The Global Transparency Initiative (GTI) is a network of civil society organisations promoting openness in the International Financial Institutions (IFIs), such as the World Bank, the IMF, the European Investment Bank and Regional Development Banks.
The GTI believes the people have a right to information from public institutions and a right to participate in the development policies and projects that affect their lives. In IFI-supported activities, transparency can help reduce corruption; identify potential social, environmental and economic risks and benefits; and avoid damaging communities and sensitive ecosystems.
Public disclosure when properly implemented and complied with, can help change the rules of the game and create political space for civil society to engage meaningfully with the IFIs. The GTI aims to strengthen IFIs’ accountability to the public interest and to expand political space to debate development models.
Despite some encouraging moves towards greater openness by some of the IFIs there is still a long way to go if the current public disclosure policies are to make a real difference to the public accountability of these institutions. The GTI aims to impact positively on this process and to contribute constructively to the debate about how the "right to know" can be implemented by the IFIs.
The GTI brings together two communities of activists and experts from around the world – one, those groups campaigning for full accountability in the use of public power vested in the IFIs; the other, groups that have been campaigning for the right to access to infromation at the nation-state level.