Joint letter asks the World Bank to go public with the final draft of its safeguard policies WASHINGTON, DC Today, 69 civil society organizations from 26 different countries asked World Bank management to maintain transparency throughout the ongoing review of its environmental and social policies. The World Bank’s environmental and social safeguard policies have been …
The UN’s Indigenous Peoples expert bodies sent a joint letter to the President of the World Bank, Dr. Kim Jim, expressing serious concerns with proposed safeguards intended to protect indigenous peoples from harm caused by World Bank projects. The letter’s authors – the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Expert Mechanism …
Cambodia. Photo: © Masaru Goto / World Bank The World Bank has long noted that investing in children is the clearest path to reducing poverty. Yet a lack of specific protections for children has led to many years of World Bank projects in Cambodia and around the world with unintended negative impacts. Today, the World …
This post is also available in: French. In late March 2016, the World Bank Group’s (WBG) President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, along with the UN Secretary General, paid a visit to Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Tunisia. The trip’s purpose was to reiterate the commitment of multilateral institutions to stability in the MENA region. Tunisia was …
On Friday, April 15th the Coalition for Human Rights in Development (global coalition of social movements, civil society organizations, and grassroots groups working to ensure that all development finance institutions respect human rights) held a protest outside the World Bank headquarters. Activists highlighted the World Bank’s failure to produce a strong, mandatory set of safeguard …
Conservation International & BIC hosted a panel event at the Civil Society Policy Forum of the World Bank 2016 Spring Meetings on the Bank’s role in supporting forest commitments coming out of COP21. The panel includes Bank staff working on forests and climate change; CSO partners from FPP, WRI, CI, and Honduran indigenous organization MASTA; …
Members of the Bigodi community in Uganda tell the story of what happened in their village as a result of the construction of a road. The road was part of the World Bank-funded Uganda Transport Sector Development Project, which was canceled in December 2015. They discuss the negative social impacts of the project on their …
International activists discussed research gaps, safeguards, and new advisory position at the World Bank On April 11th, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim met with activists from 17 countries to discuss how LGBTI individuals can fully benefit from World Bank projects and programs in light of the powerful discrimination they experience in their countries. The …
Iraqi Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are actively trying to hold their central and provincial institutions accountable. Like their local counterparts who continue to plan public protests against government corruption, some local CSOs are focusing more of their civic efforts on the development work of the World Bank (WBG or Bank) in Iraq. Five local CSOs from …
Lagos, Nigeria / Phase 3 Safeguards Review Submission On February 22-24th 2016, the World Bank held a consultation on its safeguard policies with representatives of the US government and civil society. The discussion covered important issues in the ongoing review of the Bank’s environmental and social safeguards, including concerns surrounding labor, biodiversity, climate change, vulnerable …