Fostering a Values-Based World Bank Group Ethics and Business Conduct ANNUAL REPORT 2020 Abbreviations and Acronyms AHC Anti-Harassment Coordinator ATV Advisory, Training, and Values Unit of EBC BIR Business Integrity Review Unit of EBC CRW Creating a Respectful and Harassment-Free Workplace DAPP Domestic Abuse Prevention Program DOI Declaration of Interests EBC Ethics and Business Conduct Department ENMO Ethics Network of Multilateral Organizations GEF Global Environment Facility GIA Group Internal Audit HRDVP Human Resources Vice Presidency HSD Health and Safety Directorate IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development ICA Integrity, Compliance, and Accountability Office of Caribbean Development Bank IDA International Development Association ICSID International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes IFC International Finance Corporation IJS Internal Justice Services INT Integrity Vice Presidency ITS Information and Technology Solutions MIGA Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency MOPAN Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network RWA Respectful Workplace Advisor WBG World Bank Group WFA Finance and Accounting Contents WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 WORDS FROM OUR LEADERSHIP Managing Director and WBG Chief Administrative Officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Chief Ethics Officer, Ethics and Business Conduct Department . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 FOCUS ON PREVENTION: Promoting the Core Values and Corporate Culture . . . . . . 8 FOCUS ON TRUST: Allegations Received by EBC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 FOCUS ON ACCOUNTABILITY: The Role of Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Special Report on Harassment and Sexual Harassment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 FOCUS ON EXCELLENCE: Enhancing Efficiency, Value Added, and Transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 FOCUS ON GLOBAL PRESENCE: In-Country Outreach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 FOCUS ON FUTURE INITIATIVES: In the Works for Fiscal Year 2021 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 OUR CORE VALUES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 CONTACT EBC 24/7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 1 Who We Are and What We Do At the World Bank Group (WBG), we are connected appropriate, BIR oversees investigations to by our mission—to end extreme poverty and promote determine whether enough evidence exists to shared prosperity. Equally important is how we work warrant further action. together towards achieving our mission. The Ethics In fiscal year 2020, the new Anti-Harassment and Business Conduct Department (EBC) promotes Coordinator (AHC) function was created. The AHC the development and application of the highest addresses reports of harassment and sexual ethical standards by WBG staff and management. harassment, but also creates a venue for addressing By fostering a safe, respectful, and values-based inappropriate behaviors that do not rise to the level corporate culture, EBC contributes to the Bank of misconduct and ensures that staff have a safe Group’s strategy to create a resilient and sustainable environment to speak up and report concerns in an business model. informal way. EBC is headed by the Chief Ethics Officer, who reports EBC’s diverse staff who deliver on these programs to the President of the WBG. For administrative hail from 18 countries. Our staff have held positions matters, EBC reports to the Managing Director and at international finance institutions, other WBG Chief Administrative Officer. multilateral development banks, and the United Through its preventive services and investigations unit, Nations and in nearly all WBG institutions. EBC staff EBC is responsible for maintaining the Bank Group’s and consultants have varied specializations, in ethics-driven environment. Every year, thousands of business, communications, compliance, conflicts of WBG staff call on EBC for counsel and guidance. interest management, data analytics, education and training, employment and labor law, ethics, executive Advisory, Training, and Values (ATV) delivers training coaching and leadership, fraud and anti-corruption, for WBG staff globally through face-to-face and harassment and sexual harassment, human resource virtual activities. Training topics include sexual management, international relations and public harassment, ethics awareness, our core values, affairs, legal analysis, macroeconomics, managing conflicts of interest, and other timely management consulting, organizational subjects. Every day, the ATV unit responds to an development, and risk assessment. increasing number of requests for advice and direction on following the WBG core values and Together we are defining best practices in complying with the Staff Rules and Principles of investigations, training, and advisory services, Staff Employment. and setting the standards in business ethics. With our focus on prevention, trust, and accountability, Business Integrity Review (BIR) investigates EBC will continue to promote ethical behaviors allegations of staff misconduct and addresses each consistent with the core values we uphold at the accusation during a preliminary inquiry to determine World Bank Group. whether an investigation is required. When 2 EBC Annual Report 2020 EBC staff pictured left to right by color group Simisola Morenike Adejumo Yasmeen Nasser Al Tabbaa Yazid Al-Eryani Jules Garrett Baughns Gabriela Baez Beal Anne-Marie Burns Philip Godfrey Caine Jorge Dajani Kostyantyn K. Gonzalez Nesterov Leila Firdawcy Leonard Orens Jodi Tuer Glasow Newmark Gül Güven Adebisi Victor Oyelade Doreen Lulu Kapakasa Bertrand Andre Rossert Junko Saito Selina Talengie Katenga-Kaunda Bamidele Olugbuyi Sanya Deepa Mahesh Jose Luis Martinez Rivera Suzan K. Sgaier Stella-Monica Audrey Grace Nalugwa Mpande Sherpa Dawn Mpati Stanley Pat Simpson Marie Madeleine Ndaw Adrienne Leah Toomey Sylvia Sibo Winborne Lemlem Workalemahu 3 Foreword It is with deep appreciation for the work harassment and performed this year by the team that I present to harassment— you the Annual Report of the Ethics and Business which was in Conduct Department (EBC). Fiscal year 2020 has addition to those been an extraordinarily difficult year and yet, for received by EBC, it has been an extraordinarily successful investigators. Together, the EBC investigators one. I would like to single out four achievements and the AHC have reviewed more sexual of the unit. harassment cases than had ever been the case in the WBG. The report shows that the cases First, EBC adapted remarkably well to COVID-19- addressed by the AHC are mainly focused on related home-based work. All EBC teams inappropriate behaviors, which are different continued to provide services at the same pace as from the allegations of misconduct reviewed before with the exception of training. After an by investigators. It is clear that the Bank Group initial drop, training services were substantially has become a safer working environment as a revamped, with the addition of new tools to adapt result of the AHC addressing sexual harassment to the new reality. The number of staff trained per and harassment. day now exceeds pre-COVID-19 levels. Fourth, EBC worked on a new Code of Ethics Second, EBC successfully merged its training and that has come into effect on September 8, 2020. advisory services into one prevention unit that This is the culmination of months of efforts in proved remarkably successful and ambitious. collecting the views of staff and management to An example of this is that the prevention unit produce a document that truly enhances how we responded to International Finance Corporation’s abide by the Core Values of the organization. (IFC) request to expand the Declaration of Interests program to a wider subset of staff and I commend once again the innovative and delivered the program very successfully. In this dynamic approach that EBC has implemented respect, even though the same team received 23 and that is described very openly and percent more requests for advice than in fiscal transparently in this report. year 2019, the requests were still responded to within eight working hours on average. Shaolin Yang Third, EBC undertook new initiatives that Managing Director and responded to unmet demands. One of these WBG Chief Administrative Officer initiatives was the creation of the Anti- The World Bank Group Harassment Coordinator (AHC) role. In fiscal year 2020, the AHC received 80 allegations of sexual 4 EBC Annual Report 2020 Chief Ethics Officer’s Message I am pleased to present to you EBC’s fiscal year 2020 EBC continues Annual Report. to provide investigatory This EBC Annual Report enumerates the initiatives the intervention where ethics team undertook in fiscal year 2020 to ensure misconduct does that World Bank Group (WBG) staff and management occur. The investigations team this year intensified its uphold the highest integrity and ethical standards, focus on creating a people-centered approach to operating in a safe, respectful, and non-discriminating conducting reviews in order to gain greater staff trust workplace. Fostering a values-based corporate culture and to promote transparency. The new Intake is essential to ensure the sustainability of our business Coordinator, whose position was created in December model. It is not simply “what we do” but “how we do it.” 2019, increases EBC efficiency as the initial reviewer This is particularly important in the current environment, and distributor of all staff queries to EBC. where the WBG is seeking to help 1 billion people through the COVID-19 pandemic by lending to developing EBC has met the challenges of COVID-19 with agility countries $160 billion through fiscal year 2021. and speed, responding to pandemic-driven trends such as increased domestic abuse and the transition to Meeting the Current Challenges virtual working and learning. EBC is a key contributor to the recently created WBG Task Force on Racism, Despite the pandemic, EBC has made a determined bringing the core values and other ethical considerations effort to maintain its response time, service level, and to the forefront. quality of programs staff have come to expect. EBC has carried on its prevention services and tools— The New Code of Ethics: pertinent training and outreach, and keen advisory and Living Our Core Values compliance support—which guide the WBG away from behaviors that can interrupt our progress and threaten How staff act, how they hold themselves accountable, our safe environment. We have continued to be fully and how they operationalize the World Bank Group available to Bank Group staff throughout the home- core values—impact, integrity, respect, teamwork, and based work period, with ethics queries rising more than innovation—into their daily work form the framework 20 percent in fiscal year 2020. of the new Code of Ethics, approved in fiscal year 2020 and launched in September 2020. Once two different units, the training and compliance functions now reside within the same streamlined The Code of Ethics, based on the WBG core values, group: the Advisory, Training, and Values unit. The new materialized from the ground up with input from many reorganized structure efficiently brings together all of resources, including more than a thousand WBG staff the prevention