Bretton Woods
Update 22
Knowledge Bank takes on trade, but credibility questioned
Whilst the World Bank continues to develop its strategy to emphasise “global public goods” and its role as a “knowledge bank”, an increasing number of people are questioning its premises.
New World Bank/WHO trust fund for health: risks of misuse
Washington, DC, 26 April, 2001 – Italy and UK are taking the lead among G7 partners to set up a global trust fund of $1 billion to provide cheaper drugs for poor countries.
Oh no, O’Neill
New US Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill has indicated his scepticism that IMF bail-out packages can deal effectively with financial crises.
Peruvian mine blockade, complaint filed
In early March an estimated 5000 people from towns near the Yanacocha mine blockaded one of the main roads leading to the mine.
Child poverty, development targets debated
A conference on child poverty called by British Chancellor Gordon Brown and Secretary of State for International Development Clare Short received strong support from participants including non-governmental organisations.
PRSP case studies report
A new report summarises some of the continued challenges for participatory poverty reduction processes.
Africans query World Bank, IMF governance mantra
A week-long “listening tour” brought World Bank President James Wolfensohn and IMF Managing Director Horst K
Weakening resettlement policy
The World Bank has long failed to implement its policy on how to treat those displaced by the projects it funds, currently some 3.
Financial crises and global slowdown capture IMF-World Bank spring meetings agenda
The global economic slowdown and donor countries’ differing views on what to do about it, pushed issues related to the world’s poorest nations to the sidelines of public debate on this year’s spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank.
Bank civil society newsletter
The World Bank has re-launched its newsletter aimed at civil society groups.
“Joke” Malawian PRSP deadline extended
Civil society organisations in Malawi which described the PRSP process there as “a joke” have succeeded in persuading their government to extend the process.
Making waves
A compilation of projects and experiments in participatory communication for social change looks at 50 case studies from Africa, Latin America and Asia, some with World Bank support.
Pakistani groups walk out from World Bank “consultation”
NGOs, CBOs and academics walked out from the World Bank’s so-called “public consultation” on its Country Assistance Strategy on May 17th.
Social legacy of Indonesia’s crisis
A new pamphlet from UNICEF details the social legacy of Indonesia’s financial crisis.
Some progress on Mozambique cashew, sugar liberalisation
Mozambique has won more flexibility in its five-year battle with the World Bank and IMF to restrict the export of unprocessed cashew nuts.
Concern on African pipeline watchdog
In early March the World Bank Group announced a special International Advisory Group (IAG) to oversee the controversial Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline project.
Ecuador adjustment protesters strike deal
In late January and early February Ecuadorean indigenous groups led further protests against government and IMF economic policies.
Africans boycott Bank’s net Gateway
In late February South African civil society groups decided to boycott the World Bank’s planned Development Gateway internet scheme.
World Bank attacked on dams report
Some 87 NGOs and movements from 30 countries involved in the World Commission on Dams (WCD) sent a letter in March to World Bank President Wolfensohn stating that NGOs will hesitate to engage in future dialogues with the Bank if it does not comprehensively adopt the Commission’s recommendations.
“Fighting neo-liberalism in the Asia-Pacific”
The Asia Pacific Peoples’ Solidarity Conference will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, 7-10 June, 2001, organised by the Indonesian Centre for Reform and Social Emancipation (INCREASE ).
Nicaraguan mayors call for consultation
Local government leaders in the Leon Norte area of Nicaragua have written to the World Bank to express their “deep concern about the development of the PRSP consultation in Nicaragua”
Southern African Bank watch
The Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC), based in Cape Town, South Africa, has launched a newsletter to monitor the World Bank and IMF activities in Southern Africa.
IFC prawn farm loan sparks conflict
In February, Honduran fishermen in the Gulf of Fonseca protested against the expansion of a prawn farm which has been supported by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC).
IMF muscles in on “Asian Fund”
Asian countries may be blocked from setting up an independent regional currency swap mechanism.
Conditionality reduced but still “indispensable”
The numbers of conditions applied by the IMF may be reduced. But prior policy commitments and international codes and standards will be examined and in the area of governance, conditions may actually increase.
