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In depth I  World Bank A Marxist at the World Bank Source: Third World Network "The Washington Consensus, which is based on the basic principles of neo-classical economics, has been recommended by the IMF and World Bank in the developing countries", asserted Lin during a conference at the TIGER institute in Prague. "The result was a sharp and prolonged decline in GDP with high inflation rates and deterioration of social indicators". March, 2008[see more]   print    send   Correct  ADD YOUR COMMENT >> see comments.. The World Bank is the single largest source of development finance in the world. With its financial power and its policy advice the Bank shapes development policies across Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe. Its main self-proclaimed objective is to eradicate poverty. Yet, evidence suggests that World Bank programmes often increase social inequalities and cause environmental destruction. NGOs have been lobbying for a change in the Bank’s policy descriptions and decision-making structure for decades, resulting in some reforms. The World Bank was founded as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. Initially, the Bank provided credits to rebuild European countries after the World War II. In this role, however, it was quickly replaced by the US Marshall Plan. Instead, the Bank began to provide loans to low- and medium-income countries. Within the World Bank Group, the role of the IBRD is now one of providing loans mainly to medium-income countries such as Mexico, Brazil and India. This support usually goes to special projects. Recently, however, the share of adjustment loans has increased. Attached to the loans are conditions relating to structural and policy reforms to be implemented by the borrower country. The IBRD is able to raise significant funds on international capital markets at preferred "AAA" credit rates. It lends these funds at interest rates slightly below those offered by commercial lenders and with more time to pay them back. The IBRD has made a profit every year since it came into existence - over US$3 billion in 2003. When it became clear that IBRD loans were too expensive for many developing countries, the International Development Association (IDA) was founded in 1960. It grants financial assistance to low-income countries, mostly in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, at no interest (except a small fee). To be eligible, IDA borrowers must lack sovereign credit-worthiness, have a very low per capita income, and must meet certain performance criteria set by the World Bank. More than half of IDA funds are provided by donor countries, the rest consist of repayments of loans and a small amount comes from the transfer of IBRD profits. In addition to IBRD and IDA, three other organizations are part of the World Bank Group: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) was founded in 1956 and promotes private sector investment by supporting high-risk sectors and countries. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), established 1960, provides political risk insurance to investors in and lenders to developing countries. Finally, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which was created 1966, settles investment disputes between foreign investors and their host countries. All five organizations are headed by one president, currently the US national James Wolfensohn. The headquarters of the World Bank are in Washington DC, and it employs about 10,000 staff around the world. The Bank’s finance and policy advice has an enormous impact on the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in developing countries. It uses its financial power to shape the policies of its borrowers across a wide range of economic and social areas. While the Bank claims that its programmes create economic growth and reduce poverty, civil society groups maintain that the institution, in co-operation with the IMF, implements the neo-liberal policies of the “Washington Consensus”. This, they argue, solely serves the interests of the Bank’s main shareholders - the G7 states - and does not help the poor in the developing world. The G7 States have a total share of more than 40 per cent of the votes with the US alone controlling 16.4 per cent. As an 85 per cent majority is required for major decisions, the US can block changes, for instance, in the voting system. Until the 1980s the World Bank mainly financed microeconomic projects such as dams and pipelines that were suppose to trigger development on a macroeconomic level. This role was challenged by two tendencies. First, more medium-income countries could borrow money from the financial markets, leaving the World Bank's role centred on poorer countries. Second, the projects were often criticized by NGOs for their negative impact on the local environment and population. In response, the World Bank started to co-operate with civil society and increased its share of macroeconomic initiatives to help the poor. Up to now, however, the role of the World Bank remains controversial as it largely fails to deliver on its promises. share:   print    send   correct  ADD YOUR COMMENT >> COMMENTS Wed May 30 2007 The World bank was established by the colonial powers to control their former colonies by denying them financial and economic Independence. So they made US the God father. Khalid Rahim , Scarborough, ONT ( Canada )  Official web sites  General information  Civil society  The track record of the World Bank  Corruption at the World Bank  WB's knowledge policy  The Bank’s role in microeconomic project lending  World Bank conditionalities  IMF-World Bank long-term development strategies  IMF-WB policies in low income countries  Civil society cooperation and World Bank reform  Books   News Up-to-date current affairs information. Wed Apr 18 2007 Wolfowitz scandal dominates Fund-Bank meetings Fuente: SUNS Sun Apr 15 2007 Wolfowitz 'to stay' at World Bank Fuente: BBC In-depth reports Detailed reports on key issues Financing for Development The opportunity that came up in Monterrey can turn into a road to nowhere without an injection of political will. International Monetary Fund - IMF The IMF is one of the