services. worldwide—from all WBG institutions, headquarters, and many country offices, and all grade levels and 5 appointment types. It is not about rules or policies, COVID-19 which are the content of the Staff Rules of legal obligations and prohibitions. The new Code of Ethics Since the COVID-19 outbreak, WBG staff and their reaches beyond simply being compliant with rules and families, like most of our global neighbors, at some policies. It is a principle-based ethical charter that point have been sheltering in place and working from explores what we do and how we do it in relation to home to avoid the spread of the virus. EBC adapted our values. with agility and timeliness to the crisis created by the virus. EBC has been using this difficult time as a special opportunity to reach out to staff and to consider the Reinforcing Internal Compliance impact that virtual working practices have on the Among some of the key initiatives to reinforce internal perceptions and realities of harassment and other compliance, EBC has expanded this year its inappropriate behaviors. Declaration of Interests program in IFC to all staff Two all-staff surveys on home-based work have shown grade GE and above to better detect and mitigate that most staff have adapted remarkably well to the potential conflicts of interest for the institution. new, home-based environment necessitated by COVID-19. The Anti-Harassment Coordinator: Closing a Gap for Staff and Management The relevant WBG services have collaborated to ensure that those staff experiencing discomfort could be The Anti-Harassment Coordinator (AHC) role was supported. Extensive psychological and psychosocial created by EBC in response to the WBG Action Plan for programs are being provided by the Health and Safety Preventing and Addressing Sexual Harassment, developed Directorate (HSD), the Domestic Abuse Prevention by EBC and launched in May 2019 by the President of Program (DAPP, part of HSD), and the World Bank the World Bank Group. The AHC reviews allegations of Family Network. The IJS and EBC provide support in harassment and sexual harassment, bridging the gap addressing work-related concerns. for staff seeking support between the informal services already available (the Internal Justice Services’ (IJS) Adapting to the New Online Work Ombuds and Mediation resources, and advice from Environment to Better Serve Staff EBC) and EBC’s formal investigation process. Allegations that may constitute misconduct are While advisory activities transitioned to virtual referred for investigation with the consent of the platforms seamlessly, EBC made substantial efforts to affected person, in line with EBC’s people-centric adjust its training products to the new conditions methodology. Beginning in November 2019, the AHC created by home-based work while maintaining their addressed 80 cases throughout fiscal year 2020. level of impact. 6 EBC Annual Report 2020 Chief Ethics Officer Jorge Dajani in conversation with country office colleagues in Bangkok. Although the substance of the training has remained The investigative process moved smoothly to a fully broadly the same, EBC has started introducing many virtual platform. The investigations team continued to technical innovations in its training sessions, such as conduct interviews in a virtual setting, as largely interactive presentations with real-time voting, use of required before the pandemic, given the Bank Group’s videos, and breakout rooms for smaller virtual global office locations. discussions. EBC is revising the content of its training This Annual Report presents EBC’s results for fiscal portfolio by refreshing such existing products as the year 2020 openly and transparently. We value your “Creating a Respectful and Harassment-Free feedback and we would like to encourage you to Workplace” (CRW) and “Ethics Awareness Session” send any comments you may have to modules. New trainings such as “Bystander ethics_helpline@worldbank.org. Intervention Strategies,” “Team Conversation on WBG Core Values,” and “Preventing and Addressing Harassment and Sexual Harassment: A Conversation with Managers” are planned to be developed and rolled Jorge Dajani out in fiscal year 2021. All products are envisaged to Chief Ethics Officer include real cases, presented anonymously, from the The World Bank Group World Bank Group, with a focus on candid conversations with participants. 7 FOCUS ON E BC seeks always to develop its proactive approach to influencing the ethics of the WBG culture. We PREVENTION promote our core values and help prevent unacceptable behavior. We do this by providing Promoting the preventive services that encourage self-assessment: transparent communications, comprehensive outreach, Core Values and substantive training, anti-harassment intervention, and Corporate Culture guiding ethics advice. The World Bank Group’s core values need to be staff’s first line of defense when pondering any ethical decision; the preventive tools of EBC act as a second line of defense. EBC’s preventive services progressed along the same trends in fiscal year 2020 as in last year until the pandemic necessitated home-based work, in March 2020. While some services experienced a temporary decrease in demand, others saw relevant increases. Advisory Services and Conflicts of Interest Demonstrating ethical leadership and solid governance standards is essential to the mission of the Bank Group. This requires scaled up compliance and systematic and efficient review of perceived and actual conflicts of interest. EBC has continued to provide advisory services and respond to queries within eight business hours on average, a goal reached in fiscal year 2019. The number of requests for advice has continued to increase, with the total requests for fiscal year 2020 numbering 1,291, compared to last year’s 1,053—a 23 percent increase. The prevalence of topics remained unchanged, with outside activities and outside employment (including employment after leaving the WBG and relationships with previous employers) representing about half of the queries received. Anonymous feedback from users indicates that there was a high degree of satisfaction with the response in terms of information provided and timeliness. 8 EBC Annual Report 2020 TABLE 1. EBC Advisory Consultations by Subcategory, FY17–FY20 SUBCATEGORY FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 Outside activities and employment 311 317 362 477 Future or former employment 103 94 115 156 Close relatives/relationships 112 129 121 117 Vendor procurement 60 95 110 91 Public statements and disclosures 40 63 51 58 External services 48 42 38 49 Gifts, medals, and honors 47 61 74 45 Personal financial interests 17 21 16 40 Operational 20 6 19 6 Other 88 97 147 252 Total 846 925 1,053 1,291 Two categories of requests have increased most especially in fiscal year 2020: queries on outside activities and employment on the one hand, and miscellaneous queries on the other. The fact that EBC receives an increased number of ethics queries that cannot easily be classified in one category shows that EBC needs to deal with increasingly complex or more unusual issues. CHART 1. Categories of Requests for EBC Advice, FY20 REQUESTS FOR EBC ADVICE n FY20 n FY19 n FY18 n FY17 Other Operational Personal financial interests Gifts, medals, and honors External services Public statements and disclosures Vendor procurement Close relatives/relationships Future or former employment Outside activities and employment 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 9 P Prevention continued From an institutional perspective, staff from all In line with previous years, the managerial grades institutions of the WBG make use of EBC’s advisory tend to pose more ethical queries to EBC on services: average, demonstrating a strong culture of compliance inside the WBG. TABLE 2. EBC Advisory Consultations by Institution, FY20 TABLE 3. EBC Advisory Consultations by Grade Level, FY20 INSTITUTION FY20 GRADE LEVEL FY20 Bank 870 IFC 280 GH+ 262 MIGA 11 GG 395 Other 130 GF 201 Total 1,291 GE 92 GA-GD 101 UC-UA (STC/STT) 114 Non-classified (external/anonymous) 126 Total 1,291 Declaration of Interests Programs reporting obligations). This practice demonstrates to staff, stakeholders, and clients the World Bank Group’s EBC manages the two Declaration of Interests (DOI) commitment to transparency and accountability. programs—the Senior Leaders DOI program and the Staff DOI program—which are designed to mitigate Staff Declaration of Interests real or perceived conflict of interest risks. Historically, the Staff DOI program has required Senior Leaders Declaration of Interests approximately 2,400 staff members at grade levels GH and GI, as well as other designated lower-graded staff The Senior Leaders DOI program required the 45 most members in sensitive roles (such as those working in senior officials in the organization in fiscal year 2020, Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) and Corporate including the WBG President, to complete the annual Procurement), to annually submit a DOI via a declaration of their financial interests and outside confidential, web-based software application protected occupations. Three new Vice Presidents were also by enhanced cybersecurity features and accredited by onboarded to the program. One hundred percent of the the WBG’s Office of Information Security. Beginning in senior financial disclosure forms were reviewed by fiscal year 2020, at the request of IFC’s senior advisory staff and have been publicly posted on the management, EBC expanded the Staff DOI program to World Bank Group external website since April 2020 include all IFC staff members at grade levels GE, GF, (100 percent of senior leaders have complied with their and GG due to the heightened risk for conflicts of 10 EBC Annual Report 2020 TABLE 4. Staff Annual DOI Program, TABLE 5. Declaration of Interests Resolution, FY19–FY20 FY20 STAFF ANNUAL DOI PROGRAM FY19 FY20 MITIGATION MEASURE NUMBER Total filers 2,392 4,567 Requested additional information DOIs closed at initial review 2,271 3,900 from staff member 194 DOIs that required further review 121 667 Provided advice and guidance to staff member 97 Of which mitigation measures were required 56 319 Other 12 Advised to seek manager/ Chief Ethics Officer approval 7 Required disclosure to manager 6 Required divestiture of personal holding 2 Prohibited any transactions in personal holding unless approved by EBC 1 interest posed by working closely with the private Following the completion of EBC’s review and analysis sector. This expansion nearly doubled the size of the of the DOIs, there were 319 in which actual or potential program, from 2,392 filers in fiscal year 2019 to 4,567 conflicts of interest were identified. EBC resolved these in fiscal year 2020. conflicts of interest by implementing several mitigation measures. Once the DOIs are received by EBC, a team of highly trained and experienced analysts carefully review and Bringing EBC advisory guidance to the GEF analyze each DOI to identify any actual or potential conflicts of interest. If any is identified, EBC then works EBC plays the role of Ethics Officer for the Council of closely with the staff member and manager to the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) Ethics implement appropriate safeguards in order to mitigate Committee. From this capacity, over the years, EBC conflict of interest risks. has provided institutional guidance