IFI governance

Background

Recommended resources on the World Bank and IMF 2015

10 February 2016 | Resource

BOOKS

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: The construction of power and the struggle for the East Asian international order (The political economy of East Asia); Ming Wan

Assesses the strategic significance of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and argues that it does not represent a radical departure from the existing international order; it is a hybrid institution built on China’s integration into the West-dominated international structure while drawing in part from a different institutional lineage. Palgrave Pivot. ISBN-13: 978-1137593863.


PAPERS

At your own risk: Reprisals against critics of World Bank Group projects; Human Rights Watch

Argues that the World Bank has done little to prevent or dissuade governments from intimidating critics of the projects it funds, or monitor for reprisals.

https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/worldbank0615_4up.pdf


Report of the special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights; Philip Alston, UN

Analyses the approach of the World Bank on human rights, concluding that the existing approach is incoherent, counterproductive and unsustainable.

http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/70/274


The IMF in the Arab world: Lessons unlearnt; Bretton Woods Project

The report reveals that IMF policy in the MENA region has remained unchanged after the 2011 Arab uprising, despite its rhetoric for change towards inclusive growth.

http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/final-MENA-report.pdf


Lessons from CAO cases: Land; Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO)

Summarises insights the International Finance Corporation’s accountability mechanism, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), has gained from experiences with communities and companies in the arena of land, private sector development and conflict.

www.cao-ombudsman.org/howwework/advisor/documents/CAO_AdvisorySeries_LANDr4.pdf


Lesotho’s controversial public–private partnership project; Paul C. Webster, The Lancet

Reports on a new hospital in Lesotho’s capital, set up and run through a public–private partnership facilitated by the International Finance Corporation, that has been under scrutiny because of its financial cost to the country’s government.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2815%2900959-9/fulltext?rss%3Dyes


MDB climate change scorecard: Do the MDBs pass the 2 degree test?; Bank Information Center and Sierra Club

Report reveals that not one of the world’s main development banks is on track to help keep the world below 2 degrees warming, but continue to support fossil-fuel projects in developing countries.

http://www.bankinformationcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/MDB-Climate-Change-Scorecard-formatted.pdf


Peru, the poster child for the World Bank in Latin America; Oakland Institute

Highlights how improving Peru’s business climate to attract foreign investment has had a severe toll on people, workers and the environment, resulting in rising social conflicts.

http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/sites/oaklandinstitute.org/files/OI_Report_Peru_World_Bank.pdf


Still funding fossils: World Bank Group energy finance FY2014; Oil Change International

The report finds that the World Bank’s energy finance practices continue to fall far short of the Bank’s core missions of reducing poverty and tackling climate change.

http://priceofoil.org/content/uploads/2015/04/world-bank-april-2015-FINAL.pdf


Still in the woods: Gridlock in the IMF and the World Bank puts multilateralism at risk; J. Vestergaard and R.H. Wade

Argues that the reforms at the IMF and the World Bank have substantially failed to meet their ostensible objectives in allocating higher voting shares to developing countries.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1758-5899.12178/full


The suffering of others: The human cost of the International Finance Corporation’s
lending through financial intermediaries
; Oxfam International

New evidence from Oxfam, the Bretton Woods Project and other NGOs reveals the impact of the International Finance Corporation’s investments in financial intermediaries on global human rights.

https://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/file_attachments/ib-suffering-of-others-international-finance-corporation-020415-en.pdf


The new debt trap: How the response to the last global financial
crisis has laid the ground for the next
; Jubilee Debt Campaign

Reports the increase in global debt owed between countries and debt crises hitting 22 countries, with an additional 71 countries at risk.

http://jubileedebt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/The-new-debt-trap-report.pdf


Turning promises into progress: Gender equality and rights for women and girls -lessons learnt and actions needed; Gender & Development Network

A review of the state of gender equality and women’s and girls’ rights in the twenty years since the landmark Beijing Conference on Women.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/536c4ee8e4b0b60bc6ca7c74/t/550ab0c8e4b048091fe0b106/1426763976958/Turning+Promises+into+Progress+FINAL.pdf


Walking the talk: World Bank energy-related policies and financing 2000-2004 to 2010-2014; Institute for Policy Studies

A review of The World Bank’s lending practices reveals that it is undermining climate change efforts despite championing them.

http://www.ips-dc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Walking-The-Talk.pdf


What lies beneath? A critical assessment of PPPs and their impact on sustainable development; Eurodad

Looks at the empirical and theoretical evidence available on the nature and impact of public-private partnerships, and critically assesses whether they deliver on the promises.

http://www.eurodad.org/files/pdf/1546450-what-lies-beneath-a-critical-assessment-of-ppps-and-their-impact-on-sustainable-development-1450105297.pdf


The World Bank Group’s 2013-15 Agriculture for Action Plan: A lesson in privatization, lack of oversight and tired development paradigms; Transnational Institute

Review and discussion of the World Bank’s Agriculture for Action Plan, including examples of the challenges peasants face in the wake of World Bank Group projects.

https://www.tni.org/files/publication-downloads/developmentreport22final_0.pdf