Presentation Transcript

1. The Need to Consider Human Rights

   The World Bank and Poverty Alleviation

2. The World Bank’s Mission End extreme poverty by decreasing the percentage of people living on less than $1.25 a day to no more than 3% of global population. Promote shared prosperity by fostering the income growth of the bottom 40% for every country. These goals are to be achieved by 2030.
3. World Bank Group The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) 1944 lends to governments of middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTABOUTUS/Resources/IBRDResults.pdf The International Development Association (IDA) 1960 provides interest-free loans – called credits – and grants to governments of the poorest countries. http://www.worldbank.org/ida/results.html
4. World Bank Group - Continued The International Finance Corporation (IFC) 1956, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, mobilizing capital in international financial markets, and providing advisory services to businesses and governments. http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/corp_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/home
5. World Bank Group - Continued The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) was created in 1988 as a member of the World Bank Group to promote foreign direct investment into developing countries to support economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve people’s lives. MIGA fulfills this mandate by offering political risk insurance (guarantees) to investors and lenders. http://www.miga.org
6. World Bank Group - Continued The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) provides international facilities for conciliation and arbitration of investment disputes. https://icsid.worldbank.org/ICSID/ICSID/AboutICSID_Home.jsp
7. Interesting Facts about the World Bank Group The world’s largest funder of education The world’s largest external funder of the fight against HIV/AIDS A leader in the fight against corruption worldwide A strong supporter of debt relief The largest international financier of biodiversity projects The largest international financier of water supply and sanitation projects
8. Former World Bank President James Wolfenson’s Prediction Leading economic countries will drop from controlling 80% of global GDP to 35% of global GDP. A fundamental change in the way the world is balanced with China and India becoming much more significant actors. Tripling of the world’s middle class to 3 billion people with 2/3 of them in Asia. Average per capita income in Africa will be 2-3K per capita (2 billion/9 billion people), China and India 30-40K per capita (3-4 billion people), the developed world 90-100K per capita (1 billion people) Gaps between rich and poor will be a point of contention. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a0zhc1y_Ns
9. World Bank Announces Increased Lending – A Conversation with Jim Yong Kim I'm pleased to announce today that with the support of our board, we now have the capacity to nearly double our annual lending to middle-income countries from $15 billion to as much as $28 billion a year. This means that the World Bank's lending capacity, or the amount of loans we carry on our balance sheet, will increase by $100 billion in the next decade to roughly $300 billion. This is in addition to the largest replenishment in the history of IDA, our fund for the poorest, with nearly $52 billion in grants and concessional loans that we received just in December. At the same time, we're also increasing our direct support to the private sector. MIGA is planning to increase its new guarantees by nearly 50 percent over the next four years. IFC expects it will nearly double its portfolio over the next decade to $90 billion. Taken as a whole, the World Bank Group's annual commitment, which today is around $45 to 50 billion, is expected to grow to more to $70 billion in the coming years. http://www.cfr.org/economic-development/world-bank-announces-increased-lending-support-goal-ending-extreme-poverty/p32698
10. William Easterly’s Critique of the World Bank’s Tyranny of Experts Blank Slate versus history The well being of nations versus that of individuals Conscious design versus spontaneous solutions http://www.amazon.com/Tyranny-Experts-Economists-Dictators-Forgotten-ebook/dp/B00ET7IZF2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398669185&sr=1-1&keywords=tyranny+of+experts
11. Neglect of Human Rights in World Bank Development Projects Case Study I – Discrimination and Repression in Ethiopia Discrimination in the distribution of aid on the basis of perceived political opinion, ethnicity, or on some other ground. Reprisals against critics, independent monitors, or people utilizing grievance mechanisms of the Bank or Bank programs; and Consultations being undertaken in a threatening environment or not at all.
12. Neglect of Human Rights in World Bank Development projects - Continued Case Study II – Forced “Villagization” in Ethiopia Failure to identify the risks of arbitrary arrest and detention, forced evictions, beatings, torture, and killings linked to villagization. Failure to identify risks of reduced and inadequate access to food, health care, and water through villagization process. Bank should take actions to mitigate these risks once they are identified.
13. Neglect of Human Rights in World Bank Development projects - Continued Case Study III – Forced Labor, Other Abuses in Drug Detention Centers in Southern Vietnam Detainees held without due process of law and no access to existing appeals process. Detainees refusing to work were beaten, shocked with electrical batons, and deprived of food and water. Over 300,000 people have produced cashews, potatoes, textiles, construction work, and manufacturing products such as bamboo and rattan products. Bank could have explored the possibility of establishing community-based drug dependency treatment. http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/07/22/world-bank-ducking-human-rights-issues