This note is to provide you with initial information on the World Bank and
IMF
2001 Annual Meetings in Washington DC.

Further e:mail communications will follow in the coming weeks as more
information is available. If you have any questions, wish to be added to
the
distribution list or if you do not wish to receive any more information
about
the Meetings, please send a reply message to:

Karolina Ordon
[email protected]

You may phone her at +(202) 458 5971; fax +(202) 522 7131

Dialogues with Civil Society
As in previous years, we will hold a number of dialogues with senior WB and
IMF
officials on topics of interest to civil society. These are tentatively
scheduled from Wednesday, September 26 - Friday, September 28 at the World
Bank
and IMF headquarters. We welcome your suggestions on the topics you wish to
be
addressed in these discussions. Please send your suggestions to the e:mail
address above, and we will make every effort to address these as schedules
and
space permit.

Activities around Annual Meetings
The World Bank/IMF website on Annual Meetings is available at
http://www.imf.org/external/am/2001/index.htm A detailed calendar of events
and
background information on the various official meetings, press conferences,
the
Program of Seminars and other activities will be posted on this site. It
will
be updated regularly between now and the end of September, so you may wish
to
check it periodically.

Accreditation
As many of you are aware, civil society organizations, as all Visitors, must
apply for accreditation in order to gain access to the World Bank and IMF
buildings where the official Annual Meetings, Program of Seminars and most
of
the WB/IMF-sponsored meetings for CSOs will be held. For those interested
in
attending, we would strongly recommend that you apply for accreditation as
soon
as possible -- no later than August 31 -- to allow sufficient time for
processing and for you to obtain the necessary documentation to enter the
United
States.

Please note that in order to apply, you must send a request in writing by
fax or
mail (note e-mail requests are not accepted !!!). The requests should be
submitted individually by person or organization on letterhead stationery.
Note
that requests from "coordinators" containing the names of representatives
from
more than one organization will not be processed, and you will be asked to
re-submit the requests on each organization's own letterhead. All requests
should be addressed to:

Ms. Thelma A. Guerra
Officer for Special Guests and Visitors
Joint Secretariat
IMF - World Bank Group
Washington, DC 20433
USA
Fax: (1 202) 623-4100
Tel: (1 202) 458-0264

Please feel free to forward this information to interested colleagues in
the
global NGO community.

Best regards,

Carolyn Reynolds
World Bank