The World Bank’s efforts to increase security of land tenure have largely amounted to a ‘formalisation’ of land property rights, which reinforce land inequalities and the disenfranchisement of rural peoples.
International
Finance
Analysis
Opportunity lost: World Bank's Roadmap fails to chart path to better development outcomes
Civil society renews calls for an independent external evaluation of Bank policies ahead of Spring Meetings’ focus on the operationalisation of the Roadmap and a ‘historic’ IDA21 replenishment.
Private Sector
News
World Bank embarks on pilot phase of Business Ready Project, disregarding civil society concerns
B-READY pilot 1 covering 51 countries is released, ignoring CSO concerns about the project’s flawed “private-sector first” agenda.
Environment
News
Civil society raises concerns about Resilience and Sustainability Trust’s green conditionality as Fund conducts interim review
CSOs and experts question the suitability of ‘green' policy conditions attached to RST loans.
Environment
News
World Bank makes developing countries wait on Loss and Damage Fund demands
Bank may not respond to asks until June, at the earliest, raising questions about timeline for fund’s operationalisation.
Social services
News
The World Bank's water privatisation agenda neglects fundamental human rights
World Bank's water privatisation agenda directly clashes with its poverty alleviation goals, disregarding water as a basic human right.
Environment
Analysis
Gambling with the planet’s future? World Bank Development Policy Finance, ‘green’ conditionality, and the push for a private-led energy transition
BWP's review of energy sector conditionality in World Bank Development Policy Financing from fiscal years 2018 to 2023 reveals the Bank has followed a pattern of promoting neoliberal reforms in many countries' energy sectors, with climate action increasingly being viewed as the rationale for these changes.
Private Sector
Analysis
Financialisation, human rights and the Bretton Woods Institutions: An introduction for civil society organisations
New BWP's report examines the role of the BWIs in driving financialisation in the Global South and perpetuating neocolonial global imbalances of wealth and power, paying particular attention to its gendered consequences.
IFI governance
News
Civil society calls for an end to the 'gentleman's agreement' and a merit-based, open and transparent MD selection process
Civil society calls for the IMF to ensure the next MD selection process is undertaken in accordance with a merit-based, open and transparent process, underpinned by criteria involving a demonstrated commitment to international human rights, feminist principles, green and equitable development, as well as publicly available shareholder votes.
Knowledge
Background
Bretton Woods Project Annual Report 2023
In 2023, BWP continued its work as a watchdog of the World Bank and the IMF, supporting and amplifying the voices of critical civil society groups to capitalise on calls for substantive change, with a focus on four advocacy areas: Gender equality and macroeconomics, the environment, governance reform and accountability, and financialisation and human rights.
Knowledge
Background
Recommended Resources on the World Bank and the IMF 2023
As every year, BWP published its collection of reports, briefings, CSO letters and other resources with a critical angle published in the past year on the World Bank and the IMF.
Gender
Background
(CLOSED) Gender Equality and Macroeconomics (GEM) Project Lead
BWP is seeking a Gender Equality and Macroeconomics (GEM) Project Lead to manage BWP’s ongoing GEM Project and lead BWP’s work on gender equality and women’s rights.
Featured briefings
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.
3 June 2024
A way out for IMF reform
New paper analyses the IMF 16th Quota Review and identifies key governance reforms feasible in the current economic and geopolitical context.