Listening to Voices: The IMF’s Dialogue with Civil Society

IMF Blog, November 29, 2010

Source details

The IMF has made a concerted effort to engage more actively with civil society organizations in recent years as part of a broader effort to be more transparent and accountable to the broader public in member countries.
An emphasis on change at the 2010 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings provided an opportunity to expand the IMF’s relationship with civil society and experiment with new forms of interaction.

Representatives from around 400 civil society organizations (CSOs) from over 62 countries attended the Annual Meetings.
CSO composition:
- Geographic: all regions, including big umbrella groups from Europe and the US, and smaller local-level entities.
- Issue focus: Fund-specific policies in low-income countries; advocates for youth, gender, labor, governance, and other specific issues.
Fellowship and accessibility efforts:
- Fellowships were offered to around 40 civil society representatives from more than 30 emerging and low-income countries.

Civil Society Policy Forum:
- Central event with 50 sessions organized by CSOs reflecting diverse interests.
Expanded participation:
- Civil society were included in a wider range of formal and informal meetings, including the expanded Program of Seminars and meetings with IMF country teams.
- For the first time, many CSOs were invited to attend the opening plenary session of the Annual Meetings, traditionally an officials-only forum.
Townhall meeting:
- The Townhall with IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and World Bank President Robert Zoellick used a more interactive format, with reduced formal opening speeches, chaired by civil society representatives, and a stronger focus on conversation about core IMF and World Bank issues.
Capacity-building event:
- A new capacity building event targeted at CSOs, arranged at the request of CSOs, where senior staff briefed CSOs on fiscal, monetary, and program design issues to strengthen understanding of macroeconomic policy and IMF operations.

Civil society demand for information:
- Civil society is described as "thirsty for information"—wanting to know more about what the IMF does, why, and how.
Two-way engagement:
- The IMF aims to improve discussion and access to information to focus on matters of mutual interest.
- The Fund recognizes it can learn from CSOs’ experiences and views on conditions “on the ground.”
Issues raised by CSOs that align with IMF priorities:
- Unemployment and poverty reduction in the wake of the global economic crisis
- Financial sector taxation
- IMF voice and representation
- Need to engage with CSOs in reforming the IMF, in work in program countries, and at the local level

The IMF intends to build internal tools to raise awareness and deepen appreciation of the role civil society can play, especially at the local context in member countries.
This internal work is slated as a focus for early next year.
The IMF frames the 2010 changes at the Annual Meetings as another step in an evolving relationship with civil society and expresses an ongoing desire to continue hearing from CSOs.

IMF blog post by Caroline Atkinson, November 29, 2010