Bretton Woods
Update 18
Bank assessment policies discussed
The latest issue of News and Notices for World Bank Watchers discusses World Bank social and environmental assessments and calls for a new “dynamic assessment” procedure.
WDR resignation embarrasses Bank
In late May Ravi Kanbur resigned from his position as World Development Report lead author following attempts by Bank and government officials to make him change his text.
Globalization critics confront Bank in e-conference
An online debate on Globalization and Poverty in May generated much interesting material.
New report slams Bank/Fund corruption agendas
The World Bank and IMF are urged to rethink their approaches to anti-corruption work in a new briefing.
Misleading studies bad for the poor
Growth is good for the poor, proclaims a much-discussed new paper of the same title by the Bank’s research department.
Assessing the IFC: for private gain or poverty reduction?
Bretton Woods Project contribution to compilation of analysis and case studies by a range of NGOs. (September 2000).
Köhler seeks focused, independent IMF
In May in his first public speech as the new head of the IMF, Horst K
Kenya MPs urge aid halt over graft
In mid-July 64 Kenyan MPs signed a statement urging the IMF and World Bank to suspend discussions on new loans to their government after a select committee report into corruption was cut, deleting the names of some politicians and civil servants.
Bank governance work examined
The roles of the World Bank in promoting good governance and democracy are assessed in two new papers.
New book on debt origins and impacts
Brazilian activist Marcos Arruda exposes the problems with his government’s economic policies and the role of the IMF in a new book.
G7 will impose their architecture agenda
G7 finance ministers in July reiterated their commitment to enforce their agenda without a commitment to address the needs of the poorest countries.
London workshop on sustainability
In late May WWF and UK NGOs organised a workshop on National Strategies for Sustainable Development (NSSDs).
Brazilian Indians threatened by World Bank loan failure
A July Urgent Action bulletin from Survival International urges the World Bank and Government of Brazil to act to uphold conditions attached to an 18 year old World Bank loan.
New collaborative Web plan
The Bretton Woods Project and other organisations have been discussing a new collaborative website to assemble documents and links on World Bank-related policy issues.
Argentine anti-IMF protests
Argentine church leaders joined labour groups in late May to demonstrate against IMF economic policies.
Wolfensohn takes a break
Bank President James Wolfensohn announced in mid-July that he was taking a six week sabbatical.
Chad-Cameroon latest
The World Bank Board approved the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline project in early June.
Project office move, new grant
After four and a half years based in Christian Aid’s building in Waterloo the Bretton Woods Project has moved.
Mozambique sugar industry threatened
The IMF looks set to repeat mistakes which led to the demise of Mozambique’s cashew processing industry.
PRGF lending guidance discussions
IMF staff are discussing whether to release for external consultation a draft staff Guidance Note on its Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility.
Indians protest at power price increases
Increased power tariffs as part of World Bank plans to privatize the power sector in Andhra Pradesh, India have sparked protests.
Committees to review selection of IFI heads
The Boards of the IMF and World Bank have each established working groups to review the processes for selecting the Managing Director and President of the respective institutions.
Bank announces major AIDS funding
The World Bank announced in early July that it is to make available $500 million in loans to help countries combat the growing threat of AIDS.
Ecuadoreans protest against adjustment reforms
In June the Patriotic Front, a coalition of unions and grass-roots organizations, held a national strike to protest neoliberal economic policies promoted by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
US Congress rules against user fees
In July, the United States Congress passed legislation aiming to bar the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank from imposing “user fees” on primary health care and education on poor countries.
New SAP alerts
US-based NGO Globalization Challenge Initiative has launched a “Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) Information Alert” service.
Protests at UN collaboration with Bank and Fund
In June, 80 non-governmental organizations and people’s movements issued a joint statement condemning the UN’s involvement in a joint UN, WB, IMF and OECD report A Better World for All, released during the follow-up summit to the Copenhagen Social Summit held five years ago.
Comments on Ravi Kanbur’s resignation
The tussle about what the WDR should and should not emphasize demonstrates that there are forces inside and outside the World Bank hostile to even a modest modification of the dominant paradigm on development.
Köhler go home say South Africans
In July South African activists told IMF Managing Director Horst K
Report on transition safety nets
Forthcoming research by Save the Children Fund examines the record of “safety net” social programmes in formerly socialist countries.
Human Rights and Human Development
The United Nations Development Programmes annual Human Development Report, released in June, treats human rights as essential for development and sees development as a means to realize human rights.
Turkish students in anti-IMF protest
Turkish students protested against the International Monetary Fund and the government’s austerity programme in May.
Sustainability strategies debated
Academics, officials and NGO representatives heard a range of prominent speakers at the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics-Europe in late June.
Oxfam report on poverty targets
Missing the Target reviews progress towards the international development targets for 2015, highlighting the danger that none of the targets will be met.
Bank’s Net Gateway discussions move forward
A number of discussions took place in June and July on the World Bank’s proposed Global Development Gateway internet portal initiative.
Protests over Paraguay privatisation plans
In June, several protesters and journalists were injured after clashes with police in Asuncion, Paraguay, on the first day of a 48-hour general strike against plans to privatize telephone, water and railroad companies.
Prague plans
The annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF will be the occasion for high-level official decision-making about the future of the institutions as well as protests and alternative discussions among civil society groups.
Taming Global Finance
Financial liberalisation has created volatility in financial markets, threatening the orderly running of national economies.
Nigerian parliament rejects IMF
In July, the Nigerian House of Representatives adopted a non-binding motion urging the federal government to suspend all activities in respect of an IMF standby loan until the conditions were made public.
Finance for Development Agenda
The agenda for next year’s UN Conference on Finance For Development will cover 6 broad themes.
China project shakes Bank
The campaign by pro-Tibetan and other groups to press the World Bank to drop the China Western Poverty Project caused a major political battle at the institution during June.
Slovaks condemn WB-IMF collusion
Friends of the Earth Slovakia has complained about the World Bank’s requirement that the government agree a programme with the IMF before it can access Bank loans.