most powerful international organizations. Its policies change the lives of millions of people in developing countries. World Social Forum (WSF) 2004 The Fourth World Social Forum was held at the Indian city of Mumbai. World Social Forum (WSF) 2003 Information on the third WSF, which took place in Porto Alegre from 23-28 January 2003. World Trade Organization - WTO Trade at the service of people, or people subjected to trade? The WTO makes the difference. Campaigns NGO-organised actions Reform of International Institutions      Official web sites The World Bank Group The homepage of the World Bank Group provides information on its programs and projects, accessible by topic our country. Additional it features research papers, data and statistics, news and events as well as resource guides for civil society, researchers, and students. The Operations Evaluation Department of the World Bank The Operations Evaluation Department (OED), established in 1973, is an independent unit within the World Bank. It assesses individual projects as well as the lasting impact of the Bank to a country's development. The goals of evaluation are to provide an objective basis for assessing the results of the Bank's work, and to provide accountability in the achievement of its objectives. It identifies and disseminates the lessons learned from experience and frames recommendations drawn from evaluation findings. It reports directly to the Bank's Board of Executive Directors. The Inspection Panel of the World Bank The Inspection Panel is a three-member body created in 1993 to provide an independent forum to private citizens who believe that they or their interests have been or could be directly harmed by a project financed by the World Bank. Its annual reports and other documents are published on this website. International Finance Corporation The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is a private sector lending arm of the World Bank Group. It provides financial services to businesses investing in the developing world. IFC is one of the fastest growing institutions in the World Bank Group. Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is the political risk insurance arm of the World Bank Group: To help developing countries to attract private investment, it furnishes private enterprises with non-commercial risk insurance and provides its member countries with technical assistance regarding investment promotion. The International Monetary Fund The homepage of the sister organization of the World Bank provides extensive information about the work of the IMF, including press releases, transcripts of press briefing, staff speeches, working papers, staff country reports, policy discussion papers, public information notices, etc. The Development Committee The Development Committee is a joint forum of IMF and World Bank. It advices the Boards of Governors of the institutions on the transfer of financial support for developing countries, e.g. within programs such as the PRGF and debt relief. Documents and general information are available on this site. United Nations Development Program The UNDP operates in similar areas as the World Bank, e.g. poverty reduction and HIV prevention. In contrast however, it operates according to the principles of the United Nations. It cooperates with the World Bank in certain projects, but sometimes also does criticize Bank programs. G-24 The Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on International Monetary Affairs (G-24) presents the position of developing countries on monetary and development finance issues. It consists of eight member states each from Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. Its research and discussion papers mainly focus on IMF, but some deal with joint programs such as the HIPC Initiative. G-20 The G-20 is an informal forum which seeks to promote an open and constructive dialogue between industrial nations and emerging-market countries on issues related to the Bretton Woods Institutions. Members include all G-7 countries and large developing nations such as China, India and Brazil. Together they represent around 90% of global gross national product, 80% of world trade as well as two-thirds of the world's population.    General information World Bank Annual Report 2003 Source: World Bank The annual report covers the World Bank’s contribution to reaching the MDGs, focusing on the priority sectors that are crucial to meeting the MDGs: education for all, the struggle against AIDS, and access to improved water and public health services. The report covers the period from 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2003 (two volumes, pdf format). What is the World Bank? Source: Bank Information Center Extensive introduction to the World Bank Group, its structure and policies. Focuses on problematic projects such as pipelines and dams. Includes a list of contacts and a resource guide. Both Ends Information Package: Multinational Financial Institutions This information package, targeted at Southern NGOs, provides detailed information on origin, goals and structure of the IFIs, an overview of common criticisms of the Bretton Woods Institutions, contact details for relevant NGOs in the North and the South and a bibliography of useful NGO literature. The section on the World Bank includes an useful overview of the project cycle of its programs. Citizen’s Guide to the World Bank Source: CEE Bankwatch This guide is a tool for understanding the procedures, standards, and policies of World Bank. The aim of the publication is to inform citizens about the ways in which they can influence development of certain World Bank projects. It features e.g. a chronology of the Bank, the voting system, and its environmental standards and processes. Getting access to information from the World Bank Source: Bank Information Center This toolkit is designed to help NGOs understand what documents are available from the World Bank, when they are available, and how to get them. It details what information is usually included within the bank documents. It also provides details about what bank information is typically not made public and how NGOs might obtain them nonetheless. Glossary Source: Bretton Woods Project Definitions of