oct. 8, in advance of a Board meeting Oct. 24.
But while Ghana seemed to be the transparent exception, a further look at other recent projects in Ghana, revealed that no PADs were revealed.
After Board meetings, PADs typically were posted on the Bank website within several days.
However, sometimes disclosure took months. For an Argentinian project, the PAD was released three months after the Board meeting. And a Guatemala PAD was issued two months after Board approval.
The Bank writes annual reports on its access to information policy, but has not documented the degree to which governments exercise their veto on the release of pre-meeting documents.
A Bank official told EYE, “Since July 1, 2016, 171 out of 1320 PADs, PPs, PGDs, and CPFs (about 13%) have been simultaneously disclosed under our Access to Information Policy.”
Consequences in Tanzania
By preventing the pre-meeting disclosure of PADS, governments can limit public discourse about proposed projects, as dramatically seen with the Tanzanian education project.
In the days just prior to the Board meeting, but almost two weeks after the Dec. 31 date of the undisclosed PAD, national and international critics of giving Tanzania the money absent elimination of the expulsion policy were scrambling to raise opposition to the project, writing letters and contacting Board members.
One letter was sent Jan. 20 to the Bank by civil society organization anonymously, for fear of domestic reprisals, calling on the Bank “to postpone the approval of the loan until the government puts in place clear measures to demonstrate and operationalize its commitment to gender equity and the rule of law.”
The letter chronicles gender-related policies such as forcible pregnancy testing of girls and repression of NGOs, the media, and individuals critical of the government. Approval would be “inappropriate if not irresponsible” and a “slap in the face” to women and girls, according to the letter, and represent a “full-throated endorsement of this violently misogynist regime” of President John Magufuli.
The CSOs said pregnant schoolgirls should have the right to choose to attend regular secondary schools or the “alternative education pathways” foreseen in the SEQUIP project. They also seek an end to the forcible testing of schoolgirls for pregnancy, restored access to family planning programs and a variety of other reforms to restore civil liberties.
A member of Parliament, Kigoma Urban, on Jan. 22 wrote the Bank, also recounting the loss of civil liberties and “asking that you suspend lending to this government until basic checks and balances are restored in Tanzania.” He continued, “These checks and balances include a free press, freedom of assembly, free and fair elections, and the reinstatement of the Comptroller and Auditor General.”
Opposition leader Zitto Kabwe told CNN that the new loan would enable the stigma around pregnant girls in Tanzania to continue.
“The way the loan is been structured [means] the young girls who get pregnant for whatever reason will be put in separate schools,” he told CNN. “This is not right. I am wondering how can the World Bank allow this.”
Bank Withheld Funding in 2018
When the Bank in 2018 stopped consideration of a $300 education loan due to concerns about the expulsion policy it issued a statement. The Oct. 29, 2018, statement said:
The World Bank supports policies that encourage the girl child’s education and make it possible for them to stay in school until they reach their full potential. The economic and social returns to girls finishing their education are very high in every society for the current and future generations. Working with other partners, the World Bank will continue to advocate for girls’ access to education through our dialogue with the Tanzanian government, and work towards addressing the high rates of adolescent pregnancy – an issue that not only interrupts education, but also significantly contributes to maternal mortality.
Leaked PAD Argues for Broad Gains
The Bank’s PAD, leaked out to some in recent days, was officially released on Jan. 27.
It does not mention or criticize the expulsion policy, but does report, “In 2017, about 1 percent of girls enrolled in secondary school (5,459), dropped out due to pregnancy.”
The proposed loan, known by the acronym SEQUIP, aims to expand and improve education for girls by:
“(a) creating a gender sensitive, learner-friendly school environment through investing in supportive structures in the school and community including trained school guidance counselors, stronger links with the community through Parent Teacher Associations and life skills training. (b) supporting female students to avoid dropping out of secondary school due to pregnancy through measures that include (a) encouraging community awareness of risks for girls; (b) supporting safe passage and reducing the distance to schools to lower the risks of gender-based violence on the way to and from school; and (c) supporting girls who become pregnant to access recognized, quality Alternative Education Pathways (AEPs) to obtain lower secondary certification and continue with upper secondary education or post-secondary education. (c) improving the quality of secondary school teaching and learning environments through the hiring of additional qualified teachers in core subjects and providing textbooks in core subjects. (d) increasing the number of secondary school spaces through the construction of new classrooms that meet minimum infrastructure standards and supporting the expansion of the school network to bring schools closer to communities. (e) using innovative digital technology to facilitate mathematics and science teaching and improve learning.
The PAD stresses positive outcomes, stating:
“Overall, SEQUIP will contribute to increasing total enrolment in secondary school by 1.8 million students and increase the number of girls graduating from both secondary schools and alternative secondary education pathways. Over its lifetime, the Project will directly benefit about 6.5 million new and existing secondary school students, including 3.2 million girls.1 SEQUIP will help more girls transition from lower to upper secondary education, including girls who had to leave lower secondary government schools due to pregnancy.
