We, at the IMF, have become increasingly convinced over the years of the importance of ownership—that is, policies that are agreed between the IMF and a country have to have a broad base of support from the government as well as the population. The views of a number of stakeholders, including the authorities, the opposition, the social partners, and different civil society organizations (CSOs), are therefore important to generate that kind of ownership, which is necessary to move economic policies forward.
As a reflection of this, we have been increasing our degree of engagement with CSOs. We find that interaction with CSOs may reveal some important legitimate concerns about the way a country’s economy is working, which may not otherwise be visible from just looking at economic data. In its programs for the reform of country economies, the Fund also proposes interventions that protect the most vulnerable groups within society, in an effort to combine interventions to boost the efficiency and growth of the economy, with cushioning the pain of that adjustment for the most vulnerable groups of society.
Social mobilization and interaction with CSOs has also helped the IMF pay increasing attention to important issues that were not at the forefront of macroeconomic analysis in the past, such as the role of gender, diversity, inequality, climate change, and the improvement of social safety nets. These issues have become increasingly important thanks to the dialogue with civil society, including when we invite CSO representatives to participate in our Spring Meetings and Annual Meetings to hear their views about the work of the IMF.