abbreviations, terms and acronyms associated with the World Bank and IMF. Demystifying International Development Association (IDA) replenishment Source: Bank Information Center The World Bank and other multilateral development banks require assistance from their member governments to finance their operations. Because many of their loans are low-interest or interest-free, and have long grace and repayment periods, the banks continually need to have money injected into their coffers. This periodic allocation of funds by donor governments is known as replenishment. February, 2007    Civil society The World Bank was one of the first international organizations to institutionalize civil society collaboration in the early 1980s. However, more than two decades later, NGOs claim that the dialogue is largely driven by the PR interests of the Bank. Therefore, global resistance against the World Bank continues. It regularly receives worldwide media attention at the Bank-IMF biannual meetings, where various groups from all over the world demonstrate against the Bretton Woods Institutions. However, protests against the organizations’ policies include more subtle strategies as well, for instance, lobbying policymakers, letter-writing campaigns and media briefings. Most groups listed in this section work on IMF as well as on World Bank issues such as the Bretton Woods Project or 50 Years is Enough. Some have a focus on the World Bank and other Multilateral Development Banks, notably the Bank Information Center and CEE Bankwatch. Many deal with wider issues related to globalization, e.g. Eldis or Global Exchange. Some are specialized in a particular issue, e.g. the environment, and solely deal with IFIs insofar it is related to their specialization; among these are Friends of the Earth. Where appropriate, the link leads directly to the relevant section on their websites rather than their homepage. IFIwatchnet A global network of civil society groups which are monitoring the IFIs. Works as a portal to the participating organizations and includes summaries of briefings, reports and other documents which are easy accessible by accompanying link. Bretton Woods Project Independent initiative by a group of British NGOs that lobbies for increased transparency and civil society participation in World Bank and IMF policies and interventions. CEE Bankwatch Network This NGO with member organizations from 12 countries in Central and Eastern Europe aims to monitor activities of the International Financial Institutions in the region and to propose constructive alternatives to their policies and projects in the region. Its main focus is the environment. Bank Information Center The BIC aims to empower citizens in developing countries to influence World Bank and other Multilateral Development Bank activities in a manner that fosters social justice and ecological sustainability. BIC advocates for greater citizen participation, transparency, and public accountability. World Bank Boycott The World Bank Boycott is a campaign that links organizations and social movements in the global South which are challenging harmful World Bank policies with activists and institutional investors in North America, Europe, and East Asia, where the World Bank issues bonds that finance most of its operations. World Bank Boycott Europe The European division of the World Bank Boycott is loosely organized around the demands of the Boycott: A 100% debt cancellation for impoverished nations and illegitimate debt as well as an end to structural adjustment and environmental destructive policies. Structural Adjustment Participatory Review International Network This network was established as a response to the Structural Adjustment Participatory Review Initiative of the World Bank. It focuses on expanding and legitimizing the role of civil society in economic policymaking and strengthening the organized challenge to structural adjustment programs by citizens around the globe. It seeks to review the Bank-supported economic reform programs and to set new course for the future.  50 Years Is Enough US network which calls for the unconditional cancellation of all IMF and World Bank debts, an end to structural adjustment, and reparations for the social and environmental damage done by the IMF/World Bank programmes. Gender Action This small NGO, established in 2002, is the only organization solely dedicated to ensuring the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) promote gender equality and women’s rights in all their large investments worldwide. Its goal is to ensure that women and men equally participate in and benefit from MDB investments. The Whirled Bank Group This website is a parody on the World Bank. It includes numerous useful factsheets on the impact of the World Bank policies in several areas such as dams, mining, education, health, and women. It also features an Instant Insecure Online Banking game to learn about debt and structural adjustment. Third World Network News and articles on IMF and World Bank issue from this international network of organizations and individuals involved in issues relating to development, the Third World and North-South issues. The international secretariat is based in Penang, Malaysia. It has offices in Delhi, Montevideo, Geneva, London and Accra. Focus on the Global South A collection of articles about the World Bank from this Bangkok-based organization, which believes that the free-market economic policies of IMF and the World Bank have crippled the state as an agent of development and protector of the community. It promotes alternatives that advance the interests of poor and marginalized peoples around the world, but especially in the Asia-Pacific. Jubileesouth A network of debt campaigns from Latin America, Asia and Africa that demands the unconditional cancellation of all debts owed by developing countries. Moreover it calls for an end to structural adjustment programmes and the shutdown of the IMF and World Bank. Afrodad Regional research and lobbying organization dealing with IMF and World Bank policies as far as they affect African states. Includes a PRSP database and an online discussion forum. People’s Global Action IMF/World Bank/WTO site of this anti-globalization