Source:
Civicus - Third World Institute
The annual meeting of the governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in the first week of October is traditionally an occasion for protesters to rally against the system and criticise these sister institutions created at Bretton Woods at the end of World War II. The highest authorities of the Bretton Woods institutions have opened a door with their self-criticism. Perhaps the protests during the annual meeting will no longer come from the demonstrators on the corner in Washington, but from inside the meeting itself.
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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.
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.
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 (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 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.
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 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
In an unexpected change of heart about what is good for development, the World Bank announced on April 28 changes in the methodology used for its report "Doing Business", the most influential publication of the institution, which ranks all countries of the world as more or less attractive to investors depending on how easy or difficult it is to establish, lead and close a business, or obtain credit. Several of the ten indicators that define the place of each country in the table of "Doing Business" will be changed in the 2010 report. May, 2009
The Bank needs to turn the crisis into an opportunity to learn that finance can be granted without strings attached and no major drama occurs, as long as the right fiduciary measures are in place and the mutually agreed terms of the contract are respected. Time is also ripe for the Bank to move away from advice that promotes unfettered privatisation and liberalisation of the agriculture sector, and open-up for developing country governments to be able to strengthen the productivity of small-scale farmers and food sovereignty of poorer people. December, 2008
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
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
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
This briefing assesses the conditions attached to World Bank crisis loans for Ghana in 2009, as well as the policy reforms that Ghana has committed to implement as stipulated in the “Letter for development policy”. August 2010.
The latest World Bank data reinforces the need for an in-depth review of the Bank’s current policy conditionalities – with an emphasis on Latin America – which social organizations have questioned for decades. October 2009.
The World Bank has played a prominent role in shaping agricultural policy in Africa. Its influence over a country’s policies is now generally in direct inverse proportion to that country’s economic strength. Thus, most African countries have to greater or lesser degrees espoused and implemented World Bank development policy for the last 25 years, and African agricultural sectors, in effect, demonstrate through continuous low growth rates and deepening rural poverty, the impact of World Bank policies. March, 2008
In September the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) released its review of World Bank support to 'fragile states'. The report gave the Bank a mixed review on its effectiveness, but raised serious questions about both the way the Bank is organised internally to deal with fragile states and the system it uses to allocate resources. Researchers and Bank-watchers question whether the review has gone far enough to examine what causes state 'fragility' and what role Bank-led reforms and projects may play in fostering it. October, 2006
Although publicly-funded International Financial Institutions (IFIs) have missions to reduce poverty and promote economic growth, most of them have taken inadequate steps to try to address these concerns, although nearly all have committed to promoting gender equality. However, these policies tend to be weak, are poorly resourced and understaffed. Gender experts comprise less than one percent of staff at all the IFIs. 2007.
Collection of nine original case studies that offer insights into how local, national, and international civil society factors mobilize to hold the World Bank accountable for its financed projects. It is a rich source of lessons for understanding today's emerging transnational civil society efforts to challenge powerful global institutions.
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
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.
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.
The World Bank is currently consulting on a new energy strategy, due to be finalised in early 2011. This offers an opportunity for a shift towards a limited but catalytic role for the World Bank in ensuring energy access for the poor and supporting the transition towards a low carbon future. But only if the World Bank commits itself to conversion into a much more transparent, representative and environmentally responsible institution, focused on its mission, not its own enlargement. Jointly published by the Bretton Woods Project, Christian Aid, Greenpeace, Practical Action, Tearfund, WWF UK. April 2010.
The World Bank has just finished consultations on a new strategic framework for its climate change work (Development and Climate Change: A Strategic Framework for the World Bank Group), which has one common thread: a massively increased role for the Bank. Yet there is little reflection on the reasons why the Bank's record in this area is so poor, as detailed by a number of recent reports. October, 2008
On Feb. 4, 2008, news came over the wires from Rome that the World Bank had appointed Robert Briner to head up an arbitration tribunal to decide yet another claim against the Argentine government, this time by Italian corporate lawyers. The arbitration will take place in the Washington, DC-based "International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes" (ICSID), an obscure World Bank arbitration forum. Obscure that is, outside of Latin America. While mention of the ICSID in London or New York will likely elicit confused stares, in La Paz or Buenos Aires it could well provoke a string of expletives. May, 2008
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
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
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
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 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
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
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
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)
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
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 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
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.