on the application of GEF’s Policy on Ethics and Conflict of Interest; In addition to the annual requirement to submit a DOI, designed and implemented the DOI program for the all newly hired or promoted staff members at the GH or council; and advised on related situations that GI grade levels are required to submit a DOI within 30 triggered potential conflicts of interest issues. days of their onboarding or promotion. In fiscal year 2020, 26 staff members were required to complete an onboarding DOI. 11 P Prevention continued In fiscal year 2020, EBC’s highlight contribution to the EBC provided face-to-face training to 3,011 staff GEF was guiding the Ethics Committee in designating a members through March 2020. The training team new chair and new members. EBC also launched the visited WBG country offices in Bangkok, Bogota, annual GEF DOI program in August 2019. By December Brasilia, Chișinău, Conakry, Cotonou, Dakar, Harare, 2019, EBC had collected all the GEF DOI forms, Johannesburg, Juba, Khartoum, Lomé, London, accomplishing 100 percent compliance with the Maputo, Maseru, Nairobi, Phnom Penh, Riyadh, Sofia, exercise, and completed the review process, with no Yangon (as part of our Fragile, Conflict, and Violence conflicts of interest found. The application of this states support), and Yaoundé. In addition, EBC took exercise has had a continued impact in supporting the part in three annual retreats throughout the WBG. In GEF Council’s transparency efforts. November 2019, EBC assisted the Moldova country office by facilitating in person relevant ethics Training and Outreach information. EBC also supported IFC’s Budget and Business Administration Department retreat in EBC’s Advisory, Training, and Values Unit (ATV) quickly November 2019. In February 2020, EBC joined the and effectively responded to the COVID-19 pandemic Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions with virtual training alternatives that used digital Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment Team during a learning tools. Almost 4,500 staff received ethics regional retreat for Africa and South Asia Region staff. training in fiscal year 2020. To enhance the virtual experience, EBC reduced the size of groups being The investigations team works closely with ATV, trained. Taking advantage of the new training mode, in sharing cases from which to develop material where fiscal year 2020 EBC employed real-time voting with there is a need. The AHC also provides input on participants using their mobile phones. Trainers also harassment-focused training products based on her invited attendees to perform exercises in virtual interactions with reporters and directly contributes to breakout sessions to enhance the online experience. many outreach sessions. Ethics compliance videos Compliance training is evolving fast as a way to address and mitigate potential risks to the institution that could be derived from non-observance of staff rules. Three-minute videos focused on specific topics are emerging as the most effective tool to develop compliance with rules. They raise awareness and boost compliance with issues identified by the EBC advisory and investigative functions as having the most requests for advice. EBC produced a suite of eight compliance videos in fiscal year 2020 that will be Panel for the Ethics at Work session in February 2020. 12 EBC Annual Report 2020 Ethics-at-Work Learner Series On February 11, 2020, EBC hosted can’t have a well-functioning organizations are 3.77 times more “How Organizational Systems Make workplace.” likely to have people withholding or or Break Honesty,” featuring author, distorting truthful information. Carucci pointed out that we often organizational psychologist, and TED Besides the organization’s think of honesty in terms of personal Talk and Google Talks speaker Ron accountability system, there are a attributes or character, but an Carucci. The session focused on the few other organizational factors that organization is a collective sum of link between the organizational influence individual honesty, such as individuals, and our actions and systems and individual honesty and how decisions are made, clarity and behaviors are also affected by our was moderated by Staff Association consistency of organizational environment and the systems we Chair Daniel Sellen. strategy, and an environment that is operate in. People make decisions conducive for cross-functional “I think honesty is the foundation of about what they do or say based on collaboration. trust building between people,” said the “cues” that they receive from their panelist WBG Chief Ethics Officer environment about what is rewarded Dajani said honesty is inextricably Jorge Dajani at the learning session. or discouraged. linked to the World Bank Group’s core “Deciding whether we can trust values, and stressed the importance For example, Carucci noted that someone or not depends mostly on of having a regular conversation when accountability systems are our judgment about how honest we about values within the organization. perceived to lack effectiveness, think they are. And without trust, we released in fiscal year 2021. Listed here, they will Sexual harassment training generate compliance awareness by staff on the most In order to reinforce the message of the previous important recurring issues: mandatory e-learning on sexual harassment, EBC • Policies Related to Outside Employment; prepared a “refresher” follow-up training, which will be • Close Relatives and WBG Employment; released in fiscal year 2021. The new set of six videos, • Maintaining Integrity with Our Vendors; “Preventing and Addressing Sexual Harassment at the World Bank Group,” relays the same story in each video • Appropriate Use of the UN Laissez Passer (UNLP) from a different viewpoint, and explores options, passport; resources, and responsibilities. The video series • Work-Related Gifts and Benefits; emphasizes the psychological effect that sexual • Reporting Requirements of Intimate Relationships; harassment can have not only on the person directly affected, but also on coworkers and managers. • Respecting Our G5 Employees; and • Preventing Domestic Violence. 13 FOCUS ON A total of 281 allegations were made to EBC—to the investigations team and the Anti-Harassment TRUST Coordinator combined—in fiscal year 2020. This represents a significant increase over fiscal year Allegations 2019’s total of 224. This substantial increase is mainly related to the surge in harassment allegations after the Received by EBC appointment of the AHC, in November 2019, who has provided a confidential and effective venue for staff to raise inappropriate behaviors. The increase of harassment allegations illustrates the trust by staff in the institution’s commitment to addressing and preventing harassment and sexual harassment. This is also reflected in the WBG Engagement Survey results, which show an increase of 4 percentage points of staff who believe in that commitment. In addition, the outreach and communication provided by the new AHC function and staff’s increased trust in the informal nature of the resolution have played a part in creating a speak-up corporate culture. This is an essential step in ensuring that all staff feel comfortable in raising allegations and concerns about behaviors that may be contrary to the values of the WBG or to the Staff Rules. The Anti-Harassment Coordinator is the first point of contact for anyone who wants to report an allegation of inappropriate behaviors related to sexual harassment or harassment involving a World Bank Group staff member that may or may not rise to the level of misconduct. The AHC addresses most allegations through an informal process and, when appropriate, and with the consent of the affected individual, transfers cases to the IJS or to investigators in BIR. BIR investigates allegations of staff misconduct (excluding harassment and sexual harassment allegations suitable for informal review, which are addressed by the AHC). Through the unit’s newly appointed Intake Coordinator, BIR assesses whether there is enough evidence to warrant a preliminary inquiry by the investigation team, and consequently to determine whether there is sufficient factual basis for an investigation. When appropriate, BIR conducts an 14 EBC Annual Report 2020 TABLE 6. Allegations of Misconduct (and Inappropriate Behaviors) Received by EBC by Category, FY17–FY20 ALLEGATIONS RECEIVED BY CATEGORY FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 Abuse of authority 31 34 22 9 Discrimination 7 7 4 2 G5 domestic 9 4 3 2 Harassment 60 79 83 71 (+60*) Misuse of resources 21 18 15 20 Noncompliance with Staff Rules 60 44 39 49 Personal legal obligation 18 20 18 12 Retaliation 11 11 10 13 Sexual exploitation and abuse 0 0 2 5 Sexual harassment 11 35 28 18 (+20*) Total 228 252 224 201 (+80*) (*) The first figure represents the number of misconduct allegations received by the investigators, and the second figure represents the number of inappropriate behaviors received by the Anti-Harassment Coordinator. investigation, which enables EBC to establish whether Tracking Allegation Trends misconduct has occurred or to refute the allegation. The number of allegations of harassment reported to In fiscal year 2020, EBC started to address the investigations team was 71 in fiscal year 2020, not inappropriate behaviors, with the creation of the role of far from the historic high of 83 reached in fiscal year Anti-Harassment Coordinator. The number of 2019. When combined, allegations of harassment allegations received by the AHC reached 60 for those received by investigators and the AHC total 1251. This related to harassment and 20 for those related to represents a 50 percent increase over the historic high sexual harassment, and this in less than a year as the of 83 allegations of harassment in fiscal year 2019. Anti-Harassment Coordinator started operating in Thus, the new service provided by the AHC has allowed November 2019. The detail of the cases addressed by EBC to address a possible trend in underreporting and the AHC is reviewed on page 35. encouraged more staff to raise their concerns with EBC. 1 After removing six that were addressed by both to avoid double-counting. 15 T Trust continued Rooting Out Discrimination EBC is collaborating with the World Bank Group Task Force on Racism and with the Diversity and Inclusion Discrimination is a serious misconduct that, when office to put the focus on the prevention of racism by substantiated, can lead to sanctions. As shown in incorporating these messages in training and other Table 7, “Discrimination Allegations, FY16–FY20,” there initiatives that address attitudes that lead to are many types of discrimination that can be alleged, discriminating outcomes. including race, nationality, gender, disability, and religion. TABLE 7. Discrimination Allegations, FY16–FY20 TYPE OF DISCRIMINATION FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 TOTAL Racial 1 3 2 2 2 10 Nationality 2 2 1 22 7 Gender 2 1 2 5 Disability 2 2 4 Age 1 1 2 Health 1 1 Religion/creed 1 1 Sexual orientation 1 1 Total 8 7 7 5 4 31 2 In these two cases, discrimination based on national origin was a secondary allegation to other categories of misconduct allegations that the reporters brought to EBC. 16 EBC Annual Report 2020 Stella-Monica Mpande delivers ethics training for colleagues in the Brazil country office in December 2019. 