Process Design Tool for World Bank Mediators
Client: Office of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, World Bank Group
Background
The Office of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) of the World Bank Group addresses complaints concerning negative environmental and social impacts of projects. Complaints may be filed by individuals and communities. CAO mediators, working in dispute resolution teams that include regional mediators, help resolve grievances by working with all parties to identify and address concerns and seek resolutions that meet the interests of involved communities and companies.
Process
Susan Podziba provided CAO mediators with a public policy mediation workshop. The mediators were intrigued with all its components, as it mapped so well onto their own projects. Susan was then retained to conduct back analyses of past CAO dispute resolution cases in Myanmar and Uganda. Through research and interviews, she analyzed each case in the context of the basic building blocks of process design: representation, capacity building, ground rules, trusted information, mediated negotiations, and outreach and consultations.
Ultimately, Susan used the analyses to develop the CAO Mediation Process Design Framework, which is part of the CAO Dispute Resolution Reflections from Practice Series. Finally, Susan trained CAO and regional mediators on the use of the process design tool during a webinar and as part of the World Bank Mediator Summit.
Result
Scores of CAO and regional mediators that work to resolve conflicts between communities and companies have been trained on the CAO Mediation Process Design Framework. The Framework is available to all CAO-affiliated mediators and others at the World Bank. It is reported to be a useful tool for designing strategic processes for CAO dispute resolution cases.