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)
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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
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.
Who is responsible if a hydroelectric project financed by the World Bank displaces a whole population or pollutes rivers? These kinds of questions were raised in debates between representatives of civil society organizations and Bank officials in the forum about policies that affect civil society, which was part of the annual IMF and World Bank Group meetings in Washington DC from 6 to 10 October.
The annual meeting of the governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in the first week of October is traditionally an occasion for protesters to rally against the system and criticise these sister institutions created at Bretton Woods at the end of World War II. The highest authorities of the Bretton Woods institutions have opened a door with their self-criticism. Perhaps the protests during the annual meeting will no longer come from the demonstrators on the corner in Washington, but from inside the meeting itself.
The IMF /World Bank 2009 Annual meetings were, as every three years, held outside of Washington, this time in the city of Istanbul. The meetings came on the heels of the recent summit of the Group of 20 in Pittsburgh, giving follow up to several of its decisions. Some of the outcomes were perplexing. October 2009.
It seems impossible that the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) would give advice to developing countries without fully considering how it might affect the lives of poor people. Yet, despite it being a long-stated policy of both institutions to do so, and some recent progress on the part of the IMF, they are still failing to consistently ensure that there is a proper assessment of the likely consequences of different policy actions on the poorest people. A joint NGO briefing note by Oxfam, Save the Children, CAFOD, Christian Aid, New Rules for Global Finance, WaterAid, Eurodad, Trocaire, Bretton Woods Project, and Norwegian Church Aid. September 2007 (pdf version).
These new World Bank's estimates have sparked controversy from analysts that claim they are based on the same methods it used earlier and are undermined by the same problems as the earlier estimates. September 2008.
For the last several years the World Bank and IMF have squared off against governments, NGOs, UN agencies and even each other over the concept of 'fiscal space'. The IFIs and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have contrasting views on how to increase fiscal space, meaning how to enable governments to spend and invest more. The core of the disagreement is how fiscal space should be viewed. The UNDP views increasing fiscal space as a means to combat poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), while the IFIs generally start by analysing the resources already available and then calculate fiscal space. April, 2007
World Bank and International Monetary Fund policy-based loans have consequences on people's lives, especially on women. Loans to developing countries that require governments to reform economic, financial and trade policies generally bypass local democratic processes and contribute to the feminization of poverty. Theses policies often help creditors more than women and men in developing countries. To change this situation and create a more just world, this Guide provides ideas for actions and advocacy campaigns. December, 2006
Facing pressure from CSOs and some progressive governments, the World Bank has put out another document on conditionality. The Bank’s document is a sophisticated attempt to justify its position in the face of external criticism and in order to ensure it receives the £50 million being withheld by the British government as a result of CSO pressure. Civil society groups wishing to engage in detailed advocacy will have to prepare well. To avoid being marginalised it is sensible to recognise the Bank’s small steps forward. December, 2006
The World Bank and the IMF are specialized institutions of the UN, comparable in theory to the International Labour Organization (ILA) or the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). As such, they are supposed to cooperate closely with the various UN bodies and the other specialized institutions to achieve the objectives set out in the Charter and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, both institutions attempted to extricate themselves to a large extent from their obligations. October, 2006
The World Bank has released the new version of how to do "good business", covering 175 countries, with updated information about the reforms carried out by these economies to attract investments. The degree of protection of the economies to foreign investments and labor market flexibility can be highlighted among the areas taken into account in the report. However, social and environmental aspects are not included as part of good business. (pdf format) September, 2006
Access to affordable services, including health care, education, water and electricity, is essential to human dignity, fulfillment and productivity. It is a right for all, not a privilege for those who can pay. The rising cost of services is increasingly forcing families to choose. When services are unavailable or unaffordable, the greatest burden often falls upon women and the poor. The World Bank and the U.S. Government often place undue pressure on governments to privatize, overlooking the many negative impacts of privatization and ultimately jeopardizing access to basic services. July, 2006
Radical reform of IMF and World Bank conditionality is needed immediately. The World Bank and IMF need to totally re-think their current approach to development finance policy conditionality. Recent attempts by both the institutions to "streamline" development finance conditionality have failed. Institutional guidelines to reduce the number and scope of conditions imposed are not being implemented properly, and are not sufficient to protect developing countries from the negative impact of onerous conditionality. June, 2006
This analysis of the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) Sustainability Policy, Performance Standards and Disclosure Policy provides a brief overview of each policy and standard, where it goes beyond the previous safeguard policies, where it falls short, and what is missing in terms of addressing the extractives industries. May, 2006
Perhaps partly because of its poor record in development work, the World Bank began to devote more and more of its resources to disaster and reconstruction work, including in post-conflict societies. While the World Bank could be faulted for its development work, nothing could substitute for its reconstruction efforts. This was, in a sense, a return to its origins, since it began its existence in the mid-1940s as a key agency in the post-war reconstruction of Europe. May, 2006
International Financial Institutions (IFIs) have repeatedly insisted on trade liberalization; however, this measure is not "good" in itself but rather to the extent that it contributes to development and poverty reduction. Therefore, when it comes to look ahead, it is essential to evaluate how this policy contributes to meeting its purpose. Presentation of the report issued by the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group: "Assessing World Bank Support for Trade 1987-2004". May, 2006.
