World Bank and International Finance: Legacy, Lessons and Current Struggles
World Without World Bank
Date: 21st April, 2022
Venue: Seminar Hall II, Kamla Devi Complex, India International Center, New Delhi
Introduction
The World Bank and IMF are having their Spring Meetings virtually from the 22nd to 24th of April, 2022 where these institutions will go ahead and laud themselves for the achievement of dolling out billions of dollars for supporting economies through the pandemic and in rebuilding. Through these loans, it is defining development and reshaping policies and economies and the questions of accountability of these institutions keep getting brushed under the carpet.
Since the past few years, the Working Group on IFIs (WGon IFIs) has been organizing the World Without World Bank campaign where civil society, activists, grassroots movements, trade unions come together to question and challenge Multilateral Development Banks, their influence, policies and investments which. For the past three years, WGonIFIs have been conducting social media campaigns and conducting online webinars questioning and challenging these institutions. Last year, we looked at the role of MDBs in pushing for farm laws(now repealed) and the role of the World Bank and IMF in pushing the agenda of privatization, commodification and corporatization.
Theme: The World Without World Bank will be organized under the theme of Accountability and Multilateral Development Banks. As MDBs in the past two years have redefined themselves, they have also used pandemic to bring in new investments and policy loans with very less deliberations on accountability considering the impact and scale of policy changes these investments bring. This exists along with project investments which bring in human rights violations, environmental and social degradation. Despite having accountability frameworks none of these accountability mechanisms have either provided relief or justice to the people. It is time we examine the newer complex ways in which these institutions operate and dodge accountability. This is also an opportunity to look beyond MDB’s and look at the new funding modalities like private equity funds, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and more and look at the issues of accountability in context of these funds and also explore how we can look at the issues of accountability in context of these changing realities and of traditional project finance where failures and gaps within of accountability systems are more than evident.
As the Financial Accountability Network and Working Group on IFIs we have been addressing, questioning and challenging these developments collectively. This year we are organizing the three-panel discussions under the banner of World Without World Bank as physical event at IIC, Delhi.
On the 21st April, a one-day seminar (3 panels) on accountability in the context of MBDs and changing world of finance. Given the inflow of private funds, bilateral funding, pension funds and many others constantly changing the dynamics of financing and accountability, it’s important for us to collectively understand and strategize as to how we want to monitor and hold financiers accountable in this increasingly complex financing situation.
