Human rights

Environment

Background

UK NGO meeting with executive director Tom Scholar: uncorrected highlights 4 April 2005

Minutes of Spring meeting with Tom Scholar and UK NGOs in London

28 April 2005 | Minutes

Infrastructure

Background

IFC consultation with civil society on the safeguard review

Highlights of the IFC consultation with civil society on its revision of the WBG environmental and social safeguards

22 April 2005 | Minutes

Environment

Background

EIR Update: highlights of civil society meeting with World Bank Group

Civil society meeting with the World Bank Group on the Extractive Industries Review update

21 April 2005 | Minutes

Rights

Commentary

People’s assembly demands justice from World Bank

Villagers of Badin district in southeastern Pakistan are demanding compensation from the World Bank for a drainage infrastructure project that has wrought environmental devastation and led to the loss of lives.

10 April 2005 | Guest comment

Environment

News

IFC safeguard review integrity in question

Summary of concerns on process and substance of the IFC's on-going review of its safeguard policies

10 April 2005

Environment

News

Italian bank dumps troubled World Bank Caspian pipeline

Italian bank pulls out of IFC-backed oil pipeline in the Caspian

2 February 2005

Rights

News

Draft indigenous peoples policy riddled with loopholes

The previous draft policy on indigenous peoples failed to meet expectations of indigenous peoples and NGOs involved in the process. It was scrapped in 2002. The current revised draft has improved in terms of integrating some previous recommendations made by indigenous peoples but it remains riddled with legal loopholes and ambiguous definitions

2 February 2005

Rights

News

IFC-backed mine violates Guatemalan law

One person was killed and ten were injured when the Guatemalan police and military took action to disperse protesters blocking a convoy of mining equipment destined for an IFC-funded gold mine.

2 February 2005

Environment

News

West Africa gas pipeline approved

The World Bank's board of directors recently approved an investment guarantee for the US$590 million West Africa gas pipeline (WAGP)

26 January 2005

Environment

News

Consultation extended for IFC safeguard review: doubts remain

World Bank environmental and social safeguard policies have long been a subject of contention. The Bank has now begun to shift from "explicit, mandatory policies, to which it can be held accountable, to flexible principles or national standards, permitting the investor and/or the borrowing government to determine the project's social and environmental requirements". This is illustrated most clearly by the on-going reviews of the IFC's Safeguard Policies and World Bank's Country Systems.

2 January 2005