Baltimore, MD — World Bank Group officials and civil society groups from around Africa meet next week in Maputo, Mozambique to discuss the role of the World Bank in extractive industries throughout the continent. The Extractive Industries Review (EIR), launched by the World Bank, is holding regional consultations around the world with participants from civil society, industry, government, and non-governmental organizations to produce a set of recommendations to guide the World Bank's involvement in oil, gas and mining sectors. The EIR is headed by Dr. Emil Salim, former environment minister of Indonesia and recent chair of the World Summit on Sustainable Development. A final global consultation will be held in June 2003 prior to presenting recommendations to World Bank President James Wolfensohn.

Catholic Relief Services representatives and partners from Cameroon, Congo and Sierra Leone will participate in the Mozambique meeting to present an overview of church advocacy and make recommendations on oil and mining initiatives. Catholic Relief Services works with partners throughout Africa to ensure that natural resource exploitation fosters poverty reduction and development and does not come at the expense of human rights, the environment and the human dignity of the poor. In Cameroon and Chad, the agency supports the local Catholic Church and other partners who are monitoring the construction of the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline. In the U.S., CRS has supported efforts to control the trade in "conflict diamonds" and promoted the idea that trade in oil between Africa and the U.S. should respect human rights and promote transparent and accountable management of this lucrative resource.