S. Vezzani, Il nuovo meccanismo di accountability della Banca mondiale alla prova dei fatti: il caso del Canale Lubigi

Since 1993, the World Bank has created the Inspection Panel, an independent complaints mechanism for people and communities who believe that they have been, or are likely to be, adversely affected by projects financed by the Bank in violation of its own internal rules. This accountability mechanism was significantly revised in 2020. Pursuant to the revised version, before being examined by the Panel, disputes may be resolved after recourse to mediation, with the conclusion of an agreement between the authorities of the territorial State and the project-affected communities. For the first time following the 2020 reform, the mediation procedure has been activated in a case brought to the attention of the Panel by a group of persons living in Kampala (Uganda), near the Lubigi Drainage Channel. They argued that, by financing the widening of this channel, the World Bank was infringing upon its Operational Policies on Forced Evictions, Environmental Assessment, and Physical Cultural Resources. The paper examines the new mediation system in the light of its first application, highlighting its effectiveness and, at the same time, its most problematic aspects