NGOs continue to find that the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank's private sector arm, is off track in reducing poverty and promoting development, with concerns that the IFC development goals to be implemented in July will not help the poorest.
Water
Infrastructure
News
IMF and World Bank disagree over Ugandan taxes?
World Bank advice on taxes has been contradicted by a senior IMF representative who says that Uganda's tax system is "not fair".
Accountability
News
New claims of rights abuses in World Bank-funded 'land grabs'
As the World Bank held its Annual Conference on Land and Poverty in April, campaigners accused it once again of facilitating and legitimising 'land grabs' that harm local communities.
Accountability
News
World Bank fails to take action on Eskom risks
The World Bank has declined to take immediate action over identified issues on water availability, air quality and community services related to Eskom for the Medupi coal-fired power plant in South Africa.
Infrastructure
News
World Bank backs dirty energy despite objections
Continued controversy over a coal power project in Kosovo, partly funded by the World Bank, and a catalogue of complaints over its projects highlight the impact of extractives and the lack of alternatives in the Banks energy lending portfolio.
Environment
News
Nature on the market?
The Bank will showcase new initiatives on oceans and the valuation of ecosystem services at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, in Brazil in late June, but is attracting criticism from civil society groups for its approach to 'green growth'.
Rights
News
Red Sea - Dead Sea project: World Bank intentions questioned
The Inspection Panel (IP), the Bank’s compliance body, issued a report in March considering “legitimate” environmental and human rights concerns regarding the Bank’s feasibility study for a project to channel water from the Red Sea to replenish the Dead Sea.
Social services
News
IFC criticised for water privatisation
The World Bank participated in events and showcased investments in water services at the World Water Forum held in France in March. However, critics from civil society accused the Bank's private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation, of working closely with major water-using corporations to advocate for an increased role of the private sector.
Social services
News
World Bank-funded "toxic dumping ground"
Ugandan newspaper New Vision called attention to the "horrific sanitation conditions" of a Bank-funded waterway in Uganda in November 2011
Social services
News
World Bank loans linked to child mortality
A June 2011 academic paper that analysed health outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa found that "when a country is under a World Bank structural adjustment loan it tends to have higher levels of child mortality".