network, which focuses on direct action and civil disobedience to accomplish policy change. Website serves as main gateway to protests at IMF/World Bank meetings and includes detailed records of demonstrations against the IFIs from around the world. Halifax Initiative Canadian network for public interest advocacy and education on IFIs reform. Campaign on Bank focuses on canceling the debt owed by the poorest countries, halting structural adjustment policies, and stopping environmentally and socially destructive projects, particularly in the extractive industries sector. Rethinking Bretton Woods The Rethinking Bretton Woods project promotes reforms within the IFIs that enhance sustainable development. The project engages US policymakers, NGOs, grassroots activists, and the public through education and advocacy. It works with partner organizations in the US, Europe, and the Global South. Global Exchange International human rights organization with a campaign against World Bank and IMF. According to the organization the institutions are the “world’s biggest loan sharks” whose policies require debtor countries to open up their economy to foreign investors “allowing access to the country's workers and environment at bargain basement prices”. Friends of the Earth United States According to this environmental organization the Bank's investments come at the expense of the environment and fail to help the poor. Friends of the Earth wants to make the world's largest development institution greener, more open, and more accountable to the public. World Rainforest Movement This international network of citizen’s groups strongly disagrees with the World Bank’s view of the rain forests as an important financial rather than ecological resource. According to WRM the people of the forest-rich countries in the South do depend as much on the preservation of the forests as the countries in the North. Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) PANNA works closely with partner grassroots organizations in the South to monitor and evaluate the impacts of World Bank projects on their communities, agricultural systems and surrounding environment. It develops recommendations and advocacy strategies on how to improve project implementation, revise project goals, or halt misguided projects. CorpWatch CorpWatch counters corporate-led globalization through education, network-building and activism. It works to foster democratic control over corporations a diverse movement for human rights and dignity, labor rights and environmental justice. This section covers ongoing resistance to Bank and Fund mandated austerity that has driven so many deeper into poverty while benefiting the bottom lines of transnational corporations. Eldis This British gateway to information on development issues offers a wide range of resources on IMF and World Bank. It has got a directory of websites, databases, library catalogues and email discussion lists. International Development Economics Associates Network of economists mainly from developing countries that seeks to develop alternatives to the current neo-liberal economics, which has failed to achieve sustainable, equitable and participatory growth. Eurodad Eurodad is the European Network on Debt and Development, a network of 48 development NGOs from 15 European countries working for economic and financing policies that achieve poverty eradication and the empowerment of the poor. World Bank president: who will be next? Source: World Bank President James Wolfensohn, the current president, will retire at the end of May 2005. If normal protocol is followed, the new President will be chosen by George W. Bush as part of a wave of appointments for his second term in office. Over the coming weeks and months, a new website will shine a spotlight on the intrigues surrounding the selection process and examine the likely candidates and their track records. February 2005.    The track record of the World Bank The work of the World Bank has been questioned from the very beginning. One of the first major loans of the IBRD, in 1947 to the Netherlands, was criticized for supporting a country fighting the independence movement in Indonesia. After the Bank’s role in reconstructing Europe was replaced by the Marshall Plan it moved into financing projects in developing countries. The Bank focused on mega-projects such as huge dams and pipelines, which were supposed to boost economic development in a particular region. The Bank faced immediate resistance from local groups, supported by international NGOs. Not only did many projects harm the environment and undermine the living conditions of the local population, they also served the interests of corrupt, non-democratic governments and foreign investors. In response, the Bank partly moved out of microeconomic development, and partly rewrote the guidelines for its involvement in projects. Additionally, it introduced macroeconomic programmes, often in cooperation with the IMF. These, again, are highly controversial in the international development community. Unofficial track record of the World Bank Source: CEE Bankwatch This historical account of the Bank’s operations, covering mainly the 1980s and 1990s, shows how its programmes harmed the poor and the environment by propagating export-led growth and privatization policies. According to the logic of the World Bank system it has to provide a growing number of loans to justify its own existence as well as preventing default of the borrowing countries. Why the World Bank must be reformed and how we can do it Source: CEE Bankwatch The World Bank acts as an institution of neocolonial control of the developing world. In the interest of global corporations it pursues free trade and deregulation, thereby destroying the environment and spreading poverty. To exert pressure on the Bank, people should lobby large institutional funds to stop buying World Bank bonds as a way to protest the Bank's destructive policies. Will harmonization undermine the environmental and social policy safeguards of the IFIs? Source: Citizens’ Network on Essential Services Outlines the issues at stake as the multilateral lending institutions discuss how they can harmonize the policies that guide their work. Provides