ID: 1797
Presenting Author: Irum Ahsan
Session: 625 - Rethinking Stakeholder Engagement from the Accountability Lens
Status: pending
Advisory’s thought leadership role of influencing institutional E&S sustainability roadmap from the lens of people and planet can only be achieved through constructive dialogue.
This session will discuss lessons learned on engaging stakeholders by Advisory function of Office of Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO). The discussion will build on previous experiences and using certain techniques to ensure clear communication and understanding of advisory products. The Advisory function of accountability mechanisms is usually mandated to gather insights and provide independent advice to the Management and Boards with an objective to improve systemic performance on environmental and social (E&S) sustainability. The advice is usually based on methodical analysis of evidence of persistent E&S challenges in compliance and dispute resolution cases and using good international industry practice (GIIP) to further strengthen the recommendations. Some of the criticisms faced include the reliance on smaller datasets as the basis of analysis, and the high-bar focus on enhancing development impacts that are already difficult to achieve. Challenges like skepticism, defensive communication, and legacy issues often hinder the uptake of advisory recommendations and limit engagement effectiveness with internal stakeholders in particular.
25+ years of experience in international law and accountability. Head of Advisory at Accountability Office of IFC and MIGA works at improving institutional E&S performance