Bretton Woods
Update 34
Chad-Cameroon: oil and poverty reduction don’t mix
Despite World Bank involvement, the Chad Cameroon petroleum project has confirmed that under authoritarian regimes there is a fundamental incompatibility between poverty alleviation objectives and oil exploitation activities.
Iraq – Bank and Fund in no man’s land
The Spring Meetings of the Bank and Fund in mid-April saw sparring between US and European ministers over when and how the institutions might get involved in Iraqi reconstruction. Discussions there and subsequently have focussed on assessments of the economic and development situation, oversight of oil revenues, debt relief and reconstruction finance.
Bank private sector watchdog calls for stricter policing
In April a review of the social and environmental policies of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) tabled many criticisms of current practice and suggestions for improvement.
Circling the wagons: World Bank-IMF-WTO coherence
The heads of the World Bank and IMF spoke to the General Council – the highest-level decision-making body of the World Trade Organisation – on 13 May on the benefits of increasing coherence between their respective agencies. Civil society groups counter that the use of the word ‘coherence’ is a ruse designed to bring countries…
Citizen complaint mechanisms in the World Bank Group
A brief outline of the workings of the Inspection Panel and the Compliance Adviser Ombudsman, the two principal complaint mechanisms of the World Bank.
G-7, civil society press for IMF, World Bank transparency reforms
The World Bank and the IMF have responded to complaints about their lack of transparency by issuing mountains of documentation and offering innumerable meetings and consultations. But critics are still not satisfied, pointing to the difficulty for people to find and interpret many of the documents produced, and to the opacity of the institutions’ key…
IFC project on Bushmen’s land
Most of the Bushmen of a Kalahari reserve in Botswana have been evicted to make way for exploitation of diamonds. Now the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is funding further exploration.
World Bank study on preventing civil wars
A major new Bank study claims that ethnic tensions and political feuds are rarely the primary causes of civil wars.
Pipeline backlash for BP
The Baku Tbilisi Ceyhan pipeline came under fire last month.
African right to water
Activists, academics and civil society met in Accra 12-14 May for a conference entitled “Corporate Globalisation & the Scramble for Africa’s Water: scrutinising the roles of Bretton Woods Institutions & donor community”.
Toxic waste dump or "world-class site"?
A new film points at contradictions in one of the World Bank’s Prototype Carbon Fund projects in Durban, South Africa.
Debate continues over services report
As the window for consultation on the draft of the World Development Report 2004 (WDR), Making Services Work for the Poor, draws to a close, debate continues. In response to civil society criticism of the November outline, the March draft of the Report strikes a more nuanced tone on some of the more contentious issues.
IMF guide to civil society
The IMF has asked an independent researcher to produce a guidance note for staff on engaging with civil society.
Update on the Integrated Framework
The Integrated Framework for Technical Assistance to the Least Developed Countries (IF) is a multi-agency initiative to coordinate national ministries, donors and multilateral agencies in the provision of trade-related capacity building.
The politics of multilateral institutions
A new book by two researchers at the University of Oslo describes the structure and decision-making processes of multilateral institutions.
WB poverty policy review
Since March, the Bank has posted a revision of its policy on poverty reduction. Bankwatchers are concerned by the language of the policy which they say represents a significant step backwards from the World Development Report 2000 on poverty.
Asia-Pacific groups walk out of Bank extractives review
Civil society groups walked out of the Asia-Pacific meeting of the World Bank Extractive Industries Review (EIR) at the end of April. Coming after many other complaints about the process this raises major questions about whether the results of the Review – due to be released in December – can be portrayed as the result…
Structural adjustment for IMF cafeteria
For years, IMF staffers, some of Washington’s highest-paid workers, have been enjoying haute cuisine at cut-rate prices. Frugal friends from the World Bank have also been spotted at the Fund trough since their subsidized lunch was axed in 1995. In the spirit of Labour Day solidarity, the IMF stopped subsidising the food at its cafeteria…
Sold Short
After failing to resign in April despite characterising UK PM Tony Blair’s leadership in the attack on Iraq as “reckless”, International Development Secretary Clare Short finally left her cabinet post in May.
Global reform in one easy step
Quote from Former Director-General of the WTO
High-level UN meeting debates IFI governance
On 14 April a high-level meeting of the UN Economic and Social Affairs Council (ECOSOC) was held with the World Bank, IMF and the WTO on “increased coherence, coordination and cooperation for the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus”.
Find critical perspectives on the IFIs
Search with the new IFIwatchnet search engine for a broad range of independent and critical perspectives on the IFIs.
“Parliamentary Front” on IFIs
Members of the Brazilian parliament have called on their colleagues to form a parliamentary front on IFIs and the national banking system.
Bank timid steps on land reform
The World Bank’s Land Policy department is preparing a Policy Research Report on land reform, which NGOs criticise for too heavily favouring a market-assisted approach.
IMF paper on NEPAD
A new IMF working paper on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), calls the agreement “visionary”.
Debt relief money diverted in Nicaragua
A new report shows that debt relief in Nicaragua is only partly going to poverty reduction.
Bank appoints advisor on (not just) human rights
The social and human development dimensions of globalisation including human rights are “critical aspects of the Bank’s efforts in working with the international community to further the Millennium Development Goals.”
Weakest link or missing link?
In April, the IMF, the World Bank and the UK government organised a two-day workshop…
World Bank on Special and Differential Treatment: Bad Economics, Worse Politics
As if the debate on Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) at the WTO wasn’t heated enough, the World Bank has decided to up the temperature a little with its own, highly partisan, contribution.
Gender and the World Bank: climbing the Himalayas ?
Women rights advocates met in Washington DC on April 10 to discuss ways to promote gender equality at the World Bank.
IEO on prolonged use, crises and PRSP
The process of following up on recommendations made by the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) in their first report on “prolonged use” of IMF resources has been completed.