background on safeguards and compares them across the regional development banks. World Bank social and environmental policies: abandoning responsibility Source: Bretton Wood Projects The World Bank is planning a controversial major overhaul of its safeguard policies. NGOs say the Bank has already diluted key provisions of these policies and are determined not to allow further changes which will make it harder to hold the Bank accountable for the impacts of its operations. They are calling for the Bank to improve the content and implementation of its policies in line with international agreements. (pdf format) Comments on the World Bank’s discussion note on "Safeguard Policies: Framework for Improving Development Effectiveness" Source: Forest Peoples Programme This letter provides comments on the World Bank’s discussion note on safeguard policies. It argues that the document lacks clarity on the Bank’s precise plans for reforming its safeguard framework and leaves many questions unanswered. The letter outlines the gaps in the document and provides recommendations for its improvement. "Community Driven Development" strategy fails to reduce poverty in East Timor Source: Focus on the Global South This account of a Community Driven Development project in East Timor shows how the World Bank fails to implement successful poverty reduction strategies. Local micro-credit loans led to an explosion of small competing shops without a sustainable economic base which, additionally, undermined local production by selling mainly imported products. The global poll: Multinational survey of opinion leaders 2002 Source: World Bank This survey on the Bank’s work reveals mixed responses from opinion leaders around the globe. While respondents in developed countries are fairly satisfied with the World Bank, many people in the South question its role in poverty reduction, environmental protection, and structural adjustment (pdf format). Report and discussion paper on IFIs and human rights Source: Halifax Initiative The NGO Working Group on EDC, a Working group of the Halifax Initiative, has released a revised Discussion Paper and Final Report for their May meeting on "Risk, Responsiblity and Human Rights: Assessing the Human Rights Impacts of Trade and Project Finance". The discussion paper explores how human rights can be mainstreamed into trade and project finance, with a particular focus on export credit agencies (ECAs), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). It develops an initial framework, based on best practices, for ensuring due human rights diligence through all stages of the project cycle. The Final Report (pdf) provides an overview of the discussions and conclusions that were reached at the May 2004 multistakeholder meeting of experts for which the paper was prepared. The meeting included development, environment, gender, human rights, and labour groups, academics, assessment practitioners, government (including Canada's ECA Export Development Canada), and southern partners. Pdf format. Who’s taking risks?: How the World Bank pushes private infrastructure -- and finds resistance in some surprising places Source: Citizens' Network on Essential Network Tim Kessler Poverty and risk make private investment unappealing where human need is greatest. Investors are staying away from infrastructure projects in developing countries because of limits – both economic and regulatory – on what they can charge for water and power. One response would have been to accept market realities and help governments finance more accountable public utilities. Instead, the World Bank is attempting to rig the game, promoting a range of new instruments – so-called fiscal supports — to attract private sector participation to risky markets (pdf version). World Bank accountability: demand for reparations won't go away Source: Bretton Woods Project In 1982, more than 400 Maya Achí men, women and children were tortured, raped and killed by the Guatemalan army after their community peacefully opposed their forced relocation caused by the construction of the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) funded Chixoy dam. The survivors of the massacres, who were subsequently displaced, have only received meagre compensation from the Guatemalan government and live in extreme poverty. November 2004. African mining codes a race to the bottom Source: Third World Features Thomas Akabzaa In her quest to help mining companies maximise profits in African countries, the World Bank Group has been helping write mining codes with minimal environmentally sustainable frameworks and of little socio-economic benefit to African countries. November 2004. Platform for rights, rules and responsibilities for IFC’s safeguard policy review The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has provided more than $40 billion directly to private companies, many of them multinational corporations operating in developing countries, in the name of sustainable development and poverty reduction. This money often goes to projects that lead to environmental pollution and degradation, poverty creation and more social inequities. December 2004. The Wolfesohn era at the World Bank: a decade of contradictions Source: Focus on the Global South Walden Bello & Shalmali Guttal Wolfensohn's was an ambitious presidency. Chosen by President Bill Clinton to head the world's largest multilateral lender in 1995, Australian-turned-American Wolfensohn promised to make the Bank more sensitive to the needs of developing countries. The institution was then identified with structural adjustment programs that had wrenched developing country economies without bringing about growth, and with controversial projects. April, 2005 The World Bank and the respect of the human rights Source: CADTM The questions of "human rights" has never been a priority concern for the World Bank. Among the conditionalities fixed by the Bank, one right supercedes all others: the individual right to private propoerty, which in practice works to the advantage of big property holders, whether they be wealthy individuals or national and transnational corporations. In the conditionalities supported by the World Bank, there is no reference to the collective rights of peoples