Wednesday 17th July 2001

For immediate release

Two prominent Uruguayans today filed a claim alleging "several irregularities" in the World Bank's Development Gateway internet initiative. Roberto Bissio, coordinator of Social Watch and Latin American secretary of Third World Network, and Dr. Carlos Abin, Executive Director of the Instituto del Tercer Mundo, have called on the Bank's Fraud and Corruption Investigations Hotline to investigate: "a misuse of Bank funds and positions, gross waste of Bank funds, cost mischarging or defective pricing and perhaps even fraud and misleading of public opinion."

The World Bank's plans to establish the Gateway internet site have been widely criticised. One of the complaints has been the initiative's scope: it aims to cover most major development topics, providing analysis and links to material from all perspectives. The threat it poses to existing web initiatives, and the lack of genuine independence from the World Bank have also been raised repeatedly. The Gateway initiative will be discussed by the World Bank's Executive Board tomorrow.

Today's anti-corruption claim states that "potential donors are being misled to make grants to a supposedly independent Foundation that in fact is just an appendix of the Bank". They also specifically allege that World Bank President James Wolfensohn and the former Vice President for Human Resources, Richard Stern, have used their positions at the Bank in ways that transgress the Bank's own staff Ethics guidelines.

Today's anti-corruption claim quotes leaked Bank documents which reveal that the 'independent' Foundation being established by the Bank to house the Gateway "will contract the Bank to provide staff, infrastructure and services necessary for it to function". The claim points out that "if it is true that this 'Independent Foundation' is contracting back to the Bank, staffed by the Bank, situated in the Bank, entirely designed by the Bank and largely capitalized by the Bank, we may be facing a case where eventual donors and perhaps even the American authorities that granted it legal status as a non-profit organization, may have been deceived in their good faith to accept a non-existing independence." There appears to have been no competitive bidding process for the supply of these services.

Roberto Bissio and Carlos Abin can be contacted on phone: +598 (2) 4196192

Click here to view the anti-corruption claim in full.

The claim has been filed by two Uruguayan civil society representatives. Mr. Roberto Bissio, a journalist, is coordinator of Social Watch and Latin American secretary of Third World Network. He is a member of UNDP's civil society advisory committee and has written extensively on the role of information technologies in development. Dr. Carlos Abin is Executive Director of the Instituto del Tercer Mundo. As a lawyer he has advocated diverse actions in defence of the environment, freedom of communications and defence of human rights.

They can both be contacted: c/o Instituto del Tercer Mundo,
Jackson 1136, Montevideo 11200, Uruguay.
Phone: +598 (2) 4196192.

The Development Gateway

The Gateway is an initiative the World Bank's President, James Wolfensohn began to develop in late 1999. The Development Gateway internet portal will contain information, products and services on development. These are supposed to represent the views of and be useful for all stakeholders, from government officials to activists. Critics argue that: the scope of 'development' is too large to be covered in one site; the editorial approach is flawed; that the World Bank has too much control over how the material is displayed and who edits it, and; the Bank should have instead supported the growth of diverse existing initiatives.

The Gateway Foundation will also provide grants for digital divide projects, and manage an ICT Development Forum to disseminate information on the digital divide and a Research and Training Network.

The World Bank has invested $7 million in developing the Gateway so far. The Gateway's total annual budget is expected to be $50 million when established. This is meant to be made up of contributions from governments and companies, though only three governments and one company have so far confirmed their contributions.