Tomorrow, the World Bank Board of Directors will decide whether to approve an investigation into a complaint related to the Bujagali Dam in Uganda. The complaint alleges that Management failed to take appropriate actions to protect an offset area it agreed to protect through a written agreement with the government of Uganda, in violation of …
Community discussion on a World Bank Inspection Panel case in Egypt Last week, Senate Appropriators sent a strong message to the World Bank in support of the institution’s Independent Accountability Mechanisms (IAMs). The FY19 State & Foreign Operations Appropriations bill that was approved by the Appropriations Committee not only recommends fully funding the U.S. contribution to IDA18, …
The Spring Meetings[*] of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund do not just serve as an opportunity for central bankers, finance ministers, and private sector executives to discuss the global economy and their new, innovative ideas for ending poverty. The Bank and Fund also host dozens of events to discuss global development issues …
The Trump Administration’s FY19 budget was released this week. While some foreign assistance accounts saw proposals for deeper cuts, the budget largely calls for maintaining the cuts that the administration called for in in its first budget request last year–including those for the multilateral development banks (MDBs) such as the World Bank. More information on …
Last week, at the One Planet Summit in Paris, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim announced that the World Bank will cease funding upstream oil and gas after 2019. BIC welcomes this commitment from the World Bank, but cautions that the there is still more work to be done to climate-proof the Bank’s portfolio. This …
*Photo credit to scroll.in The World Bank’s independent Inspection Panel released a report today detailing the commitments made by World Bank management to prevent impoverishment, coercion, and retaliation against critics in the process of constructing a new mega-city in southern India. The World Bank and the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) are considering providing …
In a letter sent this week to the World Bank, over 30 civil society organizations from around the world called for substantial revisions to draft guidance notes for the Bank’s new Environmental and Social Framework (ESF). The ESF replaces the Bank’s longstanding safeguards, and represents a major shift from a rules-based system to one characterized …
Some of the biggest players in global finance are quietly backing the world’s most dangerous coal plant, according to an investigative report released today. International investors are enabling and profiting from the proposed Rampal plant in southern Bangladesh despite persistent warnings that it will damage the world’s largest mangrove forest, intensify climate change and imperil …
What is it? The Annual Meetings are a yearly gathering of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund. In addition to these official meetings, the Bank and IMF organize a number of other events and fora to discuss the progress of the institutions, their challenges, and issues relevant to …
World Bank projects and policies affect the lives and livelihoods of billions of people worldwide. If done right, this can be for the better, but decades of experience tell us that this is not always the case. The Bank has set itself two goals to be achieved by 2030 – to end extreme poverty and …