The Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) bring together governments, parliamentarians, private sector executives, representatives from civil society organizations and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development, and aid effectiveness.

The highlights of the Annual Meetings were:

  • The World Bank announced its Human Capital Index which ranks 157 countries based on their education and health outcomes and the impact they are having on productivity;

  • IFC presented its commitment to help economies to transition away from coal;

  • IMF, aside from presenting its Global Financial Stability Report and the World Economic Outlook, advocated the need for “New Multilateralism” – a new form of international cooperation which is more inclusive, more people-centred and more results-oriented.  

This year, IRIM’s Board Member Dolgion Aldar attended the Annual Meetings and the Civil Society Policy Forum in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia in October 8-14, 2018. 

Mongolia is currently implementing the Extended Fund Facility Program of the IMF and undergoing significant fiscal policy and structural changes. As such, Dolgion Aldar presented IRIM’s experiences at the People’s Summit on Alternative Development in front of the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Indonesia, regional, and global level during the Annual Meetings. While highlighting improvements in the IMF’s CSO engagement over the last few years, she suggested the engagement should be more meaningful and regular. In addition:

  • There should be increased efforts from the IMF to raise public awareness and inform citizens about ongoing programs at the country level;

  • There should be impact evaluations conducted on how the programs have affected social and environmental aspects within the country;

  • The CSOs should be involved in the selection of necessary policy changes and program performance criteria and in the evaluation and review of the program implementation.

Furthermore, we expressed our views and ideas on the issues of taxation and equity, need for greater financial transparency, fight against corruption, gender equality and effectiveness of ongoing World Bank and IMF efforts in reducing poverty through the bilateral meetings with IMF and WBG management and national delegation of Mongolia. 

CSO representatives and the Government Delegation from Mongolia

The Civil Society Policy Forum is an event concurrently organized by global civil society organizations. The CSPF aims not only to ensure visibility, CSO networking and knowledge sharing, but also to increase influencing opportunities of CSOs on the IMF, WBG and national delegations.