and individuals. May, 2006 The World Bank during neoliberal and neoconservative fusion Source: Pambazuka Nearly all the major multilateral institutions have been captured by hardliners over the past couple of years. From this standpoint that "we can understand not only the recent debacles of global governance: the inability to expand the UN Security Council in September 2005; the breakdown of the Doha Round of WTO negotiations in July 2006; and the planned shrinkage of Africa’s voting power within the IMF board of governors, from 4% to 2%". September, 2006 The influence of the United States on the World Bank Source: CADTM Eric Toussaint The book commissioned by the World Bank to recount its first 50 years of existence shows that the concept of the World as a huge bureaucracy, gradully freed from the influence of the US, is actually a far cry from reality. In real terms, the instituttion is firmly under the control of the US government which negociates, with the governments of the major capitalist powers, the policies to be followed within the World Bank, and under its leadership. November, 2006 Whistling in the dark: Why the World Bank's latest poverty projections are meaningless Source: Jubilee Research at nef David Woodward The World Bank's latest annual Global Economic Prospects report, setting out the Bank's vision of the global economy until 2030, including its latest projections for poverty. The breathless excitement with which the Bank presents this flight of fancy is quite extraordinary. IMF and World Bank projections show the world suddenly starting to get better and better from next year. Year after year they do this. And year after year the situation is even worse than it was the year before. January, 2007 (pdf format) World Bank in historical perspective Source: Znet The World Bank, a prominent Western financial institution, has played a major role in the changed strategy of imperialism, pursued after the Second World War. This strategy has been known as Neocolonialism. One can hardly understand the role of the World Bank without having an insight in it and for that one has to look back in history. It is high time that a fresh look is given to the utility of the World Bank and its mission. May, 2007 Business as usual at the World Bank after brief Wolfowitz era Source: Afrodad The choice of Robert Zoellick as the new head of the World Bank tells us the Bush administration has no intention of contributing to any significant governance reform of the institution. While Zoellick might prove to be a capable man for the job, the process in which he has been chosen has already illustrated that the World Bank, and its major shareholders, are far from practising what they preach when it comes to accountable governance. June, 2007 World Bank: Wolfowitz or Zoellick, is that the question? Source: Rede Brasil Fabrina Furtado The current change in World Bank leadership brings an important opportunity to discuss the role of the institution. However, debate has been reduced to a dispute over the nationality of the president. The core issue lies not on the procedence of those who are in power, nor on their capacity to conceal the beneficiaries of nepotism, but on the logic that politically guides the institution. June, 2007 Robert Zoellick and the World Bank: Putting the fox in charge of the hen-house Source: nef (new economics foundation) David Woodward and Aileen Kwa The World Bank Executive Board has just unanimously confirmed Robert Zoellick as the next president of the institution, the only candidate running for the post. He has already played a central role in delegitimising the WTO whilst US Trade Representative, making a major contribution to the negotiations grinding to a halt. Now, it seems the Bush administration is determined to give him the chance to do the same thing at the World Bank. June, 2007 The temple of capital is cracking Source: Ventana Global Umberto Mazzei The World Bank was created to supply the capital necessary for the reconstruction of Europe and with the mandate of reducing poverty in other parts of the world with accessible loans. In the end, Europe was reconstructed with the Marshall Plan and in what concerns the World Bank loans, the attached conditions increase poverty and income disparity in the Third World. The Bank did have its boom with the external debt of developing countries, but the paradox is that the more they repay their debts, the more it sinks in bankruptcy. July, 2007 Corporate power and influence in the World Bank Source: Focus on the Global South Shalmali Guttal For several decades now, the Bank has used development and poverty reduction as smokescreens to further corporate interests. It has used its position as preferred creditor and aid coordinator in developing countries to create opportunities for private corporations, contractors and consultants to profit from structural needs and crises in developing countries. Clearly, dismantling corporate power over our public goods, services and commons will also require dismantling the World Bank. August, 2007 A Marxist at the World Bank Source: Third World Network Roberto Bissio The appointment of Justin Yifu Lin as World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President for Development Economics is big news. This is the first time this position is held by a citizen from the developing world, but such a move was to be expected, since after all Lin is Chinese and his country will have a bigger economy than that of the United States in twenty years time. Yet the real surprise is that Lin is known for his criticism of the Washington Consensus, and particularly of shock therapies and mass-scale privatizations, two policies actively promoted by the Bretton Woods institutions in the last two decades. March, 2008    Corruption at the World Bank Since the beginning of the Wolfowitz era at the World Bank, the corruption became a hot topic inside the institution. The current president raises the corruption topic frequently, but for civil society groups and the public in general is very difficult to believe in his speeches. The institution has been a platform for corruption for many years, so the question is: How far can the Bank really go with this agenda?. The World Bank