PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to tell the U.S. Executive Director at the World Bank and the International Development Association to begin talks with other directors and propose a Grassroots Collaboration Program. The program must bring nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) into the planning, carrying out, and checking of bank-funded projects and policies to reduce poverty and protect the environment. It should push for NGO input at every project stage to avoid harm to poor people and the environment and to increase benefits for the poor; use NGOs directly when they have a local advantage; deliver microenterprise loans through NGOs; build NGO skills for development work; and set up jointly funded middle organizations to improve collaboration. Congress says the program should be part of the bank’s normal work. If flexible funding is needed, money can come from the World Bank’s net income, with an initial grant of at least $50,000,000 and more each year as needed. Each year the National Advisory Council must report to Congress on the program’s setup, activities, and spending.

Title 22, §262p–1

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States Executive Director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association to initiate discussions with other directors of such institutions and to propose the establishment of a Grassroots Collaboration Program to develop improved mechanisms for involving, directly or indirectly, nongovernmental organizations in the design, implementation, and monitoring of development projects financed by, or development policies established by, such bank or association in order to alleviate poverty and promote environmental protection, including—

(1)encouraging nongovernmental organizations in borrowing countries to participate in all stages of project planning and country strategy activities to—

(A)minimize any adverse impact of such projects or activities on the poor people of such country;

(B)minimize any adverse impact of such projects or activities on the environment of such country; and

(C)maximize the extent to which such projects or activities will benefit the poor people of such country;

(2)increasing the direct involvement of nongovernmental organizations in project design, implementation, or monitoring whenever such organizations have a distinct comparative advantage over other entities in providing such services by virtue of their grassroots involvement with poor people, especially women, in a borrowing country;

(3)providing microenterprise credit for small scale economic activities through nongovernmental organizations;

(4)supporting the enhancement of the institutional capacity of nongovernmental organizations in borrowing countries as development practitioners; and

(5)establishing or supporting jointly funded intermediary mechanisms with nongovernmental organizations to facilitate increased collaboration between such bank or association and nongovernmental organizations in borrowing countries.

(b)It is the sense of the Congress that the Grassroots Collaboration Program described in subsection (a) should be implemented and financed as part of the normal operations of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association.

(c)To the extent the activities under the Grassroots Collaboration Program described in subsection (a) need more flexible financing, it is the sense of the Congress that—

(1)such activities could be funded through a grant from the net income of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development; and

(2)an initial grant of not less than $50,000,000 should be made for such activities with subsequent annual allocations of such additional amounts as may be necessary to allow the Grassroots Collaboration Program to maximize collaboration with nongovernmental organizations in the alleviation of poverty and the protection of the environment.

(d)

(e)Each annual report to the Congress by the National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Policies shall describe the status of the establishment and operation of the Grassroots Collaboration Program described in subsection (a), the activities under taken by the Program and the sum of the amounts expended by the Program.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification section 1602 of Pub. L. 95–118 is based on section 701 of title VII of H.R. 3750, One Hundredth Congress, as introduced Dec. 11, 1987, and enacted into law by Pub. L. 100–202.

Amendments

1989—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 101–240 struck out subsec. (d) which related to initial reporting requirements by Secretary of the Treasury.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Definitions The definitions in section 262p–5 of this title apply to this section.

§262p–1 Grassroots Collaboration Program