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Rights

Santa Cruz road corridor connector along the Miraflores indigenous community territory, Bolivia. Credit: Fundacion Tierra

Accountability

News

World Bank’s lack of meaningful consultation leaves Chiquitano Indigenous Peoples in Bolivia with no recourse

World Bank fails in its commitment to accountability by disregarding communities’ participation all the way through project design, implementation and resulting remedy plans.

16 October 2024

Finance

News

Sri Lanka’s continued debt crisis highlights urgent need for wider reform

Sri Lanka’s inability to avoid its 17th IMF programme, and its catastrophic human rights consequences, adds to evidence of IMF and international system's failure to adequately respond to the worsening debt crisis and urgent need for debt cancellation and systemic reform.

9 April 2024
Apollo Hospital, Dhaka, 2014

Accountability

News

Another day, another IFC scandal

A Telegraph exposé unveils how a private hospital group in India which received £120 million in IFC investment since 2005 was running an illegal organ trading scheme, adding to a growing number of IFC-funded scandals.

9 April 2024
International Human Rights Day protest Manila, 10 December 2020.

Finance

Analysis

Debt sustainability assessment reform essential to address retrogression of international human rights

Recent reports outlining the extensive negative human rights impacts of debt and austerity further evidence the urgency of the need for the IMF and World Bank to go beyond financial sustainability in debt sustainability analysis.

4 October 2023

Accountability

News

Demanding accountability: Response to reports of a child sexual abuse cover up at the World Bank

A joint statement from 34 global civil society organizations regarding the extremely disturbing reports of a child sexual abuse cover-up by World Bank Group officials in connection with IFC's investment in Bridge International Academies in Kenya.

19 October 2023 | Letters

Rights

Background

The World Bank's approach to human rights

This Inside the Institutions explores how the World Bank approaches human rights in the context of the international human rights obligations of international financial and development institutions.

19 July 2023 | Inside the institutions
Anti IMF loan protest in downtown, Cairo, 2012. Credit: Gigi Ibrahim / Flickr

Private Sector

Analysis

Financialisation and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa

This briefing explains how the IMF and World Bank have driven the financialisation of MENA states, and the pervasive negative effects this has had on the region’s societies and economies.

27 September 2023 | Briefings

Accountability

News

UDHR and IPN anniversaries underscore urgent need for Human Rights policy at all IFIs

World Bank and IMF shareholders must use the anniversaries of the Inspection Panel and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights respectively to demand both establish human rights policies and meet their international obligation to provide remedy

19 July 2023

Other news

Infrastructure

News

3 July 2024

Banga calls energy access a ‘human right’ as he announces World Bank will provide access for 250 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030

Explicit mention of human rights obligations has long been a taboo subject at the World Bank.

Rights

News

9 April 2024

World Bank project fails to protect Tanzanian pastoralists from serious human rights abuses

New report by Oakland Institute shows World Bank failing to uphold human rights standards resulting in violent assaults and evictions of Tanzanian pastoralists.

Private Sector

News

19 July 2023

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.

Finance

News

5 April 2023

IMF continues to disregard UN Human Rights Commission concerns about its surcharge policy

IMF managing director continues to refuse to answer letter from UN Human Rights Council concerning the negative impact of IMF surcharges as world celebrates 75th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Finance

News

8 December 2022

UN letter of allegation outlines concerns about the impact of IMF surcharge policy on human rights

Civil society urges IMF to reply to UN letter and finally take action to review its surcharge policy.

Rights

News

4 October 2022

'Uber Files' and 'Back off BlackRock' campaign expose 'pink washing' as the heart of corporate women's economic empowerment agenda

Uber Leaks and cancelled BlackRock and UN Women partnership highlight contradiction of corporate ‘pink washing’ interests with IFI gender commitments.

Rights

News

4 October 2022

Will IMF Strategy for Fragile and Conflict-Affected States escape traditional focus on austerity?

The IMF’s new Fragile and Conflict-Affected States strategy has incorporated many civil society concerns, but civil society and international actors like the UN must also have input into its implementation.

Social services

News

21 July 2022

World Bank’s IFC ends funding for fee-paying primary and secondary schools

Independent Evaluation Group report highlighted private sector education provision can exacerbate inequality and undermine the public sector school system.