As geopolitical tensions rise amidst worsening global economic conditions, civil society demands the democratisation of a world economic order away from the established Global North and elite capitalist hegemony.
Global architecture
IFI governance
Analysis
Spring Meetings 2022 Preamble: War in Ukraine risks deepening divergent recovery as World Bank and IMF prepare for Spring Meetings
War in Ukraine will have significant spillover effects as Global South continues to carry the burden of vaccine inequity. Debt, austerity and evolving food crisis key talking points of Meetings while unequal recovery, gender, RST and surcharges key issues at CSPF.
Finance
News
IMF capital control review: A missed opportunity to support a just recovery and stability
IMF review of institutional view on capital controls disappoints as it largely maintains the policy framework of its predecessor
Finance
News
Argentine civil society denounces new IMF agreement as illegitimate
Civil society rejects new Agreement arguing IMF loan will be used to pay odious debt and result in reforms damaging to human rights.
Finance
Analysis
Our World in 2021
While the Bank stressed the need for a recovery based on Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development and the IMF highlighted its concerns about the divergent paths of the global recovery in 2021, both continued to support largely unreformed policies.
IFI governance
Analysis
Annual Meetings 2021 Preamble: IMF and World Bank face existential questions in midst of global health and climate crises
Doing Business scandal, likely conditions attached to SDR rechannelling and lack of Bank and Fund support for an intellectual property waiver for vaccines highlight links between undemocratic governance structures at Bank and Fund and the uneven recovery from the pandemic.
Finance
News
Civil society frustrated by lack of substantive engagement in IDA20 replenishment process
Private sector first approach intact in IDA20 replenishment despite CSO recommendations.
Finance
Background
What are Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)?
This Inside the Institutions looks at the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights, including their history and usage, with a focus on the latest allocation, which accounts for 69 per cent of the SDRs ever disbursed.
IFI governance
Background
IMF surcharges: A necessary tool or counter-productive obstacle to a just and green recovery?
Notes from the Civil Society Policy Forum session on 6 October on the governance and resourcing implications of IMF's surcharges.
IFI governance
Background
Making the Most of Special Drawing Rights: Approaches to maximise impact and create a sustainable and just recovery
Notes from the Civil Society Policy Forum session on 4 October on the ways to maximise the impacts of the recent allocation of $650 billion Special Drawing Rights.
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