Press Center

July 13, 2018 The Bank Information Center’s Board of Directors is thrilled to announce the appointment of Elana Berger as BIC’s Executive Director, effective immediately.  Ms. Berger has been serving as Interim Executive Director for the past six months.  “This was an easy decision for our Board.  Elana has done a terrific job as the …

*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week to the World Bank, over 30 civil society organizations from around the world called for substantial revisions to draft guidance notes for the Bank’s new Environmental and Social Framework (ESF).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 …

“The development finance landscape is rapidly shifting, and BIC has an important role in keeping up with the trends and working with civil society and communities to influence the development activities that profoundly impact their lives. I am honored to lead BIC through this exciting transition period” – Elana Berger BIC’s Board of Directors is …

Out of control: The World Bank’s reckless private sector investments in Southeast Asia exposed   (March 17, 2017) – Dozens of harmful and high-risk projects in Southeast Asia have received hidden funding from the World Bank Group, an ongoing investigation by Inclusive Development International has revealed. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private-sector …

Clearing for a coal mine, Central Kalimantan forest Credit: Andrew Taylor/WDM, taken on June 8, 2013 Licensed under:https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ PRESS RELEASE: World Bank introducing new fossil fuel subsidies, undermining its own climate change commitments and forest protection efforts New analysis of Bank’s $5-billion-dollar policy loans shows lender supporting investment incentives for coal and other fossil fuel …

The World Bank Group is covertly funding some of India’s largest and most reckless corporations, according to the results of an ongoing investigation by Inclusive Development International. The World Bank’s private-sector arm, the IFC, is bankrolling these companies through its support for six Indian commercial banks. The end users of IFC funds in India are …

REUTERS/Mark Schiefelbein/Pool The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) and the Bank Information Center (BIC) have jointly prepared Comments on the Public Information Interim Policy of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in preparation for the first annual review of the Policy, due in January 2017. The analysis shows that the AIIB is lagging behind …

Photo © Joe Athialy (Washington DC, October 3, 2016) – The World Bank Group has secretly funded a coal boom in Asia despite announcing a moratorium on such projects in 2013, according to the results of a new investigation. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has spoken forcefully about the dangers of new coal projects. …

In light of “multiple failures” by the World Bank in monitoring and supervising the Uganda Transport Sector Development Project, the World Bank Group announced today that they will create a “Global Gender-Based Violence Task Force to advise the institution on best practices for reducing risks to community safety in connection with our development projects.” This …

Despite an unprecedented consultative process involving thousands of stakeholders from government, civil society, and the private sector, the review and update of the World Bank safeguard policies has proven to be a missed opportunity for the Bank to reclaim its place as a global leader in development. While the new Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) …

Washington, DC—Trustees of the Calvert Social Investment Fund are considering a ban on purchasing World Bank bonds, in response to proposed changes to the Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) that weaken protections for Indigenous Peoples. Since 2012, the Bank has been revising the ESSF, which is intended to identify and minimize harm caused by …

As World Bank member governments gather in Myanmar to discuss their contributions to the International Development Association, the Bank’s fund for the poorest countries, the Bank Information Center is calling on donors to make the adoption of stronger safeguard policies a key objective in the replenishment negotiations. In support of this call, BIC has released …

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 …

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 …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Water Disputes Persist as Rio Tinto Pushes Ahead with Second Oyu Tolgoi Mine (PRAGUE; KHANBOGD SOUM, MONGOLIA, February 10, 2016) – A large new copper mine in Mongolia could cause irreversible damage to terrain and deprive water from some of the world’s last remaining nomadic herding groups, finds a new report released today …

New research today reveals that not one of the world’s main development banks is on track to help keep the world below 2 degrees warming. Instead, the banks – funded by tax-payers – continue to support fossil-fuel projects in developing countries. Worst performers include the World Bank’s private sector lending arms[1] which promote fossil fuels …

PRESS RELEASE (October 5, 2015) The World Bank, with an overarching mission to end poverty, hosts its Annual Meetings this week in Peru. Given that the impacts of climate change disproportionately harm the poor, and that world leaders are set to make a global agreement on climate change this December, climate is at the top …

PRESS RELEASE Dangerous Rollback in Environmental and Social Protections World Bank’s New Framework Undermines President Kim’s Commitment to “No Dilution” (Washington, August 4, 2015) The World Bank has released new draft safeguard policies[i] that will vastly weaken protections for affected communities and the environment at the same time as the bank intends to finance more …

More than 100 organisations across the world released a joint open statement expressing deep concerns about the World Bank’s support for a multinational chain of low-fee profit-making private primary schools targeting poor families in Kenya and Uganda, Bridge International Academies (BIA).

Fishing communities and farmers from India filed suit against the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in federal court in Washington, D.C. The plaintiffs allege that the IFC caused the loss of their livelihoods, destroyed their lands and water, and created threats to their health by funding the Tata Mundra coal-fired power plant in Gujarat, India.

The World Bank’s action plan responding to an internal review on the bank’s resettlement practices does not address the serious failings the review found, 85 non-governmental organizations and independent experts from 37 countries said today in a letter to the World Bank president, Jim Yong Kim.

A new report, “The Suffering of Others” finds the International Finance Corporation has little accountability for billions of dollars’ worth of investments into banks, hedge funds and other financial intermediaries, resulting in projects that are causing human rights abuses around the world.

This study provides some critical evidence on the risks of moving to greater use of frameworks and country or borrower systems without robust safeguards.

Photo: Simone D. McCourtie / World Bank (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) (July 31, 2014) Over widespread objections from civil society, the World Bank’s board of directors gave a green light yesterday to a weak new set of rules to replace its existing environmental and social “safeguard” policies. The proposed policies appear to reverse a generation of …