Funding body: The World Bank Inspection Panel
Duration: May 2010-March 2011
Objectives: The Inspection Panel received a formal complaint from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Cambodia that the Bank had failed to implement.
Activities:
On September 4, 2009, the Inspection Panel received a Request for Inspection from the Center for Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), which submitted the Request on behalf of communities affected by the Land Management and Administration Project. The Requesters claimed that residents in the area around Boeung Kak Lake in central Phnom Penh were denied the adjudication of their tenure rights and were being subjected to forced eviction without due process. The Inspection Panel undertook an initial assessment and determined that grounds existed for a full inspection.
Geoffrey Payne was appointed the technical expert on the inspection into the design and implementation of the multi-donor Land Management and Administration Programme. A visit was made to Phnom Penh in May 2010, during which visits were held to the affected area and a relocation settlement outside Phnom Penh to which some evicted residents had been moved. Meetings were held with residents, local NGOs and Community-Based Organisations (CBOs), central and local government officials and other key stakeholders. The Panel reviewed key issues raised by the Request and the Management Response, the relevant Bank policies, the extent to which Bank Management complied with these policies in respect to each issue, and issues of harm resulting from instances of noncompliance.
The Panel assessed whether the Bank complied with the following Operational Policies and Procedures in the Request:
- OP/BP 4.12 Involuntary Resettlement;
- BP 13.05 Project Supervision;
- OP/OMS 2.20 Project Appraisal.
The Panel delivered its Investigation Report to the Board and to Management on November 23, 2010, in which it found non-compliance by the Bank with aspects of its policies on involuntary resettlement and on project appraisal and supervision. Following the response of Management, the Inspection Panel report was presented at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the World Bank in March, 2011
To read a copy of the Final Report click here. To read the Press Release published by the World Bank on 08 March, 2011, click here.