The IMF provoked public ire in Zambia by asking the government to remove value added tax exemptions on a range of goods, including mosquito nets used to fight malaria.
Health
Social services
Commentary
Huge gaps in the World Bank's Gender Action Plan
The World Bank's new Gender Action Plan (GAP), aptly named Gender equality as smart economics, is tightly framed in the Bank's economic policy framework.
Social services
Background
The World Bank and disability
The Bank’s formal commitment to disability work began in June 2002 with the founding of the disability and development team within the social protection unit of the human development vice-presidency. The team’s primary focus is on cooperating at the international level on including the disabled in development.
Social services
Background
The World Bank and youth
World Bank and its work on youth
Social services
Background
The World Bank and ageing
The who, what, where and how much of the World Bank's work with the aged and pension reform.
Social services
News
Malaria experts say World Bank published false statistics, approved deadly treatments
A group of public health experts has called for an independent investigation into the World Bank's publication of "false epidemiological statistics", approval of "obsolete treatments" for a deadly strain of malaria, and failure to uphold its pledges for funding malaria control.
Conditionality
News
Inflexibility on aid scale up haunts IMF fiscal conditions
The rigidity of Fund programmes is causing chafing at the collar in governments and civil society organisations in low-income countries, as the debate over the scaling up of aid rages.
Social services
News
Donors fail to ante up for Bank bird flu efforts
According to a June Bank report, a mere $286 million out of the originally pledged $1.9 billion has been committed for avian flu preparedness.
Social services
Background
Evaluating the impact of the PRGF: The cases of Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia
Highlights of a civil society dialogue on the IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility, at the World Bank spring meetings in Washington, 20 April 2006.
Social services
Background
The World Bank and education
brief summary of the World Bank's work and priorities in education
Featured briefings
1 October 2024
Year one of World Bank Paris Agreement alignment in the energy sector: ‘green conditionality’ dwarfs green investments
New BWP research finds the Word Bank's approach to Paris alignment is being used to a significant extent to impose ‘green conditionalities' on borrowing countries, especially in the Global South.
3 July 2024
The Bretton Woods Observer: Summer 2024
3 July 2024
Is the World Bank rolling back commitments to citizen engagement, again?
Understanding the Bank’s chequered history with public, community and civil society participation is key for understanding what is at stake and what to do next.