(IPS) analysis

The World Bank is on a quest for the Holy Grail of public relations: trust.

The lender's external affairs department, in an internal document obtained by IPS, admits the Bank suffers a shortage of ''trust capital'' and targets key constituencies for intensive proselytising.

These include parliamentarians, civil society groups, universities, and the media.

The department, known within the agency as EXT, says it needs to overcome a widespread perception that the institution is secretive. It acknowledges that the International Monetary Fund (IMF), once famously scored as cagier than a spy agency, ''is presently ahead of the Bank'' in releasing official documents. And it urges ''openness and increased engagement.''

At the same time, however, EXT is reinforcing efforts to control the flow of information within the institution and between it and the outside world.

It recommends that all proposals that go to the Bank's executive board ''first undergo communications and risk assessments'' designed to avoid or remove language that would expose the institution to ''reputational risks'', or criticism.

'Media tracker'

It reiterates instructions that, ''when approached by the media, all staff should alert the head of media relations or the appropriate external affairs staff before responding'' and reminds them that an in-house 'media tracker' data base keeps tabs on journalists, the questions they ask, and the news agencies for which they work.

EXT further admonishes staff to toe the official line, thus: ''A disclaimer that the speaker or writer is expressing personal views is unconvincing, should be avoided and does not exempt the staff member from following procedures or from recognising that they speak for the institution.''

The instructions remind staff that ''we should not only react to events, but, in line with our strategy, project the institution's point of view on a range of issues.''

Noting that the Bank receives ''thousands of emails each month,'' EXT adds that it ''plans to expand the institution's ability to monitor and analyse this flow of feedback, and put in place a system for handling concerted email campaigns or attacks''.

This would serve to blunt future criticism and questioning ''such as occurred over Chad-Cameroon and the China Western Poverty Project.''

These are references to two controversial projects: the first, an oil and gas pipeline venture in West Africa and the latter, a bid to resettle Chinese peasants in minority areas adjoining a Tibetan autonomous region.

In addition, ''EXT is also exploring ways to play a more active role on the web sites of Bank critics,'' the document states.

There is more at stake than mere reputation.

Support for the Bank among the governments and parliaments that authorise contributions to its budget ''is weakening, and we need to intensify our outreach to reinforce donor and borrower backing," the public relations unit says.

'Mission creep'

The EXT document cites external research to argue the Bank is under attack on multiple fronts. First, donor governments - which back the Bank's loans - accuse it of ''mission creep''. This term is used to describe a process by which the institution arrogates to itself functions not strictly within its mandate.

Second, borrower governments are unconvinced that the Bank is delivering on its promises of development and remain unhappy with their lack of influence over policy decisions.

Third, civil society organisations - ranging from debt-relief activists to environmental advocates and labour unions - ''are advocating forcefully for greater participation in policy decisions'' even as ''angry mobs'' call for the Bank to be abolished, EXT says.

Nevertheless, EXT says, ''the Bank has a unique opportunity to capitalise on the renewed interest in and energy surrounding the poverty reduction goal and the global development agenda.''

It urges renewed efforts to ''build partnerships with local news outlets in developing countries'' by providing everything from funding to ready-to-use news stories to publications and radio and television broadcasters.

''Over the past two years,'' it notes by way of example, ''EXT has greatly expanded its use of broadcast media, entering into partnerships with CNN, MTV, Discovery Television, RAI Television, and Turner Learning.'' As a result, these outlets have increased their use of Bank 'public service announcements', or promotional messages.

Close relations

In addition, EXT says the World Bank Institute, an affiliate of the lending institution, should increase training programmes for developing-country journalists. The agency itself should seek to reach media, academic, and other audiences through a Bank-related Internet portal, the 'Development Gateway'.

''Maintaining close relations with the United Nations (UN) is crucial,'' EXT says, ''particularly since public understanding and support for the UN appears to be stronger than for the Bank.''

In addition to the UN, the document foresees closer coordination with the European Union (EU) and wealthy nations' Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

It further acknowledges that ''NGOs are often better trusted on governance issues than the public sector or big business.''

''EXT's goal is to ensure that the Bank's engagement with civil society is constructive and broad-based, yet balanced, respecting the sovereignty of governments and avoiding any 'capture' of the development agenda by individual groups or sets of interests.''

The external relations department also fears a loss of influence in higher education.

''In both rich and poor countries,'' it says, ''the intense reaction to globalisation on university campuses has challenged the World Bank to find effective ways to respond to a huge new audience, in particular development and economic faculty; liberal arts professors; and undergraduate and post-graduate students.''

''EXT is developing cost-efficient ways to make World Bank knowledge central to the international academic debate about globalisation and development, and to raise the positive profile of the Bank with these audiences through openness and increased engagement,'' it adds.

To some extent, Bank staff and consultants told IPS, the document is an attempt to reassert EXT's presence in an institution that has become increasingly diffuse under its current president, James Wolfensohn.

Strategic clarity

It also serves to buttress the department's appeals for a larger budget. This peaked at US$26million in 1998, when the Bank and IMF were under attack for their part in the Asian financial crisis and ensuing contagion in Russia and Latin America. This year's budget is US$21.8million.

Striking a defensive posture, the paper says that ''when pressures on the Bank increase, a common reaction is to point to weak communication. Certainly EXT always needs to check its effectiveness. However, communication alone is not the problem.'' Rather, it adds, ''the Bank must have strategic clarity.''

The Bank has 98 full-time external relations staff scattered about its headquarters and country offices and more than that number in temporary workers and consultants.

Many of them work for years at the Bank. Yet, they do not appear on the staffing table because they hop from one short-term contract to the next.