Although until now the World Bank (WB) has not formally been part of IIRSA, the institution can — and in fact does — support its projects. Throughout the last year, IIRSA’s Executive Committee president, Roberto Salinas from Paraguay, visited the World Bank seeking financial support for the initiative. His visit sparked a series of speculations about WB participation in IIRSA. February, 2006
International policies on debt have so far failed to recognize the interdependent role that distorted trade agreements and chronic debt burdens share in perpetuating poverty. Structural adjustment and the HIPC initiative, with their one-sizefits-all approach to debt relief, relied heavily on wrong assumptions calling for tariff liberalization and promising export revenue increases. They have not only failed to substantially expand foreign exchange, but have also stranded many developing nations further in debt. This situation demands a paradigm shift. December, 2005
Under contract to the World Bank, Princeton Survey Research Associates surveyed over 2400 opinion leaders in every region of the world. One finding has been obvious to most observers of the World Bank, “… most opinion leaders think the World Bank forces its agenda on developing countries. This finding is consistent and overwhelming in all regions and in virtually all countries…”. November, 2005
Over all while the reduction in binding conditions is welcome, the study concludes that the World Bank continues to ‘buy reforms’ with money only released after a range of ‘prior actions’ have been met. Further, the large number of benchmarks ring alarm bells – raising the fear that the World Bank wishes to continue to micro manage economies. Effectively there has been no streamlining (if all types of conditions are taken into account) and the application of conditionality continues to undermine government ownership and potentially to impact on aid predictability. October, 2005
For too long the policies of developing countries have been based on the priorities of external donors. But times have supposedly changed: the World Bank and the IMF have acknowledged that policy should be based on evidence and are developing tools and methods to analyse which policies are needed to reduce poverty. However, these commitments are not translating to action according to this report by EURODAD. September 2005.
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.
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.
Paul Wolfowitz’s resignation as President of the World Bank is not solving the serious deficit of legitimacy of governance systems at international financial institutions, particularly, of leadership selection at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). The succession processes must be debated again in light of the need to review the World Bank and IMF selection process under broader criteria. Otherwise, both institutions will walk at an even faster pace towards a legitimacy crisis that will leave them further incapacitated to act as moderate forces in international finance. June, 2007
It is now necessary, as Wolfowitz himself pointed out in his resignation letter, for the World Bank to 'find a way to move forward' because 'the poorest people of the world, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa deserve the very best that we can deliver'. More than 200 people, including heads of aid and development organizations, have sent a letter to the World Bank and IMF calling for the unwritten arrangement that the USA choose the head of the World Bank to be replaced with selection procedures that reflect transparency of process and competence of prospective leadership without regard to national origin. May, 2007
The debate over how - or even whether - the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWIs) can be reformed has taken on greater importance in recent years, thanks to an apparent fusion of neoconservative geopolitics and neoliberal economics in the leadership of both the World Bank (Paul Wolfowitz) and International Monetary Fund (Rodrigo Rato). Can the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) be reformed? Or should they be rejected outright - and closed?. December, 2006
President George Bush's decision to have Paul appointed World Bank Presidente was a source of controversy in March 2005. Before this decision some media, such as the British Financial Times, had campaigned for the 10th WB Presidente to be selected on the basis of his or her competence in terms of development, preferably among citizens of the South. George Bush's decisive choice in favour of Paul Wolfowitz clearly indicates who actually runs the World Bank. November, 2006
Governance has become central to development discourse in the past decade or more. This is largely founded on the recognition that strong and accountable institutions, political commitment to effective management of the state, and a vibrant and organized civil society are fundamental to equitable development. There is also an intensified donor focus on improving governance and combating corruption, which is linked to an increase in aid and in public scrutiny of aid in donor countries.