17 FOCUS ON T he EBC investigation team continually endeavors to improve its investigative process and ACCOUNTABILITY procedures. To that end, in fiscal year 2020, team members focused on being more people-centric to The Role of build trust in and increase transparency of the unit. They also worked to enhance quality assurance, accountability, Investigations communication, data analysis, and identification of trends in misconduct. Business Integrity Review Trends and Activities Decrease in misconduct allegations The total number of allegations of misconduct directed to investigators dropped slightly by around 10 percent in fiscal year 2020. This decrease could be attributed to the role of the Anti-Harassment Coordinator, who reviewed 80 cases that typically would have been reviewed by the BIR team. Upon receiving an allegation of misconduct, the Intake Coordinator assesses the matter to evaluate whether the behavior, as alleged, would constitute misconduct under Staff Rule 3.00. The Intake Coordinator will also seek additional information from the reporter if required to clarify the nature of the reported allegation. The Intake Coordinator also regularly refers the reporter to other WBG mechanisms, including those within the IJS as well as the AHC, to address and resolve the concern when more relevant.  If an allegation is within EBC’s mandate, the Intake Coordinator, in consultation with the manager, will assign the matter to an investigation team to undertake a preliminary inquiry. During a preliminary inquiry, EBC assesses the allegation to determine whether the evidence is sufficient, credible and verifiable. The initial review may involve interviews with witnesses and a review of documents. At this stage, the initial review is usually carried out without the involvement of the staff member who is the subject of the allegation. Should EBC determine that the allegation is either unfounded or unsubstantiated, or that the evidence collected does not otherwise justify further investigation, the case may 18 EBC Annual Report 2020 TABLE 8. How BIR Managed Misconduct Cases, FY20 Total Number of Allegations Processed in FY20 223 Brought forward from previous year (FY19) 22 Reported in FY20 201 TOTAL NUMBER OF ALLEGATIONS ADDRESSED/CLOSED IN FY20 202 Closed at intake 106 Closed during preliminary inquiry 74 Closed during investigation 9 Reports to HRDVP 13 Total number of allegations carried over to FY21 21 be closed at the initial review stage. The reporter of the allegation is notified of such a closure. A case closing memo is prepared for EBC’s records; it is not shared with the reporter. Following the preliminary inquiry stage, if EBC determines there is sufficient evidence, it will proceed with an investigation. An investigation enables EBC to establish whether there is sufficient evidence that misconduct has occurred. It is at this stage that EBC will notify the subject staff member by providing a Notice of Alleged Misconduct. EBC will interview the subject staff member to hear his/her side of the story, interview additional witnesses, and review relevant documentation. If, at the end of an investigation, EBC In November 2019, EBC’s determines that there is insufficient evidence, EBC Bamidele Sanya led a Creating documents such findings, will close the case and a Respectful Workplace session notify the reporter. If the investigation indicates that for staff in Yaounde, Cameroon. misconduct may have occurred, EBC provides the staff member whose conduct is at issue with a draft report 19 A Accountability continued of EBC’s findings, presenting both inculpatory and For example, EBC took the following steps: exculpatory evidence, and recommendations. • Addressed 81 allegations of misconduct by offering In fiscal year 2020, EBC conducted 41 investigations. consultation, guidance, and advice to the reporter/ Of the 41 investigations, EBC substantiated allegations complainant; in 13 cases. EBC closed nine cases at the investigation • Referred 18 matters to other services within the IJS; stage and carried over 19 cases for review in fiscal year • Closed 14 matters because the reporter/complainant 2021. Table 9 reflects a breakdown of 13 cases that withdrew their complaint; resulted in a report to HRDVP. • Determined that in 11 cases, the allegations raised Although only 13 allegations resulted in a report to did not amount to misconduct under Staff Rule 3.00; HRDVP, EBC undertook many additional actions in • Identified six cases more suitable for resolution by addressing and resolving the remaining allegations. performance management; Chart 2 reflects a detailed breakdown of the • Referred four allegations for resolution by the AHC; disposition of the 189 allegations that were closed and either at the intake, preliminary inquiry, or investigation stage, and that did not result in a report to HRDVP. • Closed two matters because the subject staff member had resigned from the organization pursuant to a mutually agreed separation. The HRDVP decisions taken in fiscal year 2020 are examined in Table 10, “HRDVP Disciplinary Decisions, FY20,” page 23. Nine of these TABLE 9. Misconduct Allegations Substantiated concerned EBC reports submitted in fiscal year by EBC that Resulted in a Report to HRDVP, 2019, and 11 decisions stemmed from reports FY18–FY20 submitted in fiscal year 2020. Two of the 13 reports submitted to HRDVP in fiscal year 2020 FY18 FY19 FY20 were still pending decisions as of June 30, 2020. Abuse of authority 2 0 0 Length of investigations Discrimination 0 0 0 G-5 domestic 2 0 0 In fiscal year 2019, EBC made a strong effort to Harassment 7 1 1 streamline procedures and reduce the average Misuse of resources 1 4 4 length of investigations to 175 days for 19 investigations. In fiscal year 2020, the average Non-compliance with Staff Rules 3 7 2 duration for completing the 13 investigations Personal legal obligation 0 0 2 that resulted in a report to HRDVP was 227 Sexual harassment 4 6 4 days, with five cases within a time of 100–160 Sexual exploitation and abuse 0 1 0 days and five cases within 199–246 days. The Total 19 19 13 main factor explaining the overall average increase were three very complex outlier cases, 20 EBC Annual Report 2020 CHART 2. EBC Action on Allegations that Did Not Result in a Report to HRDVP, FY20 Resignation/Memorandum of Understanding 2 Referred to AHC 4 Performance management 6 Allegation not misconduct under Staff Rules 11 Allegation withdrawn/unable to reach reporter 14 Referred 18 Allegation unsubstantiated 53 Consultation and advisory/EBC record only 81 without which the average time employed for the serious cases analyzed by BIR will be higher and investigations is 173 days. therefore will have a longer average investigation time. EBC will continue going forward streamlining processes This same explanation also applies to the four cases of to ensure that the length of investigations is reduced sexual harassment substantiated in 2020. One of the to the minimum while preserving due process for all sexual harassment cases was among the outliers parties involved and without compromising the quality previously mentioned, which had a duration of 374 of investigations. days. Overall, the average duration for investigations involving sexual harassment was 249 days in fiscal year 2020. Without the one outlier case, the average duration was reduced to 207 days. During fiscal year 2020, the new Anti-Harassment Coordinator has become, since December 2019, the main point of intake for sexual harassment allegations. Effective fiscal year 2021, the Anti-Harassment Coordinator also will become the first point of contact for allegations of harassment. This entails an early intervention before some of these cases reach the level of misconduct and that will inevitably imply that the proportion of very 21 A Accountability continued Evidencing EBC’s transparency and sanction, and the subject’s grade level (Table 10, accountability “HRDVP Disciplinary Decisions, FY20”). Chart 3, “Sanctions by Institution,” follows on page 31. In fiscal EBC continues, since last fiscal year, to foster year 2020, HRDVP made decisions on 20 EBC transparency and accountability by publishing investigation reports. More than half of those reports on a quarterly basis on the WBG intranet cases involved subject staff members at grade GG or above, substantiated by EBC and sanctioned by HRDVP. The and of these, eight were at grade GH or above. report includes location (headquarters or a country office), type of misconduct found by HRDVP, type of Country Manager for South Sudan Husam Abudagga (pictured far right) with his team after the ethics session in Juba held in February 2020. 22 EBC Annual Report 2020 TABLE 10. HRDVP Disciplinary Decisions, FY20 LOCATION FY OF MISCONDUCT CASE HRDVP SUBJECT’S HRDVP CATEGORY SUMMARY DECISION GRADE CLOSING LEVEL CO FY20 Q1 Misuse or abuse of Bank A staff member Termination of WBG GE Group resources; failure to provided services for employment; observe generally a company without ineligibility for any applicable norms of prior approval from future employment prudent professional his/her manager, and with the WBG; behavior; failure to avoid misused Bank Group access restriction to situations and activities facilities, including WBG premises; and that might reflect his/her WBG email written censure adversely on the account. remains in personnel organization and conduct record indefinitely. themselves at all times in a manner befitting their status as employees of an international organization CO FY20 Q1 Failure to observe A staff member failed Ineligibility for salary GG generally applicable norms to disclose that his/ increase in FY19; of prudent professional her immediate family written censure to behavior; acts or member was a board remain in personnel omissions in conflict with member of a file. HRDVP the general obligations of company which a had considered the staff members; conflict of a business following mitigating interest relationship with the factors: no prior WBG. disciplinary findings; cooperated fully with EBC’s investigation; and the staff alleged that they had no knowledge of the conflict. 23 A Accountability continued LOCATION FY OF MISCONDUCT CASE HRDVP SUBJECT’S HRDVP CATEGORY SUMMARY DECISION GRADE CLOSING LEVEL HQ FY20 Q1 Misuse or abuse of Bank A staff member failed Ineligibility for salary GH Group resources to disclose a change in increase for a period his/her immigration of five years; status from a G4 visa Ineligibility for to a US Legal promotion for a Permanent Resident. period of five years; The staff member Restitution to the continued receiving WBG for financial benefits which they losses; written were not entitled to, censure remains on as a result of the personnel record. nondisclosure. HQ FY20 Q1 Unauthorized use of Bank A staff member Demotion to grade GD Group offices or computer; accessed without level GC; ineligibility misuse or abuse of Bank authorization, his/her for promotion for a Group resources; failure to current and former period of three observe generally manager’s TRS years; restitution to applicable norms of profile and approved the WBG for the prudent professional without authorization total amount of behavior; and SR 6, para an overtime request overtime approved 2.02 on overtime work. for hours she worked, and received; written on more than one censure to remain in occasion. The personnel file. overtime payments HRDVP considered were received in the the following staff member’s mitigating factors: payroll. the staff member acknowledged wrongdoing and was remorseful, the staff member cooperated fully with EBC’s investigation; and worked the overtime hours claimed. 