weeds out corruption: Will it touch the roots? Source: Bretton Woods Project A series of loan suspensions and internal investigations has everyone at the World Bank talking about corruption; despite high-profile moves by president Paul Wolfowitz, the root causes of corruption - underpaid civil servants, an acceptance of bribery by big business, and dirty money - remain largely unaddressed. April 2006. The World Bank’s conflicted corruption fight Source: International Rivers Network and Environmental Defense Peter Bosshard and Shannon Lawrence World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has called corruption the single most important obstacle to development and has ratcheted up the fight against graft in Bank projects. While this effort is welcome, it is being undermined by the bank’s simultaneous increase in infrastructure lending. Unless the World Bank addresses upstream the corruption incentives that drive infrastructure decisions, the poor will continue to be deprived of access to essential services. May, 2006 Presentation by Raymond Baker at the brown bag lunch on corruption Source: New Rules for Global Finance World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has made corruption his signature issue. In the World Bank context, the "bad guys" are developing country government officials on the take. Is this the major source of corruption?. Raymond Baker described three major sources of corruption, and the institutions designed to facilitate the transfer of massive amounts of "dirty money". The perpetrators of the corruption rarely include developing country officials, and the designers of the sophisticated infrastructure that moves the cash may surprise you. July, 2006 The World Bank versus poor countries: Deconstructing Wolfowitzism Source: Africa Files Being a controversial figure as he rightly acknowledged, Wolfowitz is being watched closely to see what he does at the World Bank. Interestingly, Wolfowitz has now made the fight against corruption one of his top priorities even though some criticize his past records for turning a blind eye to this issue. But his actions are treated with skepticism because many doubt the real intentions behind the principles. September, 2006 Fighting corruption needs more than a "spray gun" Source: Action for Economic Reforms Filomeno S. Sta. Ana Corruption is bad. Corruption is evil. Corruption is harmful to development. Everyone says all this, including George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Transparency International, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has in fact made an anti-corruption drive his main preoccupation. To be sure, we must fight corruption. But it cannot be done through the Wolfowitz way. October, 2006 Wolfowitz and the hypocrisy of the West Source: Pambazuka News Tajudeen Abdul Raheem When Paul Wolfowitz was nominated by Bush to become the president of the World Bank there was a lot of anger and opposition from both development lobbyists and economists. The appointment of Wolfowitz showed yet again the undemocratic power relations in most of the so-called global institutions. Wolfowitz's resignation is correct, but his pillow mortgage is just the tip of the iceberg and a symptom of allegedly technocratic global institutions whose officials are not elected, who are mostly unelectable, and not accountable to those they serve. May, 2007 Behind the World Bank's ouster of Paul Wolfowitz Source: Countercurrents.org Patrick Martin The Wolfowitz affair, in the final analysis, is an expression of the decline of the United States and reflects the greater willingness of rival capitalist powers in Europe and Asia to push back against the supposed "sole superpower". May, 2007 World Bank must show political independence Source: Science and Development Network The row over the World Bank president's behaviour reinforces the need to safeguard its lending policies from ideological pressure. May, 2007 Wolfowitz saga exposes structural flaws of the World Bank Source: Global Policy The allegations of nepotism against World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz have exposed the underlying issue of "an outdated system of global governance" which grants disproportionate power to wealthy western nations. The US monopoly over leadership of the World Bank has muted criticism against Wolfowitz, as small countries dependent on the bank fear retaliation if they object, Europe looks to maintain control over the leadership of the IMF, and larger developing countries "seek quiet exit from the bank's grip". May, 2007 Wolfowitz needs to look at corruption of yesterday and follow the positive example of Norway Source: Eurodad Gail Hurley One could be forgiven for thinking that Wolfowitz has spoken about corruption and nothing else during the year that he has held the post as World Bank President. How far can the Bank really go with this agenda, in particular where the Bank itself has been the cause of corruption, and odious and illegitimate debts, in the past?. This article argues that any comprehensive approach to corruption must examine the World Bank's lending practices of yesterday and cancel debts found to be corrupt and fraudulent.May, 2006 Adios, World Bank! Source: Foreign Policy In Focus Nadia Martinez As the controversy around Iraq War architect Paul Wolfowitz’s uncertain future as president of the World Bank intensifies, the financial institution is not only losing supporters. It’s also losing victims. In Latin America, countries are paying off their World Bank loans early, cutting off ties with the Bank, and creating their own financing instruments to replace the world’s oldest multilateral lending agency. May, 2007 Love, lies, Wolfowitz and the Bank Source: The Zeleza Post Paul Zeleza The unfolding corruption scandal of the World Bank president, Paul Wolfwitz, is an intriguing and entangled tale of love: the personal love life of Mr Wolfowitz himself, the current love affair between neo-conservatism and neo-liberalism, and the long-standing marriage between capitalism and corruption, the development industry and the military-industrial complex, and the Northern-dominated international financial institutions and the institutionalisation of dependency and poverty