A critical analysis of the World Bank's new strategy for Africa
Middle East & North Africa
Social services
News
Rehash of failed policies for Arab states?
As revolutionary movements sweep the Arab world, the World Bank and the IMF have taken a lead in international economic engagement in the Middle East and North Africa region. But critics have warned of the dangers of locking transitional governments into long-term loans with economic conditionalities that may perpetuate the flawed development model that contributed to the crisis in the first place.
Environment
News
Bank seeks business in Middle East unrest
Staff at the World Bank's political insurance arm greeted unrest in the Middle East and North Africa as a business opportunity, amid criticisms that IFI policies had fuelled the crises.
Infrastructure
Analysis
Climate Investment Funds Monitor 3
The Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) are financing instruments designed to pilot low-carbon and climate-resilient development through the multilateral development banks (MDBs). They are comprised of two trust funds - the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and the Strategic Climate Fund (SCF).
Rights
News
FMI: Amenazado el crecimiento palestino
El FMI está preparando un informe para defender su posición afirmando que no será posible sostener el 6.8 por ciento de tasa de crecimiento en Cisjordania si Israel no levanta sus restricciones sobre las inversiones palestinas públicas y privadas.
Land
News
Egyptian NGO appeals against Bank project
The $145 million World Bank 'West Delta' project has come under fire. Egyptian NGO, Land Centre for Human Rights (LHCR) has filed an appeal on behalf of farmers in the Egyptian delta and they want to change the course of the planned irrigation scheme.
Social services
News
World Bank caught between Red and Dead Sea
The World Bank has been involved in administering a $16.7 million fund for a feasibility study and environmental and social assessment (ESA) of the highly controversial Red Sea-Dead Sea canal
IFI governance
News
Bank hired in Israel without bidding process
The World Bank was awarded a $500,000 contract to examine the Israeli Electricity Corporation's financial condition with no bidding process. If this were a Bank-funded project, such a procedure would not be allowed.
Rights
Commentary
World Bank legitimising illegal Israeli occupation of West Bank
The Bank's approach to development in Palestine hinges on the full acceptance of the status quo - e.g. continued occupation and the presence of the settlements and the wall - as well as joint projects that impose PNA-Israeli cooperation, often with a third international partner. Politically, these development projects threaten to legitimise Israeli claims in regards to the wall, Jerusalem, land annexation and settlements that have resulted in the fragmentation and ghettoisation of the West Bank
Finance
News
IFC challenges highlighted in the Middle East
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank, is rapidly increasing its investment in the Middle East, raising questions about the development value of its activities. A Norwegian study of the IFC's Doing Business indicators questions the usefulness of the index to making real-life improvements to a country's business environment.
IFI governance
Background
The IFIs and Islamic finance
The World Bank Group and the IMF have become more involved in assistance to and oversight of Islamic financial institutions.
Rights
News
World Bank: head in the sand over 'peace conduit'
NGO Friends of the Earth Middle East has expressed concern over the World Bank's involvement in the Red Sea to Dead Sea water conveyance project, in particular its failure to consider alternatives that would tackle the root cause of the Dead Sea's degradation
