On January 7, 2015, the Inspection Panel received a Request for Inspection which raises concerns related to the Haiti Mining Dialogue Technical Assistance funded by the Extractive Industries Technical Advisory Facility.
The Inspection Panel has reviewed the Request in accordance with its policies and procedures and has decided not to register the case. In its Notice of Non Registration and Observations Regarding the Policy Framework on Technical Assistance, the Panel noted that the concerns raised in the Request are of great importance, serious and legitimate and it agreed with the Requesters that a mining law can have significant and considerable adverse environmental and social consequences, unless consideration is given to the highest possible environmental and social standards. The Panel could not register the Request, however, because the Haiti Mining Dialogue TA operation was financed through a Bank-Executed Trust Fund (BETF) to which Bank operational policies and procedures applicable to design, appraisal and implementation of a project, including the safeguard policies, are not applicable, as provided in the Bank Trust Funds policy OP 14.40. BETFs are governed by the Administrative Manual which is not within the Panel's mandate for investigations.
