Bretton Woods
Update 10
“New” IFC strategy fails to address key issues
In 1997 the IFC commissioned a welcome review of its objectives following pressure from NGOs and some Executive Directors who argued that it emphasised deal-making in response to the private sector at the expense of any clear focus on poverty alleviation or environmental protection.
Official report critiques Bank poverty strategy
A new report, commissioned by the Government of Norway, reveals that the World Bank has a long way to go in clarifying and operationalising its poverty reduction objectives.
Towards a partnership Bank?
A refreshing new World Bank discussion paper frankly recognises that aid agencies are not cooperating effectively, and that mechanisms such as Consultative Groups and the Bank’s internal culture need to change.
Russian lessons for the IMF
The Russian economic crisis, hot on the heels of the Asian meltdown, has provoked the Financial Times to comment that “the role of the International Monetary Fund in preventing crises has been comprehensively undermined.”
New Bretton Woods Project report on capital flow implications
The Bretton Woods Project is about to publish a report examining the role of the World Bank and IMF in promoting private investment in developing countries, and the true costs and benefits of international financial flows.
Middle-income country charges up
To halt the decline in its income, the World Bank has raised the charges middle-income…
New analysis of how to change the Bank
MIT Press has just published a fascinating analysis of efforts to change the World Bank.
Bank boss meets rights groups
Leading human rights NGOs met World Bank President Wolfensohn in June.
GAO Investigates IMF transparency
The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), the audit and investigative agency of the U.
New IFC chief appointed from private sector
The IFC has just announced who will replace its Executive Vice President, Jannik Lindbaek, who is retiring because of ill health at the end of the year.
Oxfam Guide examines participation
An Oxfam publication by Tricia Feeney provides a very useful analysis of approaches to participation in development projects.
Draft Bank gender policy queried
The World Bank has circulated a consultation paper towards a proposed Policy Research Report on gender issues to be published in Spring 2000.
Philippines meeting to assess alternatives to globalisation
IBON Foundation Inc. and BAYAN (New Patriotic Alliance) are organising a conference from 8-11th November to discuss alternative strategies and paradigms to neo-liberal globalisation.
Oil campaign
Indonesian NGOs are setting up a major new campaign against the expansion of large-scale oil palm plantations in their country.
London seminars to assess Stiglitz “consensus”
The Centre for Economic Policy for Southern Africa (CEPSA) at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London is in October launching a lecture series “Addressing the Post-Washington Consensus”.
Green project causes plant closure
Bulgarian NGOs are angry about the sale of a major copper smelter to a Belgian company as part of a World Bank environment project.
NGO network on health and adjustment
A new European network has been established to work on the health impacts of debt and adjustment and promote good health policies.
Controversy over knowledge development report
Drafting the 1998 World Development Report has proved so controversial that one of its co-authors resigned and the Board asked for changes which delayed its print schedule.
Discussions proposed on economic growth
The Bretton Woods Project has been working with Both ENDS and other organisations to discuss a possible meeting to discuss the fundamental way that the World Bank/IMF measure development: economic growth.
Forest review concession
The Bank has now accepted that its Forest Policy Implementation Review will look at effects on forests of its non-forest lending, and that its Operations Evaluation Department will do some of the field studies.
Organising for the 2000 poverty report
The 2000 Report will tackle poverty and be led by Ravi Kanbur, of Cornell University in the USA, working with a team of Bank staff including Michael Walton, Director, Poverty Reduction.
Brazil Congress reviews IFIs
In August a Commission of the Brazilian Congress held a hearing to examine the multilateral financial institutions.
IMF hints at U-turn on capital controls
There are signs that the IMF may be reconsidering its stance that all capital flows are harmful.
What is the WDR for, and how is it produced?
Given the lack of clarity and satisfaction about how WDRs are produced, and the difficulty of persuading the authors to recognise and include alternative views, the Bretton Woods Project has written to the Bank asking for a formal explanation.
SAPRI initiative meetings
Civil society groups in Hungary, Uganda, Ghana and Ecuador met World Bank representatives at national conferences to begin the investigative stage of the Structural Adjustment Programme Review Initiative (SAPRI).
“New debt crisis”
Investors’ growing aversion to risk is leading to a general withdrawal of finance from many Southern countries.
IDA talks climax
The World Bank is now in the advanced stages of negotiation with donor countries on funding for the next 3 years of its International Development Association soft loan funding arm.
East Asia Crisis group examines NGO roles
The World Bank has established an East Asia Crisis working group to tackle some of the social aspects of the financial crisis.
CAS publication agreed
The Bank has agreed to publish Country Assistance Strategies (CAS) – the documents which set out the Bank’s multi-year lending plans – once they have been discussed by the Board and if the borrower government requests it.
London information centre moves
The World Bank’s London office has transferred responsibility for providing public access to World Bank operational documents to the EMIC library at the Department of Trade and Industry, Kingsgate House, Victoria Street.
Senior Bank environment post kept after NGO letter
A joint NGO letter recently helped prevent a plan by World Bank Managing Directors to axe the Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development Vice Presidency (ESSD).
Distilling lessons from the ESAF Reviews
Many NGOs have fed in comments to the IMF about its staff report Distilling the Lessons of the ESAF Reviews.
Rischard plans to raise the Bank’s European profile
Jean-Francois Rischard is moving from the Bank’s Washington office to take up the new post of Vice President for Europe.
Mining conference
A World Bank conference this July in Padang, Papua New Guinea, discussed “mining and the community in South-East Asia” but many NGOs known to represent mine-affected people were not invited.
Participation Conference
Participation experiences in 20 Bank-assisted operations will be reviewed in an international conference co-sponsored by the World Bank, to be held in Washington in November 1998.
Changes at Bank NGO Unit
The World Bank is searching for a new coordinator for its NGO Unit to replace John Clarke who is moving to the Asia department to become the Focal Point for NGO relations there.
Experts criticise Chad-Cameroon Oil Plans
Critical findings from a World Bank environmental team have set back the planned approval of World Bank support for the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline.
Blair proposes IFI reforms
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair made a speech at the New York Stock Exchange arguing that the World Bank and IMF have fundamental weaknesses and need to be reformed.
World Bank self-image revealed
This summer the World Bank’s external affairs team commissioned a detailed survey of views about what the Bank does and should do.