This project trained journalists from the former Soviet Union to expand their understanding and coverage of the role that multilateral development banks, in particular the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, play in their region’s transition to a market economy.

Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) finance investments in developing countries, but have a bias toward projects that prioritize financial gains over social and environmental returns. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has a mandate to finance investments that foster the transition to a market economy in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (FSU).

MDBs generally request that governments enact structural reforms in exchange for funding. In FSU countries, civil society efforts to persuade MDBs to also require transparency and anti-corruption measures have not gained traction, in part because these issues are not covered by the media. Journalists in FSU countries often lack the skills and knowledge to investigate and report on how MDB investments affect the government’s economic policies and budgetary practices.

In order to engage the media on this issue, CEE Bankwatch Network held a four-day journalism training session in Astana, Kazakhstan on the EBRD’s role in the FSU region. The training immediately preceded the 2011 annual EBRD meeting, where trainees got to meet high-level decision makers from the region. Trainees were requested to publish a newspaper article or produce TV coverage on any of the issues covered during the training or the EBRD meeting once they returned to their home countries.

Because journalists are highly respected in FSU countries, they have great potential to influence public opinion. With RWI support, journalists’ capacity to monitor and publicize EBRD’s activities increased significantly. It is expected that as a result of the training there will be more newspaper articles and TV coverage on EBRD and on MDBs in general.

CEE Bankwatch is based in the Czech Republic and monitors large-scale investment projects with environmental and social impacts in the energy, extractive industry, transportation and waste and water management sectors. It currently has 15 members.