24 EBC Annual Report 2020 LOCATION FY OF MISCONDUCT CASE HRDVP SUBJECT’S HRDVP CATEGORY SUMMARY DECISION GRADE CLOSING LEVEL CO FY20 Q1 Sexual harassment A staff member Termination of WBG GD (hostile work environment) engaged in a pattern employment; of conduct that had ineligibility for any sexual overtones, future employment including giving with the WBG; unwelcome and access restriction to inappropriate WBG premises; and written censure compliments, making remains in comments about personnel record. colleagues’ physical appearance and clothes, and sending texts late in the evening. CO FY20 Q1 Sexual harassment A staff member Staff member GD (hostile work environment) engaged in a pattern resigned. Ineligibility of conduct that had for any future sexual overtones, employment with including giving the WBG; access unwelcome and restriction. Written inappropriate censure remains in personnel record. compliments, making comments about colleagues’ physical appearance and clothes, and sending texts late in the evening. 25 A Accountability continued LOCATION FY OF MISCONDUCT CASE HRDVP SUBJECT’S HRDVP CATEGORY SUMMARY DECISION GRADE CLOSING LEVEL CO FY20 Q1 Misuse or abuse of Bank A staff member while Restitution to the GH Group resources; failure to on official mission to WBG for the cost of observe generally HQ removed a reframing the applicable norms of WBG-owned artwork artwork. prudent professional from its original behavior; AMS 5.10, para frame and took the 11: WBG art should not be artwork back to their removed, replaced, nor duty station, kept the relocated by anyone other artwork in their than Art Program staff or possession, and by the GCS Frame Shop, returned it to the Artwork of the World country office only Bank collection are after the staff property of the WBG. member received inquiries about the artwork from colleagues and Corporate Security. CO FY20 Q1 Disclosure of confidential A staff member No misconduct GG information disclosed confidential found. information to an external party. CO FY20 Q1 De facto conflict of A staff member Ineligibility for GG interest engaged in a sexual promotion for three relationship with a (3) years; and subordinate and written censure failed to disclose the remains on relationship in a personnel record. timely manner, HRDVP considered resulting in a de facto the following conflict of interest. mitigating factors: the de facto conflict of interest was resolved prior to EBC’s investigation, and there was no abuse of authority. END OF Q1 26 EBC Annual Report 2020 LOCATION FY OF MISCONDUCT CASE HRDVP SUBJECT’S HRDVP CATEGORY SUMMARY DECISION GRADE CLOSING LEVEL CO FY20 Q2 Sexual harassment A staff member Staff member GI (hostile work environment) engaged in a pattern resigned. Demotion of conduct that to a GH non- included making managerial position unwelcome sexual with appropriate advances, unwelcome title change; social invitations; ineligibility for unwelcome promotion for three comments and years; ineligibility for compliments and salary increase for sexual innuendos to three-year period; junior staff in their and written censure department. to remain in personnel file. HQ FY20 Q2 Misuse or abuse of Bank A staff member Three-year hiring UC Group resources submitted false restriction; three- invoices pertaining to year access his mission trips by restriction to all misrepresenting WBG facilities and SOEs. decision letter to remain in personnel record. END OF Q2 CO FY20 Q3 Misuse or abuse of Bank A staff member Written censure to GB Group resources inflated courier remain in personnel service costs and record indefinitely. attempted to misappropriate the difference. HQ FY20 Q3 Misuse or abuse of Bank A staff member Ineligibility for salary GH Group resources misrepresented the increase for 3 years; location of their restitution to the dependent to receive WBG for financial relocation benefits. losses; and letter to remain in personnel file indefinitely. 27 A Accountability continued LOCATION FY OF MISCONDUCT CASE HRDVP SUBJECT’S HRDVP CATEGORY SUMMARY DECISION GRADE CLOSING LEVEL CO FY20 Q3 Reckless failure to identify A staff member (i) Completion of GE or failure to observe threatened a anger management generally applicable norms government official classes; ineligibility of prudent professional with bodily harm; for a promotion for conduct; and acts or threatened to throw a the period of 5 omissions in conflict with chair at him; threw years; (ii) ineligibility general obligations of staff bottles of water at for a salary increase members (physical him; and spat on him. for the period of 5 assault) years; and (iii) written censure to remain in personnel file. CO FY20 Q3 Sexual harassment A staff member (i) Termination of GH (hostile work environment) sexually harassed a WBG employment; colleague. The ineligibility for future unwelcome behavior WBG employment; of a sexual nature (ii) access restriction created an offensive to WBG premises; and hostile work and (iii) written environment. censure to remain in personnel file. 28 EBC Annual Report 2020 LOCATION FY OF MISCONDUCT CASE HRDVP SUBJECT’S HRDVP CATEGORY SUMMARY DECISION GRADE CLOSING LEVEL HQ FY20 Q3 Conflict of interest; A staff member (i) (i) Suspension of GG unauthorized employment performed services salary increase for a outside the WBG outside WBG without period of 3 years; the required approval (ii) suspension of from WBG; (ii) used promotion for a his/her WBG email period of 3 years; account to request and (iii) written funding for a project censure to remain in without the required personnel file. authorization; (iii) made material misrepresentations of facts in a proposal network with the objective of procuring investment; and (iv) registered a trademark in his/her personal capacity for property created in the course of his/her work for the WBG without approval of management or the WBG. END OF Q3 HQ FY20 Q4 Unwelcome inappropriate A staff member (i) Reduction in GH behavior of a sexual behaved future pay in the nature; failure to observe inappropriately form of the generally applicable norms towards a colleague withholding of FY of prudent professional and failed to observe 2020 pay increase; conduct applicable norms of (ii) censure to remain prudent professional in personnel file; conduct. and (iii) undertake the WBG’s CultureWizard Online Learning Course. 29 A Accountability continued LOCATION FY OF MISCONDUCT CASE HRDVP SUBJECT’S HRDVP CATEGORY SUMMARY DECISION GRADE CLOSING LEVEL HQ FY20 Q4 Sexual harassment A staff member (i) Termination of GH (hostile work environment/ engaged in WBG employment; sexual assault) inappropriate sexual ineligibility for future conduct with a WBG employment; colleague while on a (ii) access restriction WBG mission. to WBG premises, and (iii) written censure to remain in personnel file. CO FY20 Q4 Misuse of WBG resources; A staff member Written censure to GA failure to observe misappropriated remain in personnel generally applicable norms WBG cleaning file. of prudent professional supplies for his/her conduct; acts or omission own personal use. in conflict with general obligations of WBG staff members HQ FY20 Q4 Harassment; contributing A staff member (i) Removal from GH to a hostile work abused his/her managerial GH level environment; abuse of authority and created position to technical authority; reckless failure a hostile and position with to identify or failure to offensive work accompanying title observe generally environment. change; (ii) applicable norms of ineligibility for prudent professional promotion for a conduct; and acts or period of 3 years; omissions in conflict with (iii)ineligibility for a the general obligations of salary increase for staff members set forth in a period of 3 years; Principle 3. and (iv) enrollment in a course for interpersonal skills. END OF Q4 30 EBC Annual Report 2020 CHART 3. Sanctions by Institution Investigations in a virtual work environment To assist in adapting to a virtual environment, EBC in fiscal year 2020 participated in training that focused IFC 20% on effectively conducting investigations in a virtual setting. The department invited investigative colleagues from the WBG Integrity Vice Presidency and from the International Monetary Fund to join the IBRD 80% session, which included: (1) advanced interviewing techniques; (2) examining credibility; (3) writing investigative reports; and (4) a roleplay exercise. COVID-19-Driven Increase in Domestic Abuse COVID-19’s stay-at-home and outreach and training about The DAPP Committee meets work-from-home policies have driven domestic abuse to staff and their regularly to discuss cases of note for up the instances of domestic abuse spouses. The primary focus is on which HSD needs assistance from globally. This unacceptable behavior expanding awareness of the issue, other committee members to resolve. goes against the World Bank Group’s educating staff on prevention Upon discussing the case, the core values. The Bank Group is taking techniques, and explaining the committee may decide that one action to mitigate this dire situation resources available for those committee member is most suited to through the WBG’s Domestic Abuse experiencing domestic abuse or assisting a client, or the consensus Prevention Program (DAPP), a key aware of a person experiencing it. may be that multiple offices should partner of EBC. To raise awareness, Some of the resources are provided work together to properly provide a the Chief Ethics Officer, Jorge Dajani, by DAPP itself, either through WBG resolution. In addition to addressing issued in May 2020 a joint internal staff or through contracted vendors. individual cases, the committee communication with Dr. Stuart Internal resources include counseling discusses strategies for maximizing Fisher, head of the Health and Safety and a 24-hour hotline. DAPP may DAPP’s outreach to staff and Directorate’s (HSD) Counseling Unit also refer individuals to external spouses, especially during Domestic within which DAPP sits. parties such as a legal clinic Abuse Awareness Month in October. specializing in abuse cases. EBC serves as a member on the DAPP Committee. DAPP provides 31 Special Report on Harassment and Sexual Harassment T he fiscal year 2020 EBC addressing sexual harassment; and addressed 80 cases, 10 per Annual Report marks our employ new staff (such as the month on average. The AHC began third running Special Anti-Harassment Coordinator), with a focus on sexual harassment Report on Sexual technology, communications, and cases, and soon expanded her Harassment. The actions that the other resources to aid reporters of coverage to other forms of WBG, EBC, staff, managers, and sexual harassment; empower WBG harassment. She will review all senior leaders have taken over the staff to engage as complainants, harassment cases in fiscal year 2021. past years illustrate our collective managers, or bystanders; implement Reaction from staff and management commitment and determination to initiatives in the WBG Action Plan for to the AHC’s presence has been very build and sustain a culture of zero Preventing and Addressing Sexual positive. The Coordinator has held tolerance, defined as one where Harassment; and listen to all parties 30-plus introductory sessions about sexual harassment