On May 27, 2014 more than 20 civil society organizations sent a letter to World Bank President Jim Yong Kim expressing concerns about two proposed new World Bank agricultural sector loans to Uzbekistan, the South Karakalpakstan Water Resource Management Improvement Project and the Horticulture Development Project.
The pressure is mounting for the World Bank to adopt a climate safeguard The following map shows where Civil Society groups have spoken out for a climate change policy at the World Bank. Over 100 Civil Society Organizations representing more than 60 countries have been reaching out to the Executive Directors of the World Bank …
On April 12, 2014, the World Bank held a session for civil society during Spring Meetings in Washington, DC entitled “Safeguards Review and Update: Setting Standards for Sustainable Development.” A full eighteen months after the World Bank initiated the review of its social and environmental safeguard policies, the review process is once again moving …
Photo: © Kemal Jufri / Greenpeace A letter from over 30 civil society organizations, delivered on May 7th 2014, urges World Bank President Kim to include Development Policy Lending (DPL) in the ongoing Safeguard Policy Review and conduct a thorough assessment of DPL performance in avoiding or mitigating social and environmental risks. The World Bank Board Committee …
Life Haven Independent Living Center, a member of the Philippine Coalition on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, releases its most recent case study on the impact of the World Bank funded National Community Driven Development Program (NCDDP) on persons with disabilities in the Philippines. The Community Driven Development approach allows empowered …
After The ECONOMIST was inundated with responses to its misguided article (“Right cause, wrong battle”, April 12th), the magazine has now published a letter from Gender and SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) activists from around the world online, in addition to several letters to the editor in its print version. BIC, the Council for Global …
Photo: Gerald Simmons CC BY 2.0 Model Proposal: Climate Change Assessment (CCA) Safeguard Policy Submission to the World Bank Safeguard Policy Review Unlike many institutions, the Bank has not yet formally integrated climate issues into its operational policies. Most notably, the current Safeguard Policy framework does not adequately address the challenges a changing climate presents …
As the World Bank proceeds with its two year review of the Program for Results (P4R) lending instrument, significant concerns remain among civil society about how P4R is working and how it constitutes a serious dilution of World Bank safeguards, effectively exempting billions of dollars of lending each year from social and environmental safeguards and …
The Bank Information Center (BIC) organized a series of advocacy meetings in Europe from March 10-18 around key priorities in the World Bank’s safeguards review, coordinating visits by a small delegation of civil society representatives that included Yoni Rivas from Honduras, Gonzalo Roza from Argentina, and Samuel Nnah from Cameroon. The civil society delegation attended …
The Bank Information Center (BIC), in collaboration with the Mesoamerican Alliance of People and Forests (AMPB), held the Second International Workshop on Social and Environmental Safeguards on March 15th and 16th in San Jose, Costa Rica, with broad participation by Mesoamerican indigenous and community leaders. The event was the second workshop held by BIC in …