When: Thursday, 18 September at 10.00
Where: Avenue Marnix 17, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
30 years ago activists in India’s Narmada Valley protested against a mega-dam project
funded by the World Bank. The protections their protests helped secure
at the Bank – the ‘Safeguard Policies’ – are now under threat.
Despite promises not to dilute the strength of the Safeguards, a new draft threatens to undermine many of the hard-won protections civil society has fought for over decades, including:
- Environmental protections
- Indigenous Peoples’ right to veto projects on their lands
- Labour standards
- The right to compensation for evicted communities
- Human rights
It’s not just World Bank projects this will affect. The Bank is sending a disturbing message to the many governments it funds and advises around the world – that people and the planet just don’t matter. The World Bank is setting off a race to the bottom that will have negative consequences for social and environmental standards globally.
Join us to let the World Bank know that we won’t stand for it!
This protest is called by environment, development, labour and human rights groups including: Both Ends, CNCD-11.11.11, Eurodad, Re:Common, Urgewald, Bretton Woods Project, 11.11.11- Coalition of the Flemish North-South Movement, FGTB-ABVV, CSC-ACV
For more information on the World Bank safeguard review, visit: www.bicusa.org/issues/safeguards/
For more information on the demonstration, contact:
- Pieter Jenson (BothEnds) at pj@bothends.org or +31 6 20712191.
- Antonio Gambini (CNCD-11.11.11) at Antonio.Gambini@cncd.be