Description

International financial institutions including the World Bank and major regional development banks and other financial institutions such as the International Finance Corporation have set up accountability mechanisms to address projects assisted by these institutions when these projects adversely impact on peoples. The first accountability mechanism was set up in 1993 and experience has been gained over the past 2 decades in handling problem projects through investigation, problem-solving and other modes.

This seminar focuses on the growth of these accountability mechanisms, addresses governance aspects, and focuses on case studies of two projects where claims have been filed with various international financial institutions including the World Bank, African Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Finance Corporation, and European Investment Bank. The seminar addresses how problem projects can be handled more effectively and examines how improvements can be made to address these problem projects.

About The Speaker

Mr. Nanwani is a lawyer in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and has more than 24 years’ experience in project, development, and institutional issues working in various offices including legal, accountability mechanisms, and human resources in international financial institutions. He has a master degree in law from the University of London. He has practiced law in Singapore in the private sector on civil and intellectual law matters. He also worked as a lawyer on institutional and administrative matters in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London. He was former associate secretary, ADB Compliance Review Panel and secretary, ADB Board of Directors’ Compliance Review Committee.

He is a visiting law lecturer in several universities including Birkbeck, University of London and the National University of Singapore. He has lectured and published extensively on international financial institutions, law and development reform, accountability mechanisms, and institutional governance and responsibility. He is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Central European Journal of International and Security Studies, a peer-reviewed journal, and a Member of the International Advisory Group of One World Trust, a United Kingdom independent grant-funded think tank advocating reform in global governance. He is also a member of the Practitioners’ Advisory Board of Global Policy, an interdisciplinary journal based at Durham University in the United Kingdom, which analyses both public and private solutions to global problems and issues.