Records of the Social Development Sector
- WB IBRD/IDA WB_IBRD/IDA_87
- Fonds
- 1975 - 2007
This fonds consists of records created by the Social Development Department (SDV) as well as by other Bank units that pre-existed the SDV and which carried out those functions that comprise the Bank's social development sector. Records created in the Environment Department's Social Policy and Resettlement Division (ENVSP, 1993-1997) are abundant. In some cases, files begun in the ENVSP were transferred to and eventually closed by the SDV. Records from other Departments in this fonds include: the International Relations Department of the Office of the Vice President, External Relations (VPE) between 1983 and 1987; the Strategic Planning Department (SPRIE) between 1987 and 1990; the External Relations Department (EXTIE) between 1990-1993; and the Operations Policy Department's Policy Group (OPRPG) between 1993 and 1997.
A significant amount of records in this fonds relate to the Bank's involvement with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in their capacity: as operational organizations, whose main purpose isthe design and implementation of development projects; and as advocacy organizations that support a particular cause and seek to influence Bank policies and practices.
Included are general subject and policy development records used to establish and review Bank Group policies in relation to NGOs. The majority of these files were created in the 1990s by the ENVSP and SDV's NGO Unit (SDVNG), although there are a number of files from the SPRIE, EXTIE, and OPRPG in the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. Correspondence and reports related to policies and strategies for Bank collaboration with NGOs are included, as are subject files on gender, governance, resettlement, capacity building, civil society, debt initiative, and other topics. Other NGO-related topics (often in the form of chronological files) include: committees; partnerships; participation and monitoring; progress reports; conferences; seminars; workshops; U.S. development NGOs; and Swiss NGOs. Related to these records and present in this fonds are records created and received while monitoring civic engagement in Bank lending and policy instruments.
Bank/NGO liaison files dating from the mid 1980s to early 1990s and relating to specific countries are also included. These records relate to activities carried out by NGOs independently or in collaboration with the Bank. Records include correspondence between the Bank and NGOs or government officials as well as technical materials, Bank and NGO reports, and material on workshops and conferences. Records related to the Small Grants Program are also included. The Program supports activities related to civic engagement by providing small grants administered through the Country Offices. The records included here are primarily from the early to mid-1990s when the Program was organized within the EXTIE. Records include reports, minutes, grant applications, awards, and related materials from the Committee. The fonds also contains records relating to other trust funds, such as the Trust Fund for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development (TFESSD) and the Grants Facility for Indigenous Peoples. These records include legal documents, Internal Audit Reports, External Audit Reports, Portfolio review issues, single audit reports, and special analyses.
A number of records related specifically to participation - that is, the promotion of methods and approaches that encourage the involvement of stakeholders in development initiatives - are also included. These include internal and externally created documents, suchas: NGO files; action plans; participatory poverty assessment studies; discussion papers; committee files; policy development files; and general files.
The fonds also contains a large amount of research material created and collected by SDV staff and by the Bank's social scientists prior to the SDV's formation. Research undertaken by Michael Cernea and others in the 1990s related to resettlement is included. This includes research materials created during the writing of various reports including The Bankwide Review of Projects Involving Involuntary Resettlement (1986-1993) (1994). Included are country and project files that involve cases of resettlement.
Records related to Cernea's historical research on sociology in the Bank are also included. These contain a collection compiled by Cernea of Bank project files, Terms of Reference (TORs), conference and seminar materials, and other records from the 1980s that involved elements related to the social development sector. Records of the Bank Sociological Groupare also included. The fonds also contains Gloria Davis's chronological files created during her time as the first Director of the SDV from 1997 to 2000. These generally consist of correspondence.
Social Development Sector