Bank involvement in the dual privatisation-decentralisation of water provision in Peru runs ahead of the establishment of the capacity of local governments to regulate and could undermine fiscal stabililty.
Social services
Social services
Commentary
“Middle-income country”? Over half live in poverty
The recently announced four-year programme of the World Bank for Mexico overstates the involvement of civil society and fails to address the real causes of poverty.
Infrastructure
News
Infrastructure privatisation: “Oversold, misunderstood” … and heavily subsidised
While Bank critics welcome increased flexibility in infrastructure investment, there are fears that a planned expansion of the commercialised model may undermine poverty reduction efforts.
Rights
News
IFI campaigners win environment prizes
This year's Goldman Environmental Prize honoured two activists who have been tackling World Bank projects and policies.
Infrastructure
Commentary
The World Bank's high-risk hypocrisy
the World Bank is not serious about the social and environmental policies it trumpets at global conferences. Senior World Bank staff in its India office indicated that they neither know nor care about procedures that are supposed to make its infrastructure lending socially responsible. This represents institutional hypocrisy.
Rights
News
Pakistani hunger strikers seek reparations for damaging project
In March Pakistani activists observed a hunger strike in front of the World Bank offices in Islamabad. The strikers pointed out that Bank-backed projects have caused serious damage to their livelihoods and the coastal ecology and called for the loan to be suspended.
Knowledge
News
Challenges to World Bank report on MDG progress
The World Bank has produced a long new report on how countries and international institutions are performing in relation to the Millennium Development Goals. But the Bank faces severe conflicts of interest in producing such a report.
Rights
News
Knowledge Bank evaluation criticises “reluctance to consider alternatives”
An official review has echoed many external criticisms of the World Bank's knowledge roles, but has buried some of the most important feedback from officials and researchers in the South. A recent study by the World Bank's Operations Evaluation Department found significant problems with the Bank's self-appointed role as guardian and dissseminator of the world's development knowledge, but produced only extremely bureaucratic conclusions which do not match the degree or nature of the concerns expr
Social services
News
Unions, NGOs react to report on services
Union and NGO commentators believe the World Development Report on services contains an underlying bias towards private provision rather than public reform.
Rights
News
Meeting: ‘milestone’ or ‘millstone’ for Bank/civil society relations?
Concerns have been raised about a new high-level initiative involving the World Bank and selected civil society groups.
