Clampdown on civil society leaves stain on this year’s Annual Meetings, as global civic space is increasingly under threat

Clampdown on civil society leaves stain on this year’s Annual Meetings, as global civic space is increasingly under threat
Concerns have been raised about the safety of critics of World Bank projects and the adequacy of the Inspection Panel, as a new Bank grievance mechanism has been launched.
Request for critical IMF and World Bank resources of 2017.
NGO coalition Our Land Our Business denounced the World Bank’s March conference on land and poverty, condemning the Bank’s role in land grabs.
The Bretton Woods Project review of the most important developments at the World Bank and IMF in 2013.
New concerns have been raised on the World Bank’s involvement in the Simandou mine in Guinea, including on the use of biodiversity offsets, while civil society has repeated unaddressed concerns on the Mongolia Oyu Tolgoi mine. Further concerns have been raised on mines in Dominican Republic, Peru and South Africa.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, is under internal scrutiny for two projects in Albania.
Indian civil society coalition the People's Front against International Financial Institutions held a People's Forum and demonstrations against the annual meetings of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Delhi in early May.
At the United Nations Rio+20 conference on sustainable development held in Brazil in late June, the World Bank promoted its 'green growth' approach despite concerns from civil society groups.
In early July, thousands of protesters took to the streets in the Ukrainian capital Kiev to try to block pension reforms promised as part of the country's IMF loan.