To whom it may concern,
Apologies to signatories to the complaint including IFC/WBG that I cannot make it to the consultation meeting in Washington, D.C. because at the same time I will be in Amsterdam 26-27 April and respectively another meeting 28 April 2010 in Stockholm.
Attention: this is personal use of documentation - not for wider citation.
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Dear Mr. Jiwan:
The World Bank Group is in the process of formulating a strategy and framework to guide its future involvement in the palm oil sector. A central feature of this strategy development is a global consultation process designed to engage and solicit comments and inputs from a diverse range of stakeholders.
As part of this process, we invite you to participate in a stakeholder consultation workshop that will take place in Washington, D.C. on April 26, 2010 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. in conjunction with the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings. The venue is room L-101 in the IFC building at 2121 Pennsylvania Ave. Further information about the palm oil strategy development process can be found in the attached document and at http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/agriconsultation.nsf/Content/AboutStrategy
Please confirm your participation by e-m at palmoilstrategy@ifc.org by April 22 in order for us to be able to secure your entry into IFC’s building to stringent security requirements in all World Bank Group offices.
As you may be aware, an audit of IFC’s palm oil-related investments in Wilmar by the Office of Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman was concluded in July 2009. In response to the findings, President Zoellick and IFC Senior Management committed to consult with stakeholders and develop a strategy to guide the World Bank Group’s future engagement in the palm oil sector. Further, World Bank Group management decided to defer approvals of any new palm oil sector investments until a strategy has been formulated and approved by management.
To ensure that development of the strategy fully benefits from stakeholder input and feedback, the following is being organised:
Stakeholder consultation meetings, sequentially in Washington, DC, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Ghana and the Netherlands. These will occur in April, May and June, 2010;
An electronic consultation process to engage with an audience wider than those who can attend the meetings;
A web-site: http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/agriconsultation.nsf/Content/Home where the outcomes of meetings will be posted and where comments can be provided; and,
A round of feedback on the draft strategy and framework from all those who participated in the consultation and other interested parties.
The consultation process and the stakeholder meetings are being guided and facilitated by an independent team knowledgeable in agriculture and development issues, but who have no direct association with the palm oil sector. During the consultation workshops, stakeholders’ views will be sought on the following:
1. The opportunities, key issues and challenges in the palm oil sector, particularly as related to development impacts, rural economies, supply chains and environmental and social sustainability.
2. Solutions and/or mitigation strategies related to environmental, social and other risks associated with the sector.
3. Operating principles and a framework to guide future World Bank Group investment and advisory engagements in the sector.
One week prior to the consultation meeting we will forward you more focused questions to guide the workshop, along with a detailed program. To underpin the consultations, an issues paper is being written by palm oil sector expert Mr. Cheng Hai Teoh. The first draft of the issues paper will be available for distribution to stakeholders prior to initial consultation taking place in Washington, D.C.
Consultation with stakeholders, including civil society, industry, indigenous peoples' organizations and financial institutions is of critical importance in defining the basis and manner in which IFC and the World Bank use their investment and advisory resources to support implementation of more sustainable practices in the palm oil sector. We very much hope you are able to attend the consultation meeting. If you are unable to attend, please feel free to designate someone who could represent you and/or your views and please be assured you will still have opportunities to provide your input including via the electronic consultation process, or through attendance at another location.
If you have any additional questions you can contact the World Bank Group Palm Oil Strategy Development Team at palmoilstrategy@ifc.org.
Sincerely,
World Bank Group Palm Oil Strategy Team
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