Knowledge

Knowledge

Background

Recommended resources on the World Bank and the IMF 2024

BWP's collection of recommended reports, briefings, CSO letters and other resources published on the World Bank and the IMF in the past year .

12 February 2025
Said Iqbal, President of the Confederation of Indonesian Labor Union, on a press conference celebrating the International Labor Day, 1 May 2023, Jakarta, Indonesia. Credit: Almarams/Shutterstock

Private Sector

Commentary

The B-Ready index: the World Bank’s bluewashing of labour rights

World Bank’s new Business-Ready (B-Ready) index offers new measures but reductionist approach, ultimately rewarding countries driving down labour rights in favour of business.

12 December 2024 | Guest comment

Private Sector

News

World Bank embarks on pilot phase of Business Ready Project, disregarding civil society concerns

B-READY pilot 1 covering 51 countries is released, ignoring CSO concerns about the project’s flawed “private-sector first” agenda.

9 April 2024

Knowledge

Background

Bretton Woods Project Annual Report 2023

In 2023, BWP continued its work as a watchdog of the World Bank and the IMF, supporting and amplifying the voices of critical civil society groups to capitalise on calls for substantive change, with a focus on four advocacy areas: Gender equality and macroeconomics, the environment, governance reform and accountability, and financialisation and human rights.

21 February 2024 | Annual report (BWP)
Pile of books from the Tibet Green Library. Credit: Bart Heird

Knowledge

Background

Recommended Resources on the World Bank and the IMF 2023

As every year, BWP published its collection of reports, briefings, CSO letters and other resources with a critical angle published in the past year on the World Bank and the IMF.

19 February 2024

Knowledge

Background

Recommended resources on the World Bank and IMF 2022

Bretton Woods Project publishes its selection of the best books, reports and other resources on the World Bank and IMF from 2022.

25 January 2023 | Resource

Private Sector

News

B-Ready for more ill-founded private-sector solutions

The World Bank released a concept note of Doing Business report replacement, B-Ready project, ignoring civil society demands of an independent evaluation.

19 July 2023

Finance

News

Debt overhang risks another lost decade and could derail progress on poverty reduction and SDGs

Over 60 per cent of low-income countries and more than 25 percent of emerging market economies are in or at risk of debt distress, and are in danger of being unable to fulfil their fiscal obligations.

8 December 2022

IFI governance

News

World Bank appoints Indermit Gill as new chief economist

Gill replaces Carmen Reinhart as she returns to Harvard after a two-year public service leave from the institution.

3 October 2022

Knowledge

News

It’s just the tip of the iceberg: civil society organisations call for an overhaul of the World Bank following the Doing Business Report scandal

More than 140 CSO groups and individuals call on the World Bank to focus on grappling with the harms caused by its undemocratic governance structure and biased publications like the Doing Business Report, and to take measures to decolonise the institution.

19 April 2022 | Letters