The Early Warning System (EWS)’s digital platform will be soon be made public, after years of hard work to improve the back-end of the site. But what is the Early Warning System, and why is it needed? When I began my internship at the Center for International Environment Law (CIEL), I couldn’t answer either of these questions. Now, after completing over a hundred project snapshots and reading what feels like millions of bank documents, I can talk about the system for hours (much to the chagrin of my friends and family). For your sake, I’ll keep it brief.
The most successful development projects result from careful planning and community participation that take into account local conditions. But with many banks, companies, and locations in play, it is difficult to track who is funding what, where. Sometimes communities only find out about a project when bulldozers come to knock their houses over. The EWS’s objective is to prevent this from happening.
Think of the EWS as a form of Pinterest, but instead of bringing together cool new products from all corners of the Internet, you can browse snapshots of essential information on development projects all over the world. You can also receive alerts on the information most relevant to you (in this case, projects in specific locations or with specific focuses). The EWS does the hard work of sifting through documents and different websites for you, so that you can access the exact information you want easily and quickly.
Simply select a project and you can read a description of the main activities, hear about the proposed funding, and see who to contact if you have comments or concerns. The information has been assessed by someone on the EWS team, so you know that what you’re seeing has been inspected by outside experts.
While it’s nice to simply have a list of development projects in one place, the EWS is most effective when the information it provides can be used to help those in communities where development projects are being planned. Although multilateral development banks each have their own policies on stakeholder engagement and community participation, these processes are often sidestepped. Communities are left to find out about projects in their areas too late to participate or express their concerns.
That’s where the “early” part of Early Warning System comes in.
We then research the project by analyzing bank documents and studies to create comprehensive information to share on the EWS. Then, we get in touch with partner organizations based in the country or region where the project is planned to occur. This way, the people with the most knowledge about local conditions can alert communities and decide the best avenues for being involved. CIEL and International Accountability Project (IAP) then support the community with whatever action they decide to take, from organizing town meetings to filing complaints with multilateral development banks. This way, development projects with fatal flaws can be improved before they even get funded. It’s no longer a race to undo damage, but rather to make projects the best they can be.
So how can you be involved?
Development works best when all stakeholders can participate, and that includes you! Whether it’s a health center or a solar plant, you would want to know if it was being built in your backyard. You can help ensure that communities around the world have access to that information.
With your organization, you can use your connections to ensure that communities around the world are notified when a project is proposed in their area. If you don’t work in the development sphere, you can sign petitions and join action efforts. Together, we can make development work for everyone.
By Nathalie Bolduc, EWS Intern
Originally posted on August 23, 2018