in the global South. May, 2007    WB's knowledge policy The Knowledge Bank consists of knowledge-sharing among Bank staff, regional and country external knowledge sharing and global knowledge initiatives. Civil society voices urge the Bank to think again on its knowledge roles, its structural difficulties, the conflicts of interest in-country research, the Development Gateway's information policy (it is predominantly from northern sources), the Bank's inability to listen to critical views and its failure to understand that people have fundamentally different approaches to development questions. The World Bank’s knowledge roles: dominating development debates Source: Bretton Woods Project A recent assessment of the Bank's knowledge strategy found many problems with its approach and impact. The evaluation report demonstrated some of the black arts of bureaucratic knowledge filtering, burying some of the most important critical evidence. Development Gateway: biased, unaccountable and overpriced? Source: Bretton Woods Project A study prepared for the Bretton Woods Project has found that the Development Gateway, an internet portal on development issues initiated by the World Bank, presents a biased picture of development debates, lacks independence and is inefficient when compared with other similar initiatives. They have suggested the initiative is ill-conceived and biased, leading to the further marginalisation of southern knowledge, and the crowding out of other knowledge aggregators.    The Bank’s role in microeconomic project lending The Bank’s role in microeconomic project lending Source: Choike The World Bank's focus is on microeconomic projects that are supposed to trigger macroeconomic development in a wider region. However, many dams, pipelines, roads, mines and loggings are very controversial due to their negative social and environmental impact. Regardless of the successive changes in World Bank programmes, NGOs continue to lobby for a much more comprehensive approach to incorporate all social and environmental concerns when financing microeconomic projects. World Bank finds way to bypass restrictions in lending for infrastructure to sub-national entities Source: Center of Concern A World Bank report titled "Sub-National Development Program" raises concerns about its potential to encourage further privatization and high levels of indebtedness by sub-national entities. It is not clear that, in spite of the lack of national government guarantee this guarantee will not have to be provided in the case of a default. Further concerns are raised by the fact that some FTAs currently under negotiation, make rules protecting foreign investors applicable not only to sovereign debt, but also to sub-national sovereign debt. May, 2006 Microcredit, macro problems Source: Focus on the Global South Walden Bello The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus, regarded as the father of microcredit, comes at a time when microcredit has become something like a religion. Perhaps one of the reasons there is such enthusiasm for microcredit in establishment circles these days is that it is a market-based mechanism that has enjoyed some success where other market-based programs have crashed. Many of the same institutions that pushed and are continuing to push these failed macro programs, like the World Bank, are often the same institutions pushing microcredit programs. October, 2006    World Bank conditionalities Loosening the leash? The World Bank conditionality review Source: Eurodad World Bank conditionality is more important now, than ever before. This is because it is highly likely that a significant amount of the new aid that was agreed at the G8 summit will be delivered through the World Bank and as such, will be subject to its conditionality practices. Eurodad analizes the key findings and recommendations of the review and some suggested policy recommendations that NGOs should be calling for. August, 2005 World Bank still pushing economic policy conditions Source: SUNS Celine Tan The World Bank has made only limited progress in reducing the number of economic policy conditions, such as privatisation and trade liberalisation, attached to its financing but is instead reclassifying and bundling together conditions in order to downplay use of such conditionalities, Eurodad's study has found. The report, "Untying the Knots", finds that "more than two thirds of Bank loans and grants (71%) still have sensitive policy reforms attached to them as conditions". November, 2007 Conditionality in Latin America Source: Forum on the Future of Aid Humberto Campodónico In Latin America, since the end of the 1980s, the IMF and the World Bank imposed conditionality directly linked to the launching of structural adjustment programs, more commonly known as the Washington Consensus. After the failure of these policies, strong political trends arose in the region, presenting different economic policy alternatives, aimed at a new equation for state and market relations together with deepening, and in some cases, construction, of democratic institutions and measures of governability, which grant long term viability to the countries' economies and societies. February, 2008    IMF-World Bank long-term development strategies IMF and World Bank long-term development strategies Source: Choike The World Bank’s original project focus gradually changed to a more long-term development approach. When the structural adjustment programmes were strongly criticized, the Bank, in co-operation with the IMF, introduced poverty reduction and debt cancellation programmes such as PRSP and the HIPC Initiative. NGOs questioned these strategies from the start as they are seen as the old neo-liberal programmes in a new packaging. Odious debt: Calls for arbitration mount Source: Bretton Woods Project The international civil society community has reacted to the odious debt cases in Argentina, Hatí, Iraq, South Asia, and Africa by calling independent tribunals to determine which debts are not legally enforceable. Open on impact? Slow progress in World Bank and IMF poverty analysis Source: EURODAD For too long the policies of developing countries have been based on the priorities of external donors. But times have sup