World Bank Praised for Accountability

The World Bank, regularly criticised for being unaccountable, is one of the world's most transparent institutions, a report said today.

The 2006 global accountability index, released by the UK charity One World Trust, said the World Bank and other international organisations such as the World Trade Organisation, which are frequently targeted by anti-globalisation activists, outscored non-governmental bodies and multinational firms on measures of transparency.

Although the report did not mention it, the UN oil-for-food scandal provided a dramatic example of what can go wrong when powerful international organisations are not subject to proper scrutiny.

"The dispersal of decision-making power has led to concerns over who takes responsibility to ensure that decisions taken by increasingly powerful transnational organisations are not harmful, but beneficial to the individuals and communities they affect," the report said.

The index looked at 30 organisations from three sectors - international institutions, NGOs and multinational companies - to determine how accountable they were.

The four elements constituting accountability were transparency (the provision of accessible and timely information), participation (engagement of internal and external stakeholders in decisions and activities that affect them), evaluation (how an organisation reviews performance against goals) and complaint and response (handling complaints).

David Held, the professor of global sciences at the London School of Economics, said the study was "the most comprehensive assessment yet of the accountability of public and private global agencies - and their deep accountability flaws".

Among international organisations, the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility scored more than 50% across three of the four areas of accountability. The NGOs ActionAid International and World Vision managed the same feat.