About CAO

The Office of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent accountability mechanism for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), members of the World Bank Group.

CAO is mandated to address complaints from people affected by IFC and MIGA projects in a manner that is fair, objective, and equitable and to enhance the environmental and social outcomes of IFC and MIGA projects. CAO is an independent office that reports to the President of the World Bank Group. For more information about CAO, visit www.cao‑ombudsman.org.

CAO’s Three Functions

CAO delivers on its mandate through three main functions:

Dispute Resolution

In responding to complaints, CAO attempts to resolve the issues raised using a flexible, collaborative, problem-solving approach. The focus of CAO’s dispute resolution work is on directly accessing those individuals and communities affected by the project and helping them, the IFC/MIGA client, and other relevant stakeholders resolve complaints, ideally by improving environmental and social outcomes on the ground.

Compliance

CAO oversees compliance investigations of the environmental and social performance of IFC and MIGA, particularly in relation to sensitive projects, to ensure compliance with policies, standards, guidelines, procedures, and conditions for IFC/MIGA involvement, with the goal of improving IFC/MIGA environmental and social performance.

Advisory

CAO is a source of independent advice to the President and the senior management of IFC and MIGA. Advice is based on insights gathered from CAO’s dispute resolution and compliance interventions and is focused on broader environmental and social policies, guidelines, procedures, strategic issues, trends, and systemic issues based on the experiences gained through its case work, with the goal of fostering systemic improvements in IFC/MIGA.

Our Process

Scroll left and right to see our process and click on the icons to learn more.

Outreach Complaint Assessment Dispute Resolution Monitoring Appraisal Investigation Monitoring Advisory
CLOSE

Complaint Received

Complaints can be submitted in any language and format, and are screened for eligibility based on three criteria:

  1. The complaint relates to an IFC or MIGA project.
  2. The issues relate to environmental and social project impacts.
  3. The complainant is, or may be, affected by the environmental and social impacts raised.
CLOSE

Assessment

CAO assesses eligible new cases to clarify the issues raised and provide support to the parties as they determine whether they wish to pursue a dispute resolution or compliance process. The assessment can take up to a maximum of 120 working days.

Learn more

CLOSE

Dispute Resolution

If the parties choose dispute resolution, CAO helps them establish a foundation for engagement. The process will involve a mediator and may include facilitation, information sharing, joint fact-finding, dialogue and negotiation, or other approaches to help address the issues raised in the complaint.

Learn more

CLOSE

Monitoring

If agreement is reached, CAO supports the parties as they implement agreed actions until all commitments have been met.

Learn more

CLOSE

Appraisal

At appraisal, CAO reviews the complaint to determine whether a compliance investigation is merited. Investigations are initiated for projects raising substantial concerns about environmental and social outcomes or issues of systemic importance to IFC/MIGA.

Learn more

CLOSE

Investigation

CAO reviews documents, and conducts interviews and site visits with assistance from external experts. The focus of the investigation is to assess IFC/MIGA compliance with its Sustainability Framework in relation to the issues raised in a complaint. CAO publishes its findings in an investigation report, together with the IFC/MIGA response.

Learn more

CLOSE

Monitoring

CAO evaluates IFC/MIGA actions in response to its investigation and determines whether these actions are sufficient to address its compliance findings.

Learn more

CLOSE

Advisory

CAO provides advice to the World Bank Group President and IFC/MIGA management on broader environmental and social issues derived from insights and lessons learned from CAO cases.

Learn more

CLOSE

Outreach

CAO engages communities, civil society, IFC/MIGA staff, clients, and other stakeholders to raise awareness about CAO's work.

Learn more

More Information

CAO's reports, findings, and case updates are available on CAO's website. All other public documents, including CAO Advisory Notes and past Annual Reports, also are available in hard copy. CAO's Operational Guidelines are available in the seven official languages of the World Bank Group. Further resources on how to file a complaint are available in additional languages on CAO’s website. For more information, see www.cao‑ombudsman.org.

Rights and Permissions

The material on this site is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permission may be a violation of applicable law. CAO encourages dissemination of its work and will normally grant permission to reproduce portions of the work promptly.

For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send a request with complete information to:

The Office of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman
2121 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20433 USA

TEL: +1 202 458 1973
FAX: +1 202 522 7400
E-MAIL: CAO@worldbankgroup.org
WEB: www.cao‑ombudsman.org

All other queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should also be addressed to the Office of the CAO at the above address.

The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of the World Bank Group or the governments they represent.

CAO does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply judgement on the part of CAO concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.

Notes

This annual report covers Fiscal Year 2017 (FY2017), which ran from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017. All dollar amounts are in US dollars unless otherwise indicated.

Download the Full Report

Acknowledgements

Managing editor: Emily Horgan
Assistant editor: Celia Garrity
Contributors: CAO team
Photos: CAO and Felix Davey
Copy editor: Nancy Morrison
Designer: General Design Co.

To top