is systematically to ensure the safety of our workplace. her role and sexual harassment and addressed. The fiscal year 2020 harassment issues for units across Staff Engagement Survey showed The Anti-Harassment the WBG: 17 for staff located in DC an improvement of 4 percentage Coordinator: Meeting a and country offices (including three points in the number of staff who Demand face-to-face at the Bucharest, believed that the Bank Group is From late November 2019, a Pristina, and Vienna offices and five committed to addressing month after the Anti-Harassment delivered virtually to country offices harassment and sexual harassment. Coordinator’s arrival, through the end and regions); three to the IJS Together we continue to move of fiscal year 2020, EBC’s Anti- (including Respectful Workplace forward in preventing and Harassment Coordinator reviewed Advisors (RWA)); two to Human 32 EBC Annual Report 2020 The Anti-Harassment Coordinator’s Three-Step Process Resources; and six to managers. In addition, the AHC delivered two sessions to share best practices with The AHC is a confidential resource within EBC who is available the UN Chief Executives Board for to review and address allegations of harassment and sexual Coordination Ombuds and Mediators harassment in connection with work at the WBG, including network and a group of Ethics those raised by staff against external parties or vice versa. Officers representing over 100 private corporations. The Coordinator uses three steps—(1) consultation, (2) intervention, and (3) monitoring—to facilitate a case: Most notable among the sessions was the May 13, 2020, town hall, Step 1: Consultation hosted by the Chair of the Staff • Provides a “triage” function to identify the nature of the Association, where the Chief Ethics problem and advise on the best way to resolve it; Officer and the Anti-Harassment Coordinator presented the role to all • Options include coaching, referring the matter for WBG staff. This town hall gathered investigation or to the appropriate service for support (for 803 Bank Group staff joining example, Internal Justice-related services or Human virtually from 98 locations. Ninety- Resources), or taking action to address inappropriate nine percent of respondents rated behaviors; and the session either 4 or 5 (out of a • No action is taken without the consent of the affected potential 5). Discussion points individual. included: • Resources for staff to address Step 2: Intervention harassment and inappropriate • Cautions staff and managers about alleged inappropriate behaviors, including the new role behavior; of the AHC; • Works with management to secure protective or remedial • Accountability for managers and measures to prevent recurrences; and higher-ups who harass staff; • Keeps confidential records of interventions that remain only • The role of managers in preventing accessible to the AHC, unless there is reoccurrence and the harassment; and situation is escalated to an investigation. • Bullying and what constitutes harassment. Step 3: Monitoring • Follows up with involved parties to verify the effectiveness of The AHC has also assisted and the intervention and to offer additional support, as needed; continues to assist several groups of and staff in country offices and headquarters in developing and • Monitors the status of the affected individual to prevent implementing action plans to retaliation, and to provide immediate support if retaliation is prevent and address harassment as suspected. 33 Special Report continued coordination with many partners inside the WBG, to put different parts of the action plan into motion. The role of the Anti-Harassment In addition to the appointment of Coordinator was presented to the Anti-Harassment Coordinator, all WBG staff during a virtual other completed or ongoing town hall in May 2020. measures include: • Define the AHC’s role and a follow-up to their engagement harassment and abuse in responsibilities in the Staff Rules; surveys. multilateral organizations. EBC • Establish targeted sexual contributed to the MOPAN The large majority of alleged harassment training for managers Technical Working Group’s “Case offenders cautioned by the AHC and supervisors; study: How to assess the about their unwelcome behavior • Caution staff that an alleged performance of Multilateral took the feedback seriously and behavior may not be in compliance Organizations in preventing and committed to amend their behavior with the Staff Rules or values. Not responding to sexual exploitation, immediately. All parties, including a sanction but an opportunity to abuse and sexual harassment.” the manager, generally appreciated adjust as necessary and to set the confidentiality, quick resolution, expectations for the future, to and avoidance of investigation. Significant Progress in the remain in the AHC’s records for a Implementation of the Action period of years; Plan on Sexual Harassment International Action on • Include sexual harassment in the Sexual Harassment There are more than 70 tasks and WBG staff survey; initiatives in the WBG Action Plan for EBC is involved in global • EBC shares knowledge with other Preventing and Addressing Sexual partnerships that share best international organizations, civil Harassment, the large majority of practices about sexual harassment society organizations, United which have already been adopted or investigations: Nations organizations, and are ongoing. These measures are international financial institutions; • EBC represents the WBG on the tracked by the Action Plan UN Chief Executives Board for Coordinator within EBC and • Inform both the subject and the Coordination Task Force on monitored by the Sexual complainant of the decision and Addressing Sexual Harassment Harassment Working Group. The resulting disciplinary measures; within the UN System. group members receive from the and • EBC worked in fiscal year 2020 Coordinator a spreadsheet of • Compose guidelines for managers with the Multilateral Organization “greenlight” initiatives (completed), on how to address harassment of Performance Assessment “yellow light” tasks (ongoing) and staff by clients, or harassment of Network (MOPAN) to develop a “red light” projects (to be discussed) anyone by WBG contractors. methodology for assessments of for the members’ review and regular safeguarding against sexual input. EBC works, in close 34 EBC Annual Report 2020 A Closer Look at Data Regarding Allegations of Sexual Harassment Considering together allegations of misconduct and allegations of inappropriate behaviors, EBC received 38 new allegations in fiscal year 2020 and addressed 42 (of which some are still in progress): TABLE 11. Disposition of Sexual Harassment Allegations (Misconduct and Inappropriate Behaviors), FY20 Brought forward from previous year (FY19) 4 Reported in FY20 38 Total number of allegations processed in FY20 42 Out of the 38 allegations received, 18 were allegations of misconduct and 20 were initially reviewed by the AHC, who addressed 18 of them. In one case, the AHC considered that the inappropriate behaviors that constituted sexual harassment were combined with harassing behaviors that could constitute misconduct and she referred the case to the investigators. In another case, the reporter requested the case be reviewed by investigators and therefore was referred to the investigation unit. The types of allegations addressed by the AHC differ significantly from those received by the investigative team. This is another indication that the AHC is catering to a different demand that was not being met before. TABLE 12. Classification of Sexual Harassment Allegations (Misconduct and Inappropriate Behaviors), FY20 MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS ALLEGATIONS OF INAPPROPRIATE RECEIVED BY THE BEHAVIORS RECEIVED INVESTIGATION UNIT BY THE AHC Hostile work environment (HWE)  1 0 HWE – Comments/gestures   5 13 HWE – Unwelcome requests  5 6 HWE – Sharing/displaying offensive material  3 0 HWE – Touching        3 1 Quid pro quo 1 0 Total 18 20 35 Special Report continued EBC accepts anonymous allegations. There are additional ways of protecting the identity of the reporters. In several cases the AHC was able to caution alleged offenders without mentioning the names or giving any hint as to the identity of the complainants. EBC also regularly receives allegations from managers. TABLE 13. Classification of Reporters of Sexual Harassment Allegations (Misconduct and Inappropriate Behaviors), FY20 REPORTER NUMBER OF CLASSIFICATION ALLEGATIONS Complainants 20 Managers 6 Witnesses 0 Anonymous parties 6 External parties 3 IJS referrals 3 Total 38 For the first time in the past five years, the allegations emanating from IFC are in the same proportion of total staff as the allegations emanating from IBRD. EBC made significant efforts to address the underreporting that had been observed in IFC and, in particular, enhanced outreach programs by the AHC. For fiscal year 2021, EBC appointed an EBC representative in IFC who is a senior member of EBC providing training and outreach for IFC staff. TABLE 14. Number of Sexual Harassment Allegations Received (Misconduct and Inappropriate Behaviors), FY20 INSTITUTION NUMBER OF ALLEGATIONS IBRD 25 IFC 9 External parties 4 Total number of allegations received in FY20 38 36 EBC Annual Report 2020 The EBC investigators have continued to fast-track the cases involving sexual harassment and managed to address 18 cases in the same year they were received. The investigation unit was able to substantiate the allegations in four cases that were reported to HRDVP for sanctions. TABLE 15. Sexual Harassment Allegations Addressed during Investigation Stage (Misconduct only), FY20 Total number of allegations processed in FY20 22 Total number of cases addressed in FY20 20 Closed at intake 6 Closed during preliminary inquiry 9 Closed during investigation 1 Reports to HRDVP 4 Allegations carried over to FY21 2 The AHC has proved to be a useful avenue for all those the outcome of an investigation or an admission of guilt. who want to be able to share their stories, without They put individuals on notice that serious concerns were necessarily moving forward with actions against the raised against them and advised them to adjust their alleged perpetrator. In seven cases, the complainant did behaviors. If new allegations are raised after a staff not want to move forward with any proceeding. In seven member has been cautioned, the staff member could other cases, the AHC was able to implement a gradual become the subject of an investigation. The caution is response, contacting the management of the alleged therefore an important intermediary step that staff perpetrator in three cases and providing a formal caution members take seriously. to the alleged offender in four cases. The cautions are not TABLE 16. Outcome of Sexual Harassment Reports Addressed by the AHC (Inappropriate Behaviors only), FY20 Total number of reports processed in FY20 20 Total number of reports closed in FY20 15 Subject cautioned 4 Subject and manager contacted 3 Referred to investigations 2 Referred to other services 1 Case closed after consultation 5 3 Reports carried over to FY21 5 3 Affected individual did not want to take any action. 