Bank Information Center coordinates sign-on letter to the World Bank regarding the need for explicit protections for children in the World Bank safeguards review process.
Dear Dr. Kim,
We write to you today to highlight the importance of directly and explicitly addressing the needs of children in the World Bank safeguard policies, currently under review.
The current World Bank safeguard policies for investment lending include no explicit protections for the unique needs of children. The lack of a requirement that borrowers specifically assess the impact that projects may have on children, means that there is often no examination or analysis of the risks that such projects may pose to children, amongst other groups. This results in a number of Bank funded projects which directly, or indirectly, result in significant harm to these most vulnerable members of society.
The World Bank itself has reiterated that investing in children is the clearest path to eradicating poverty. The Bank notes that “since capacities built during childhood and the youth period largely determine adult outcomes, effective investments in young people provide important returns not only to the individual and the community, but to society as a whole.”1 In a related point the Bank has argued that providing “[e]ducation improves the quality of people’s lives in ways that transcend benefits to the individual and the family by contributing to economic prosperity and reducing poverty and deprivation… The development benefits of education extend well beyond work productivity and growth to include better health, reduced fertility, an enhanced ability to adopt new technologies and/or cope with economic shocks, more civic participation, and even more environmentally friendly behavior.”