Knowledge

Background

HIV/AIDS and the World Bank

Summary of the Bank's response to HIV/AIDS

21 November 2005 | Inside the institutions

Conditionality

News

UN says World Bank and IMF “bound by international law”

Bold statements made by the UN special rapporteur on the right to food argue that international law is binding on organisations such as the World Bank, IMF and WTO.

21 November 2005

Rights

Background

Your support for the Project is crucial

Please consider supporting the work of the Bretton Woods Project.

1 December 2005

IFI governance

News

Development effectiveness of HIV/AIDS uneven

Summary of OED report on the Bank's response to HIV/AIDS and civil society criticisms.

21 November 2005

Rights

News

World Bank’s community development efforts ineffective, poorly monitored and unsustainable

Summary of the Operations Evaluation Department report on the effectiveness of World Bank support for community-based development, and community-driven development.

21 November 2005

Rights

Commentary

The Bank and Fund: do civil society groups in the Arab region realise what’s going on?

Comment by the Arab NGO Network for Development on the need for civil society in the region to take a more active role in monitoring the work of the IFIs.

21 November 2005 | Guest comment

Trade

News

Policy support instrument: Helping hand or more thumb screws?

In October, the IMF board approved the establishment of a Policy Support Instrument (PSI), a non-lending programme which will provide policy advice to poor countries and send a signal to donors and markets about the quality of a country's economic policies. Critics suspect the instrument is little more than a new way "to extend Fund domination".

21 November 2005

IFI governance

News

Parliamentary initiatives around the IFIs gather steam

Parliamentarians were in Washington in September for the WB-IMF annual meetings to press the demands of the International Parliamentarians’ Petition while the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank has finally started to assert its independence from the World Bank.

21 November 2005

Environment

News

UK parliament hearings on World Bank, IMF

The UK all-party committee on international development held its evidence session on the annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF in October, with evidence heard from the Bretton Woods Project and the Rainforest Foundation, secretary of state for international development Hilary Benn, and representatives of the Treasury.

21 November 2005

Environment

News

World Bank and climate change: power failure

Summary of a report by Friends of the Earth US, the November meeting in London on climate change and the UK parliamentary early day motion to end UK support for harmful oil subsidies.

21 November 2005

IFI governance

News

IMF modifies disclosure policy to address deletions, delay

The IMF has taken steps that may reduce the number of deletions made in the publicly disclosed versions of its key reports about member countries, including Article IV reports.

21 November 2005

Rights

News

Lao dam: obligations undermined?

A report by Can and Leader analyses the concession agreement for the Bank-supported Nam Theun 2 dam in Lao PDR (Update 45), between the country's government and the Nam Theun 2 Power Company Ltd (NTPC).

21 November 2005

IFI governance

News

OED slates Bank development effectiveness

In October, the Operations Evaluation Department published a report summarising lessons from recent evaluations; Bank management, in unusually strong language, has expressed concerns about both the methodology OED used to reach its conclusions, and the conclusions themselves.

21 November 2005

IFI governance

News

WDR on equity: Practice what you preach

Civil society organisations welcomed many of the findings of the latest instalment of the World Bank's World Development Report on equity and development; question marks remain over its historical amnesia and the likelihood that the Bank will practice what it preaches.

21 November 2005

Accountability

News

World Bank anti-corruption: discourse versus practice

A new report from corruption watchdog Transparency International indicates that despite improved efforts by the World Bank on corruption ahead of other regional development banks, there is still a striking inconsistency between the discourse and practice of the Bank. A new US anti-corruption bill and an oil revenue agreement with Chad are the latest tests.

21 November 2005

Accountability

News

IFI ‘aid for trade’ carrot ahead of Hong Kong trade summit

Details of the BWIs aid for trade package were unveiled at the annual meetings, as officials turned up the pressure to reach a deal at the upcoming trade summit in Hong Kong.

21 November 2005