A major new Bank study claims that ethnic tensions and political feuds are rarely the primary causes of civil wars.
Conflict
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Iraq - Bank and Fund in no man’s land
The Spring Meetings of the Bank and Fund in mid-April saw sparring between US and European ministers over when and how the institutions might get involved in Iraqi reconstruction. Discussions there and subsequently have focussed on assessments of the economic and development situation, oversight of oil revenues, debt relief and reconstruction finance.
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Afghanistan reconstruction questioned
Civil society groups in Afghanistan are complaining that the policy approach being promoted by donors is not appropriate.
Rights
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ABCDcEnsure
A study arguing against a link between terrorism and poverty was pulled at the last minute from the agenda of the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics in response to complaints from a Kuwaiti Executive Director.
Rights
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Bank declaration of human rights
The World Bank president has asked his staff to prepare a human rights strategy, ending a long-standing aversion to engaging in the debate. But how far can the Bank go when its board and legal staff are urging extreme caution?
Rights
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Doing well out of war
The importance of economic agendas in contemporary conflicts has been the focus of a series of recent papers by Paul Collier, Director of the Bank’s Development Research Group.
Rights
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World Bank role in Afghanistan unclear
After the first two donor conferences on the reconstruction of Afghanistan - in Islamabad in November and in Brussels in December - some people worry that reconstruction funds could easily be misused and fuel continued civil strife.
Rights
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World Bank-led meeting on Afghanistan causes concern in Pakistan
By Shahid Husain, Freelance journalist, Karachi, and Charlotte Carlsson, Communications & research officer, Bretton Woods Project
Rights
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After 11 September: Towards a new multilateralism?
The implications for the World Bank and IMF of the 11 September atrocities and their aftermath are as yet uncertain.
Rights
News
Carrots, sticks and ethnic conflict
How do donor resources, policy advice and conditions attached to aid affect ethnic conflict? International donor interventions are explored by Milton Esman and Ronald Herring of Cornell University in their new book Carrots, Sticks and Ethnic Conflict: Rethinking Development Assistance.
Featured briefings
21 July 2022
Ending “absolute immunity” for the International Finance Corporation: The legacy of Jam v. IFC
EarthRights International examines how the Jam v. IFC case has helped to shift the landscape of accountability for international financial institutions by successfully challenging their claim to “absolute” immunity in US courts, potentially opening IFC up to further legal challenges in future.
21 July 2022
The Bretton Woods Observer: Summer 2022
14 April 2022