Chapter 26 : A proposal for one “super” independent accountability mechanism

Abstract

One of the most significant developments in international affairs since the Second World War has been the expanding role of international organizations. They were designed to act with restraint, out of respect for the sovereignty of their member states, and in support of their member state’s efforts to promote international peace and security, international economic cooperation, and human welfare. However, some of them are now actively engaged in performing such functions in their member states as peacekeeping; managing refugee camps; reviewing the performance of national financial sectors; financing and monitoring the implementation of development projects and programmes; giving policy advice; and providing technical assistance. This means that these organizations are making decisions that are directly affecting the lives of the citizens of their member states. This evolution in their operations has implications for the relationship between individual international organizations and their member states and for their accountability to those who are affected by their operations. The Multilateral Development Banks (MDB s) provide a good illustration of these changes in the role of international organizations. They have evolved from institutions focused on merely funding specific projects into entities involved in a range of development financing and advisory activities in their member states. They have also become leaders in formulating, interpreting, and applying standards for dealing with the environmental and social impacts of development projects. Consequently, their decisions are directly affecting the societies in which the projects and programmes they fund are located. These developments have raised concerns about how those communities or groups that are adversely affected by their operations can hold the MDBs accountable for their decisions and their impacts. This essay will discuss how the MDBs – for example, the World Bank Group, the African, Asian, and Inter-American Development Banks, and more recently the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the New Development Bank – are dealing with the issue of accountability. It will argue that, although the MDBs have been leaders in promoting international organizational accountability, their mechanisms of accountability are not keeping up with the evolution in their operations. In the interests of promoting new and creative thinking about these issues, it will also make an ambitious proposal for how the MDBs jointly can more effectively meet the accountability challenge that they face while also respecting the sovereignty of their member states and protecting an appropriate level of immunity for the MDB s. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part will provide some background on the MDB s and their current approach to accountability. The second part discusses the proposal for improving MDB accountability.