It is time for the IMF and World Bank to understand their own responsibility and decolonise their approach.
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Middle East & North Africa
Conditionality
Commentary
An IMF bailout for Lebanon can make things worse
Amidst multiple financial and economic crises, a classic IMF intervention in Lebanon could exacerbate inequalities and social tensions.
Conditionality
News
Civil society raises alarm about IMF’s continued backing of austerity amidst pandemic
Egypt, Ukraine, South Africa and Ecuador have recently signed IMF loan programmes that involve severe austerity measures.
Knowledge
News
As World Bank pauses Doing Business Report, pressure mounts for it to be permanently scrapped
Civil society, trade unions and academics call for permanent end of Doing Business Report as World Bank suspends its publication due to data irregularities.
Finance
Analysis
The IMF and World Bank-led Covid-19 recovery: ‘Building back better’ or locking in broken policies?
Early evidence suggests IMF programmes are maintaining long-term fiscal consolidation targets, while World Bank further continues Maximizing Finance for Development narrative amidst Covid-19 crisis.
Conditionality
News
Uprising and discontent: Global protests erupt against IMF-backed policies
From Latin America to North Africa and the Middle East, governments experience backlash against IMF loan programmes and policy recommendations.
Rights
News
Tunisia Commission seeks reparations for human rights violations from IMF and World Bank
Bretton Woods Institutions found to share responsibility for social unrest leading to serious human rights violations.
Conditionality
Commentary
Strikes overturn wage cuts, but IMF blindness risks ruining Tunisia
General Secretary of Tunisia's largest trade union calls for an overhaul of the IMF's approach to bring about socially just expansionary policies, after strikes overturn IMF-backed wage bill
Other news
Gender
Background
Building a feminist recovery for all: Gender transformative policies are more urgent than ever
Notes from the Civil Society Policy Forum session on 1 October.
Gender
Background
Cutting to the core: Rethinking the IMF’s way of doing business to tackle gender inequalities
Notes from the Civil Society Policy Forum panel event on 17 October on the IMF’s approach to gender.
Finance
News
Failure to lend to Venezuela and Iran once again raises questions around IMF’s political neutrality
IMF fails to respond to loan requests from Iran and Venezula as they struggle to respond to increasing Covid-19 cases and deaths.
Finance
Background
Taxes, Taxes, Taxes: Shifting the IFI Narrative to Progressive Gender-just Taxation
Notes from the Civil Society Policy Forum session on 12 April on the changing international tax landscape from a feminist perspective and challenging IFIs’ role in shaping it at the World Bank and IMF's 2019 Spring Meetings.
Conditionality
Background
The IMF and World Bank policies and the Arab world’s transition economies
Notes from the Civil Society Policy Forum Session at the 2017 World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings on IMF and World Bank programmes in the MENA Region.
Conditionality
News
IMF approves new Jordan loan
New IMF loan programme to Jordan agreed with gendered conditions, while civil society express concerns about human rights and impacts on the lives of women.
Accountability
Background
The Syrian migration crisis
Notes from a meeting at the IMF/World Bank CSO Forum at the 2016 Spring meetings discussion the socio-economic impacts of the Syrian crisis, the outgoing flow of migration and the World Bank’s model on how to tackle these issues following its new report.
Conditionality
Background
IMF and World Bank’s Influence on Economic Policy Making in Developing Countries
Notes from a meeting at the IMF/World Bank CSO Forum at the 2016 Spring meetings, evaluating how well the World Bank and IMF have done on respecting the country ownership principle ten years after its international acceptance.
Issue Overview
Repairing harm caused: What could a reparations approach mean for the IMF and World Bank?
Beginning with a reflection on the implication of decades of neocolonial policies across the world, it is time for the IMF and World Bank to understand their own legacy and take responsibility for both historic harm and enduring injustice today. Steps towards acknowledging, dismantling and in some situations, reshaping the structures of our world are urgently needed and this must include both the IMF and World Bank decolonising their approach.
Repairing harm caused: What could a reparations approach mean for the IMF and World Bank?
Beginning with a reflection on the implication of decades of neocolonial policies across the world, it is time for the IMF and World Bank to understand their own legacy and take responsibility for both historic harm and enduring injustice today. Steps towards acknowledging, dismantling and in some situations, reshaping the structures of our world are urgently needed and this must include both the IMF and World Bank decolonising their approach.
Featured briefings
12 October 2020
World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings 2020
6 October 2020
The Bretton Woods Observer: Autumn 2020
6 October 2020
Repairing harm caused: What could a reparations approach mean for the IMF and World Bank?
It is time for the IMF and World Bank to understand their own responsibility and decolonise their approach.