Read the Final Statement published by the NCP on 11 May 2023: French
On 1 March 2023, Edouard Teumagnie, an individual, submitted a specific instance to the Swiss NCP alleging that the World Bank, an international financial institution, had not observed the Employment and Industrial Relations (Chapter V) provisions of the Guidelines. Specifically, issues related to a working conflict of an individual citizen of Cameroon in the early 2000s. The individual alleged that the privatisation of his former employer, a local energy company (AES Sonel), lead to a degradation in working conditions, notably relating to wage discrimination. He criticised the role of the World Bank in the privatisation of this company. In his view, the World Bank was partially responsible for the issues raised in the request and had to be held to account.
The Swiss NCP conducted an initial assessment and, on 11 May 2023, published a statement deciding not to accept the specific instance for further examination. The NCP reasoned that, as the World Bank is headquartered in the United States, the Swiss NCP was not competent to handle the request. The US NCP had already dealt with a specific instance from the same applicant concerning part of the alleged facts against the company AES Corporation (see here). The US NCP had made an initial assessment and decided not to offer its good offices. The Swiss NCP recommended the individual address his complaint to the World Bank’s own grievance mechanism.