37 Special Report continued In addition to addressing allegations of inappropriate behaviors related to sexual harassment, the AHC does the same for situations of harassment. The activity of the AHC over the course of fiscal year 2020 was as follows: TABLE 17. Allegations Received by the AHC, FY20 CASES ADDRESSED TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL AHC Cases Referred Referred CASES CASES OPEN CLOSED Intervention Closed to INV to UNDER IN FY20 CASES AS CASES After Others MONITORING OF JUNE Consultation 2020 Harassment 60 16 44 14 22 4 4 12 Sexual harassment 20 5 15 7 5 2 1 3 Total 80 21 59 15 Out of the 60 allegations of harassment (inappropriate behaviors) reported to the AHC, four cases were transferred to the investigation unit, in agreement with or at the request of the reporter4. This means that 56 cases addressed by the AHC were indeed situations of inappropriate behaviors that would have been much less likely to be reported before the services of the AHC became available. TABLE 18. Cases Brought to the AHC by Institution, FY20 ISSUE CATEGORY IBRD/IDA IFC MIGA Sexual harassment 14 6 0 Harassment 49 10 1 The AHC contributed to about 30 outreach sessions, many of them including country offices. The majority of the sexual harassment allegations received by the AHC emanated from country offices. TABLE 19. Location of Subjects in Cases Addressed by the AHC by CO and HQ, FY20 ISSUE CATEGORY CO HQ Harassment 27 33 Sexual harassment 14 6 4 Therefore, in total, the AHC transferred six cases to the investigation unit. Two cases involved both allegations of harassment and sexual harassment. When reviewed by investigators, they were classified as harassment. 38 EBC Annual Report 2020 Staff at all levels and consultants reported cases to the AHC. TABLE 20. Grades of Complainants, FY20 FORMER STAFF/ COMPLAINANT’S A-D E-G H-I CONSULTANT EXTERNAL PARTY IDENTITY NOT DISCLOSED5 Sexual harassment 3 6  3 3 5 Harassment 7 31 7 13 1 1 The fact that managers or supervisors reported 13 allegations of sexual harassment to the AHC on behalf of other staff illustrates that there is increasing awareness of the role that managers need to play in this field. More needs to be done to build the same level of consensus around harassment. TABLE 21. Cases Brought by Managers or HR on Behalf of Other Affected Individuals, FY20 CATEGORY MANAGER/SUPERVISOR HR BUSINESS PARTNER OR MANAGER Sexual harassment 13 2 Harassment 2 1 There are multiple patterns of sexual harassment and harassment, and staff at all functional levels and consultants were the subject of the allegations received by the AHC. TABLE 22. Grades of Individuals Who Were the Subjects of Allegations Brought to the AHC, FY20 A-D E-G H-I CONSULTANT UNIDENTIFIED/EXTERNAL PARTY Sexual harassment 1 7 3 2 7 Harassment 3 15 30 4 8 Similarly, when considering the most egregious cases that triggered a caution by the AHC, the data show that all grade levels were cautioned. TABLE 23. Grades of Subjects in Cases Where the AHC Intervened with a Caution or By Contacting Management, FY20 A-D E-G H-I CONSULTANT EXTERNAL PARTY Sexual harassment 1 3   2 1 Harassment 26 4 67 2   5 One anonymous complaint and five cases where managers or HR reported on behalf of a staff member, without disclosing the identity of the staff member/complainant. 6 Two cases involved the same subject. 7 Four cases involved the same subject. 39 FOCUS ON EXCELLENCE A s a dynamic ethical organization, the WBG reaches beyond its ethical objectives, such as maintaining a safe and transparent workplace. The WBG Enhancing Efficiency, pursues its goals in an efficient manner. An ethical Value Added, and environment requires the efficient processes that EBC Transparency practices and continuously seeks to improve. Conducting Misconduct Root Cause Analysis In fiscal year 2020, EBC began to analyze the root cause of allegations reported to EBC that involved misuse of WBG resources for the period 2019 through 2020. In each case, EBC analyzed the facts and circumstances to decipher control weaknesses and distill lessons learned. The conclusions were shared with the unit directly impacted and, in an anonymized manner, with other relevant units. In agreement with Group Internal Audit (GIA), WBG Finance and Accounting (WFA), and the regional VPUs, EBC will continue to present its overall findings annually to all WBG regional management teams and to the WBG and IFC operational risk teams. Upgrading EBC’s Investigations Intake Process In June 2019, EBC asked GIA to conduct an advisory review of the investigation process, with a special focus on its effectiveness and efficiency and the underlying procedures and tools. Based on the recommendations from GIA, EBC enhanced several of its investigation practices, its quality control mechanisms, and its systems for tracking and reporting on allegations of misconduct. EBC also streamlined its investigation intake system, making it more effectual, more consistent, and more responsive to staff’s needs. In order to attain the new approach, in December 2019 EBC created the new position of Intake Coordinator. At the same time, the Anti-Harassment Coordinator became the first point of contact for those who wished to request advice on or to report alleged sexual harassment and other forms of harassment. The AHC will review and handle all harassment claims in fiscal year 2021. 40 EBC Annual Report 2020 The virtual annual meeting of ENMO in July 2020 brought together over 100 senior ethics officers from more than 40 multilateral intergovernmental institutions. The redesigned intake process differs from the previous international financial institutions and most process in several ways: while the former intake organizations from the UN network. The ENMO started off with a longer, formal, recorded session virtual meeting took place July 8–10, 2020, due to conducted by two EBC investigators, today’s less the pandemic. formal consultation is conducted by one EBC • During the 20th Conference of International professional, is not recorded, takes less time, and has Investigators (CII), held in Geneva November 4–8, the advantage of determining right away where the 2019, the EBC Investigations Manager facilitated a case should be assigned. These distinctions have made discussion on best practices and evidentiary the intake process much more efficient for everyone standards among 180 participants from over 50 involved, and, importantly, help ensure the comfort of organizations. The objectives of the CII were to share the reporter. and update experience and knowledge in key practice areas such as sexual harassment, fraud Sharing and Implementing Global awareness, communication with stakeholders, and Best Practices case management systems. EBC continues to seek out and collaborate with other • EBC collaborated with Caribbean Development international development organizations to advance Bank’s Office of Integrity, Compliance, and best practices in ethics. Accountability (ICA) on the development of its new Code of Conduct. The ICA unit is a convergence of • As a global leader in this arena, EBC hosted the five traditional internal governance functions at the annual meeting of the Ethics Network of Multilateral bank, including ethics and compliance. EBC and ICA Organizations (ENMO), which includes all held several Q&A meetings during which EBC shared 41 A Excellence continued its experience redrafting the WBG’s Code of Ethics. ITS continues to confer with EBC on the system This included providing step-by-step processes and and design additional functionalities that will lessons learned, from gathering input from a wide (1) significantly enhance EBC’s capacity to analyze its network of staff focus groups to approval of the final own data; (2) keep track of the resources EBC uses Code of Ethics by senior management.  for each activity; and (3) support more innovative reporting. For instance, in the future, reporters of Adopting a New Case Management System alleged sexual harassment who submit their report online will be able to specify that EBC receive the As part of the harmonization of the IT tools in the WBG allegation only if another allegation exists about the and the modernization of the technologies it uses, EBC same alleged perpetrator. and ITS in fiscal year 2020 collaborated to develop a new case management system. It organizes all EBC The new system will allow EBC to prepare the activities, including those of the Intake Coordinator and transition to all electronic archives and to a paperless the Anti-Harassment Coordinator, who were not part office. While this project will span over several years, of the previous case management system used by EBC. the foundations have now been laid. Fostering a Respectful Workplace ethics session with staff in Chennai, which was held on March 5, 2020, just before the COVID-19 lockdown. 42 EBC Annual Report 2020 By virtue of improved data input, EBC is developing new data analysis to produce a heat map of where ethical and compliance risk is likely to emerge in the organization. This work began in fiscal year 2020 and will continue into the next fiscal year. Streamlining EBC’s Structure EBC in fiscal year 2020 integrated two of its three units into one, joining all its preventive services. The units in charge of compliance and training were combined into the ATV unit. This new unit focuses on the preventive approach to ethics. ATV houses all aspects of communications, outreach, training, and staff guidance on ethical decisions that could lead to conflicts of interest. The organizational reform not only reduced the number of managers in EBC, it also paved the way for better knowledge transfers between the experts providing advice on ethical compliance and the developers of both face-to-face and electronic training material. 43 FOCUS ON T he training team delivered face-to-face sessions in 20 country offices, and videoconferences took GLOBAL place in 25 country offices. Together, all formats of trainings, including Ethics Awareness and Creating PRESENCE a Respectful and Harassment-Free Workplace (CRW), were given to 4,473 participants in fiscal year 2020. Among other In-Country Outreach outreach activities, in fiscal year 2020 the Chief Ethics Officer visited the country offices of Bangkok, Bogota, Brasilia, Phnom Penh, and Yangon. The COVID-19 pandemic curtailed travel for all EBC staff for several months of fiscal year 2020, though EBC continued to engage with country offices to its regular capacity through virtual means. In-person engagement will resume as soon as possible. The Difference of Being There With a full-time dedicated Ethics Officer on site, EBC’s presence in the Nairobi and Chennai country offices ensures delivery of core values discussions, training and outreach, and advisory services to more countries in the Africa and South Asia regional bases. These country offices are critical extensions of the EBC office at headquarters. EBC in Nairobi The EBC Officer in the Nairobi country office in fiscal year 2020 delivered all ATV services—training, outreach, and advisory services—to WBG staff in eight country offices: Benin, Cameroon, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Sudan, Togo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, as well as Kenya and Somalia (staff working with Somalia are based in the Nairobi office). In the following 10 countries, staff received virtual ATV services: Botswana, Burundi, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea, Liberia, Malawi, Rwanda, and Uganda, as well as Kenya and Somalia. 