Activities of the Ethics and Business Conduct Vice Presidency (EBC)
                                          in calendar year 2017

                       Update on the Core Internal Justice and Related Services
                                         (Meeting of April 6, 2018)


1.      Management underscored its commitment to a fair and effective internal justice system and ethics
environment and to tackling the issue of sexual harassment in a holistic and comprehensive way. They
presented the new Core Values (impact, integrity, respect, teamwork, and innovation) to be adopted by the
WBG which will be followed by revisions to the Code of Conduct and Staff Rules amongst others.
Management updated the committee on the increase in staff satisfaction with the IJS and EBC in the 2017
staff engagement survey, decrease in response times, and restoring the Chief Ethics Officer to a Director
level. Regarding benchmarking with other MDBs and the UN, the WBG’s systems are considered
sophisticated, mature, and collaborative, particularly in partnering with the Staff Association. Nonetheless,
Management continues to enhance efficiency and effectiveness, including an external review to provide
recommendations on addressing sexual harassment, metrics review, and creation of a new two-tiered
governance structure comprising of an Internal Justice Senior Management Council and Practitioners
Committee to review policies, provide guidance, and facilitate proactive action in the IJS.

2.       The Committee recognized that the WBG has an excellent IJS system. They encouraged
management to strive for further improvements, and looked forward to the adoption of the core values,
revisions to the Code of Conduct and Staff Rules, and the recommendations from the external review on
sexual harassment. They noted the critical issue of balancing the protection of staff with the institution, and
the issue of budgetary resources to ensure agile service delivery. They underscored that addressing sexual
harassment is key, and supporting vulnerable groups should be a priority. They discussed the value of
having IJS/EBC staff located in field offices to promote trust in the systems, and lessons learned from cases
to help improve policies and training. They also encouraged establishing metrics beyond the staff survey to
gauge the effectiveness of the systems and to address the most commonly cited problems in the IJS caseload
related to management and employment contracts.


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        *This report is not an approved record.