August, 2006
What has most surprised World Bank watchers is how little Paul Wolfowitz has changed the institution he took over one year ago. On Africa, infrastructure, and debt relief, he has stayed the course - for better or worse - set by his predecessor James Wolfensohn. On the high-profile issue of corruption, he has created a lot of noise, but many question whether or not he has a plan. Only in his management moves has he lived up to the fears - or in some cases wishes - of his critics. June, 2006
From water pipelines to seaports, the World Bank funds billions of dollars worth of development projects each year. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) - the part of the World Bank that lends to the private sector- has now adopted new environmental and social standards that they say will minimise the negative impact of projects on the environment and on affected communities. However, civil society organizations offered mixed reviews. February 2006.
This analysis shows that the Bank fails to prioritize gender into its operations. Gender experts constitute less than one percent of Bank staff and the majority of Bank employees lack incentives to identify and address gender gaps because doing so is not mandatory. The authors conclude that although the Bank has made progress in recognizing the critical role that gender equality plays in reducing poverty, it does so rhetorically. This will not change until the Bank provides sufficient funding to expand the number of gender experts and creates incentives for all staff to engender its investments. (pdf format) December, 2005
One of the world’s premier multilateral institutions – the World Bank – has 184 member countries, but only one, the United States, selects its President. In March 2005, the Bush Administration anointed Paul Wolfowitz – architect of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and proponent of US preeminence – to this critical post. By jealously guarding its prerogative and elevating Mr. Wolfowitz to this influential position, the US government has reinforced the perception that it views the World Bank primarily as a foreign policy tool to underwrite US geopolitical and economic interests. (pdf document). September 2005.
Even if the President of the World Bank is subject to several checks and balances, one should not underestimate the influence of this office. Neither should one underestimate the damage that could be caused to the bank as a development-promoting institution if it is used as a tool for implementing US foreign policy. This would not only direct resources in the wrong direction. Time will tell whether this frightening scenario becomes a reality. July, 2005
The appointment of Paul Wolfowitz –who symbolises US unilateralism and contempt for the rule of law– as the new head of the World Bank is viewed with dismay as he is likely to intensify rather than reform the failed World Bank corporate-led model of development. April 2005.
Paul Wolfowitz' nomination as World Bank president was approved by the board 31 March. The approval was a formality after the controversial architect of the war in Iraq received the support of EU countries at a meeting of ministers in Brussels the previous day. Observers from across the political spectrum have denounced the selection process. April, 2005.
The European Council meeting is a major opportunity for European governments to stand up for the future of the World Bank. Strong civil society concerns have been tabled to the European heads of state and formally transmitted to Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Council.
Several groups from the anti-corporate globalisation movement are joining forces to drum up opposition to the nomination of Paul Wolfowitz. This challenge is one of the toughest facing civil society groups since they managed to rally thousands of protesters in Seattle in 1999 against the policies of World Trade Organisation (WTO). The massive and rapid response to this strongly-worded petition is a sample of the anger on this issue. March, 2005.
His nomination has sparked a wave of outrage among independent development groups, who blame him for promoting unilateralism and militarism in U.S. foreign policy, and for a lack of transparency in bidding for reconstruction contracts in the occupied Iraq. March 2005.
The World Bank established a dialogue with civil society groups much earlier than other international organizations. The co-operation, however, did not always translate into actual policy changes. Moreover, while the Bank introduced independent evaluations of its programmes, many recommendations end up in the waste basket. According to NGOs, the announced accountability and transparency procedures are often no more than a PR tool. Instead, they are asking for far-reaching reforms of World Bank programmes as well as its institutional structure.
