31 March 2014
The IMF released papers accepting the case against inequality, however it shows no indication of changing its demands upon borrowing countries.
World Bank support for a Nepal power line has been criticised for violating indigenous peoples’ rights and the use of armed forces, yet an Inspection Panel investigation has been delayed.
CSO concerns have been raised over the Bank’s Global Partnership for Oceans initiative, due to the strong emphasis on promoting aquaculture and the push for privatisation of access to fish resources.
In March the Bank approved funding related to the controversial Inga 3 dam project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while an academic study finds large dams often are neither cost efficient nor carbon neutral.
The World Bank is focussing significant time and resources into promoting itself as an agent for tackling climate change, but is still funds dirty energy through coal and gas projects, most recently in China.
A series of high-profile eviction cases in Kenya, Nigeria and Cambodia has exposed the World Bank’s failure to protect the human rights of communities supposed to benefit from its projects, prompting widespread international condemnation.
A leaked draft IEG report reveals declining performance trends at the World Bank, including the IFC’s financial sector lending, while the implementation of the Bank’s strategy continues with the launch of a public consultation on the new country engagement model.
An IFC investment in ANZ Royal Bank has been criticised after the bank was implicated in a “massive land grab” in Cambodia. Further cases from Guatemala and Honduras reinforce calls for IFC to rethink its investments in financial intermediaries.
Technical assistance is a form of non-financial assistance provided by the IMF with the aim of improving the implementation of economic policies. Technical assistance accounts for about one-quarter of the IMF's operating budget, of which approximately two-thirds of total technical assistance goes to low income and lower-middle income countries.
New BWP research finds the Word Bank's approach to Paris alignment is being used to a significant extent to impose ‘green conditionalities' on borrowing countries, especially in the Global South.
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.