Bank research: newsletter and website
The World Bank has launched a newsletter and special web interface to publicise and disseminate the research it produces.
Laos dam controversy
World Bank Asia region staff are currently considering whether to move the Nam Theun 2 dam, Laos, to “pre-appraisal stage”.
IDA negotiations start
In late February government representatives met in Paris to begin negotiations on replenishing the World Bank’s concessional lending arm, the International Development Association (IDA).
Social sectors bear brunt of Argentine austerity programme
The crisis in Argentina deepened in March after three ministers, including the Education and Economy Ministers, resigned after the government agreed a new austerity programme with the IMF.
Trade discussions at new European seminar launch
The World Bank and the European Policy Centre have launched a new series of “Advanced International Policy Seminars on poverty and sustainable development”.
Bank Vice President enlisted in Turkey crisis
In a bizarre effort to shore up international investor confidence, the Turkish prime minister appointed Kemal Dervis, a World Bank Vice President, to become a state minister in charge of the economy in Turkey in late February.
Carrots, sticks and ethnic conflict
How do donor resources, policy advice and conditions attached to aid affect ethnic conflict? International donor interventions are explored by Milton Esman and Ronald Herring of Cornell University in their new book Carrots, Sticks and Ethnic Conflict: Rethinking Development Assistance.
G8 strategy attacked as too pro-Bank
Franck Almaric of the Society for International Development has sharply criticised the Italian government’s draft strategy for the G8 summit.
Protests planned for Barcelona conference
The Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics Europe, to be held from June 25-27 in Barcelona, will focus on economic globalisation, with prominent World Bank and academic speakers.
The World Bank’s global public goods agenda: good for whom?
Prepared for the World Bank-IMF Spring meetings 2001, a short analysis of the World Bank’s understanding of the global public goods and which areas it plans to concentrate on.
Go with the Flows? Capital Account Liberalisation and Poverty
April 2001 report from the Bretton Woods Project and Oxfam. Examines the links between capital account liberalisation (CAL) and poverty reduction, including how CAL affects government spending, the delivery of social services, access to credit for small businesses and households, and general opportunities for sustainable livelihoods.
IFC plans governance clauses for loans: Woicke
The International Finance Corporation, a private sector arm of the World Bank, plans to include corporate governance clauses in loan agreements.
World Bank to “intensify” work on trade
Summary of key points in “Leveraging Trade for Development: World Bank Role”
Conference demands Bank fossil fuels ban
A conference in February demanded that agencies such as the World Bank should stop funding fossil-fuel mining and power projects, and instead pay to repair the social and environmental damage already caused by these industries.
Success or failure? Wolfensohn’s reforms at the World Bank
The World Bank is again trumpeting the changes it has made during Wolfensohn’s Presidency. But recent Bank documents reveal that many problems remain. These include a failure to institute a system for monitoring staff contributions to results in alleviating poverty, taking on too many global issues, and failing to balance global goals and national programmes.…
Comments on the IMF staff’s review of conditionality
Bretton Woods Project comments on the IMF’s conditionality review
Bank/Fund PRSP latest
Participation in the PRSP was the subject of a Bank workshop in Washington from 3-5 April.
Journalists press for transparency
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called on the World Bank to publish adjustment loan documents, Country Assistance Strategies and Board Minutes or summaries of Board discussions.
Overstretched and Underloved: new briefing on Bank strategy
The World Bank faced embarrassment in late January when leaked internal memos revealed staff concerns about Wolfensohn’s internal reforms.
New Bank report on gender policies
The World Bank has been criticised for being “two-faced” in its gender approach.
The future of public services
A new book examines the privatisation of infrastructure and government services.
Participation: the new tyranny?
One of the first books to challenge the almost universally fashionable rhetoric of participation, Participation: The New Tyranny looks at participatory development’s promises of empowerment and appropriate development compared with what actually happens on the ground.
Carrots and Sticks: a quick fix for IMF conditionality?
A short questions and answers briefing on the IMF’s approach to conditionality