Rights

News

Bank/NGO communications strategy assessed

The Bank’s NGO Unit has commissioned a needs assessment of communications strategies between the World Bank and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).

Conditionality

News

Social Principles limited to crisis situations

The Bank’s paper on best practices for implementing the social principles will be discussed by the Board on 10 September.

WB/IMF roles

News

Bank to convene new public policy fora

The World Bank is considering setting up new fora to discuss issues of global importance which are not being effectively handled by existing national or international mechanisms.

IFI governance

News

Forest policy review delay, IFC scrutinised

The regional consultations that will inform the World Bank’s forest policy review have had to be delayed; they will not start until February or March 2000.

IFI governance

News

New Bank environment review

The World Bank’s Operations Evaluation Department is carrying out a review of “Promoting Environmental Sustainability in Development”.

Knowledge

News

Globalization, urbanization, environment assessed

The Bank’s World Development Report 1999-2000, due out in mid-September, will examine globalization, localization, urbanization, and environmental change, presenting their implications for institutions and for policy.

Finance

News

Bank to guarantee economic policy reforms

The World Bank Board recently agreed that the Bank can extend its partial credit guarantee instrument to cover structural and social policy reforms.

Knowledge

News

“Knowledge Bank” claims queried

The Bretton Woods Project has received copies of draft papers by two academics critically querying the World Bank’s claims to have become a “knowledge bank”.

Private Sector

News

Int. Chamber of Commerce Partners with Bank

In June the World Bank agreed to step up cooperation with the International Chamber of Commerce to boost the private sector, trade and investment in the Bank’s member countries.

Environment

News

The Bretton Woods Twins: Caught in Their Paradigm

The genesis and mandates of the Bretton Woods Institutions were very specific, intended to complement each other, and primarily economic in nature. They have not changed very much in the past 50 years even though the world has changed quite dramatically.

Environment

Analysis

World Bank and IMF: Dilemmas and Opportunities

Are the World Bank and IMF now taking environmental and social issues seriously?

Rights

News

Confronting Gender Inequities and Political Disempowerment

The Women’s Eyes campaign was launched by women’s movements and NGOs to monitor World Bank progress in bringing its lending operations in line with the Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women Beijing Women’s Summit in 1995.