44 EBC Annual Report 2020 Training and outreach EBC’s Leonard Newmark engages with staff during Face-to-face trainings, ethics training last December. such as Ethics Awareness and CRW, were provided to WBG staff in Cotonou, Training and outreach Harare, Juba, Lomé, Lusaka, Maputo, Maseru, Nairobi, In the past year, EBC reached out to more than 500 and Yaoundé. In addition, EBC Nairobi engaged with staff in the Chennai office through various focus group staff to present virtual trainings in Abidjan, Addis interventions, Ethics Awareness sessions, CRW, and Ababa, Bangui, Botswana, Bujumbura, Burundi, Central corporate onboarding sessions. As part of the Ethics- African Republic, Conakry, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, at-Work speaker series, the Chennai country office held Freetown, Gaborone, Guinea, Kampala, Kigali, Liberia, a session on “Credit and Blame at Work,” by Ben Lilongwe, Malawi, Mogadishu, Rwanda, and Uganda. Dattner, on September 16, 2019. More than 100 staff Requests for advice on ethical dilemmas numbered 19 from the Chennai, Mumbai, and New Delhi offices joined in fiscal year 2020. this virtual session. As part of ongoing outreach, EBC in Working in concert fiscal year 2020 began sharing occasional fliers with Chennai staff, reinforcing the WBG core values.  The Nairobi country office collaborated with the IJS, INT, and other units to deliver onboarding sessions to Staff in the same country offices benefited from World Bank Group staff in Maputo. EBC delivered CRW 22 ethics advisory consultations on workplace to newly selected Respectful Workplace Advisors as behavioral matters. part of their training held in Kenya. Also, the country Working in concert office delivered two sessions of World Bank onboarding in Nairobi. EBC Nairobi, the IFC Chief Compliance During the COVID-19 pandemic, EBC partnered with Officer, INT, and World Bank Procurement planned to IJS resources, such as Ombuds Services and Mediation hold a live joint training conference in June 2020 for the Services, and delivered multiple IJS sessions to staff in Kenya Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission; the Dhaka, Kathmandu, and Singapore offices. EBC however, this was postponed due to the COVID-19 collaborated with Chennai Staff Association pandemic. representatives to organize a session on the Domestic Abuse Prevention Program (DAPP) team. The purpose EBC in Chennai was to reach out to staff who might have needed support on handling domestic issues during the EBC’s presence in the Chennai country office in fiscal pandemic. year 2020 facilitated delivery of numerous training and outreach activities in Chennai and country offices in the East and South Asia regions. These included Bangkok (with 110 participants), Dhaka (25), Kathmandu (30), Mumbai (25), New Delhi (75), and Singapore (39). 45 FOCUS ON The New Code of Ethics FUTURE How do we want to behave with our colleagues, clients, and partners? How do we hold ourselves accountable? And how INITIATIVES do we operationalize the World Bank Group core values— impact, integrity, respect, teamwork, and innovation—into In the Works for our daily work? The answers form the framework for the new WBG Code of Ethics, produced over two years and released in Fiscal Year 2021 September 2020. The Code of Ethics, based on the WBG core values, materialized from the ground up after years of input from many resources, including more than a thousand WBG staff worldwide—from all WBG institutions, headquarters and many country offices, all grade levels and appointment types. It is not about rules or policies, which are the content of the Staff Rules of legal obligations and prohibitions. The new Code of Ethics reaches far beyond simply being compliant with rules and policies. It is a principle-based ethical charter that explores what we do and how we do it in relation to the five values. An innovative e-learning module for all staff will accompany the release of the Code. The training consists of three sections: • Section 1 helps learners understand how the core values and Code came to be; • Section 2 presents a set of scenarios based on some common issues and situations shared by staff members. The scenarios illustrate what living by the values and the Code might look like in the decisions that learners make in these situations; and • Section 3 asks learners to confirm their understanding of the core values and the Code. 46 EBC Annual Report 2020 Deepa Mahesh, based in Supporting International Chennai, led vendor ethics Finance Corporation engagement sessions at Birlasoft in July 2019. The number of allegations of harassment and sexual harassment from IFC has historically been significantly lower than the average for the Action Plan on Preventing and Bank Group. This could imply a certain degree of Addressing Retaliation underreporting. In last year’s address to the Human EBC is leading a World Bank Group initiative to adopt Resources Committee of the Board of Directors, there by the end of fiscal year 2021 an action plan to more was a specific emphasis on placing a stronger focus on effectively address retaliation in the workplace. This IFC. This view, also shared by senior management of is a key step toward raising awareness about the IFC, led to a joint initiative to establish a permanent negative effects of retaliation, the need to prevent it, presence of EBC in IFC. and the ways to report it, ensuring that those who The former Nairobi Country Office Ethics Officer began engage in this behavior are held accountable by the a new position representing EBC in IFC, on July 1, 2020. institution. Creating a speak-up corporate culture He has started to conduct training and outreach, as requires a work environment where concerns and well as provide ethical advice to IFC staff. allegations raised do not lead to negative outcomes for those who bring them forward. Expanding EBC’s Presence in An independent expert has been hired to review the Country Offices WBG’s and other organizations’ preventive measures regarding retaliation. The recommendations will then EBC is making strides toward increasing its presence be addressed internally with the IJS, Staff Association, in country offices and expanding outreach and services and other main WBG stakeholders to ensure that the to country office colleagues. This is in accordance with WBG’s anti-retaliatory policies, rules, and procedures the World Bank policy of decentralization by increasing are aligned with international best practices. the provision of operational services from the country offices themselves and ensuring ethical compliance beyond WBG headquarters. Since fiscal year 2018, EBC has had a presence in two country offices: Nairobi and Chennai. In fiscal year 2020, EBC took all the necessary steps to be present in three more offices: Dakar, Johannesburg, and Sofia. The arrival of EBC Ethics Officers was postponed by the delay in international transfers caused by the pandemic. The new representatives are now expected to join the offices in fiscal year 2021 as soon as conditions permit. 47 OUR CORE VALUES Impact. Integrity. Respect. Teamwork. Innovation. The World Bank Group’s twin goals are to eliminate Impact extreme poverty by 2030 and to boost shared We help our clients solve their greatest prosperity for the bottom 40 percent of each development challenges developing country. For the diverse workforce of the Bank Group, integrity, ethical behavior, and • We use our convening power, commitment to adherence to corporate values are core to the excellence, and deep professional expertise to success of these goals. facilitate outcomes that reduce poverty and improve people’s lives Our core values should drive everything we do every • We make decisions that prioritize impact over day. Not only do our core values serve as the North politics or process Star for WBG staff in how we treat our clients and partners, the values also guide clients and • We stay at the cutting edge in our fields of stakeholders in the best way to collaborate with expertise Bank Group staff. • We leverage the best knowledge and expertise available from within and outside the World Clients approach the Bank Group to find the best Bank Group solutions to address the world’s most pressing development challenges. Impact, integrity, respect, • We partner with our clients with flexibility and agility teamwork and innovation are integral to making us who we are and defining how we deliver for our clients. Therefore, the core values help us focus on Integrity how we achieve our twin goals. Jobseekers, investors, We do what is right and public and private sector counterparts alike will • We hold ourselves, our clients, and our partners to see our core values in action. the highest standards for responsibility, In fiscal year 2018, the World Bank, IFC, and MIGA accountability, and quality jointly committed to a common set of core • We put the interests of the World Bank Group and values. This is the first time all institutions of the our clients first Bank Group have collectively adopted the same • We ensure our words are consistent with our actions core values. • We take ownership of our actions and decisions • We communicate with honesty and transparency • We question actions that are inconsistent with our values 48 EBC Annual Report 2020 Respect We care for our people, our clients, our partners, and our planet • We treat everyone with dignity and compassion • We embrace diversity and pursue inclusion of backgrounds, identities, cultures, working styles and perspectives • We remain humble in carrying out our mission • We support the work-life balance of our colleagues across the globe • We apply policy and standards with fairness and consistency • We promote sustainable solutions in our operations and in Contact EBC 24/7 our work environment Teamwork Employees can seek advice directly from EBC staff during office hours or We work together to achieve our goals arrange to speak with team members • We seek diverse views, perspectives and experiences at another convenient time. EBC • We encourage challenging ideas and constructive maintains an email service account disagreements (ethics_helpline@worldbank.org) accessible to staff that is advertised • We collaborate across boundaries and borders on the internal and external • We collectively own team deliverables, decisions and websites. Staff members can also accountabilities contact the multilingual Ethics • We celebrate and reward team successes Helpline by phone (1-800-261-7497) 24/7. Innovation Advisory requests are treated with the highest possible level of We learn and adapt to find better ways of doing things confidentiality given the requirements • We challenge assumptions and take informed risks of the case. Requests for advice can • We approach our work with curiosity and passion be made anonymously. For reports of suspected misconduct, all information • We reflect on, and learn from, mistakes and failures is confidential and subject to • We capture, apply and share knowledge consistently disclosure on a strict need-to-know • We ask for and learn from feedback basis. Anonymous complaints are accepted. 49 Ethics and Business Conduct ANNUAL REPORT 2020 Fostering a Values-Based World Bank Group TEL: 202-473-0279, 1-877-576-2569 from the United States FAX: 202-522-3093 EMAIL: ethics_helpline@worldbank.org ETHICS HELPLINE: 1-800-261-7497 (24 hours, 7 days a week; multiple languages) INTRANET: http://ethics.worldbank.org INTERNET: http://www.worldbank.org/ethics Impact. Integrity. Respect. Teamwork. Innovation.