PAPERS
Follow the money: The World Bank Group and the use of financial intermediaries; Bretton Woods Project
Report reveals that the World Bank Group is channelling crucial development resources to banks instead of directly investing in pro-poor projects.
http://tinyurl.com/Follow-the-money-BWP
Multilateral Development Banks’ unburnable carbon; Bretton Woods Project
Briefing on MDBs’ fossil fuel investments and exposure to the ‘carbon bubble’.
http://tinyurl.com/Unburnable-Carbon-BWP
A dangerous diversion: Will the IFC’s flagship health PPP bankrupt Lesotho’s Ministry of Health?; Oxfam
Highlights the damaging impacts of an IFC-supported Lesotho health public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.
http://tinyurl.com/Dangerous-Diversion
A private affair: Shining a light on the shadowy institutions giving public support to private companies and taking over the development agenda; Eurodad
Analyses development financial institutions and the lack of involvement of recipient countries in development policies.
http://tinyurl.com/Eurodad
A seat at the table? Ensuring smallholder farmers are heard in public-private partnerships; Fairtrade Foundation
Finds insufficient integration of smallholders into PPPs in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi.
http://tinyurl.com/PPP-agriculture
Arab uprisings & social justice: implications of IMF subsidy reform policies, Arab NGO Network for Development; Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights
Argues that IMF recommendations on reducing subsidies in the MENA region has had a negative impact and that country specific approaches are needed.
tinyurl.com/ANND-Feb2014
Greece’s health crisis: From austerity to denialism; Alexander Kentikelenis et al
Illustrates the aggravating effects of austerity measures on Greece’s health system.
http://tinyurl.com/Greece-Health-Austerity
The great land heist; ActionAid
Shows how land grabs are facilitated by both ‘host’ and ‘home’ country governments and analyses the devastating consequences for smallholders.
http://tinyurl.com/Action-Aid-Land
“The more things change…” The World Bank, Tata and enduring abuses on India’s tea plantations; Columbia Law School
Highlights abusive conditions on tea plantations part-owned by the IFC and Indian Tata corporation.
http://tinyurl.com/India-Tea-Plantations
“There are no investigations here”: Impunity for killings and other abuses in Bajo Aguán, Honduras; Human Rights Watch
Examines a series of homicides and abductions in Honduras, as well as human rights violations by soldiers and police.
http://tinyurl.com/HRW-Honduras
At the mercy of the government: Violation of the right to an effective remedy in Badia East, Lagos State, Nigeria; Amnesty International
Report on the communities of Badia East affected by Nigeria government demolitions, part of a Bank-funded project violating international human rights laws.
tinyurl.com/Amnesty-Nigeria
Does the Kosovo power project’s proposed forced displacement of Kosovars comply with International Involuntary Settlement Standards?, T. Downing; KOSID
Criticising World Bank’s role in the Kosovo Power Project, which failed to comply with international involuntary resettlement standards.
http://tinyurl.com/displacement-Kosovo
Economic development in Africa Report 14: catalysing investment for transformative growth in Africa; Unctad
Report analysing how African governments should catalyse investment to achieve sustained growth.
tinyurl.com/UNCTAD-Africa14
The Palangka Raya Declaration of the deforestation and the rights of forest peoples; Forest Peoples Programme
Declaration resulting from a conference held by Forest Peoples Programme and their Indonesian partner organisations, stating the rights of indigenous and forest people.
tinyurl.com/PalangkaRaya
Unfolding truth: dismantling the World Bank’s myths on agriculture and development; The Oakland Institute
Report refuting some uphold truths on World Bank’s role in agricultural development in developing countries.
http://tinyurl.com/Unfolding-Truth
When vulture funds circle, who will make debt repayments fairer?; JDC statement in The Guardian
Describing the reasons why western governments continue to block developing countries attempts for a legal process for restructuring debts.
http://tinyurl.com/Fair-Debt-Repay
World Social Protection Report: building economic recovery, inclusive development and social justice, International Labour Organization
Annual report of the International Labour Organization on social protection including analysis of trends and policies in social protection.
http://tinyurl.com/Social-Protection-Report
BOOKS
Forgotten foundations of Bretton Woods: International development and the making of the postwar order, Eric Helleiner
Challenges the assumptions that architects of Bretton Woods institutions devoted little attention to international development issues or the concerns of poorer countries. Cornell University Press, ISBN-13 978-0-8014-5275-8
The battle of Bretton Woods: John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the making of a new world order, Benn Steil
Describes the Bretton Woods negotiations and shows how Bretton Woods was part of an ambitious geopolitical agenda of the US. Princeton University Press, ISBN: 978-0691149097
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
Campaign exposing links between the World Bank’s Doing Business rankings and land grabs.
Civil society monitoring on the World Bank safeguards review.