Civil society organizations from around the world have been campaigning and advocating for a more responsible, human rights-oriented, and sustainable development finance model.
Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) lend money to governments and private actors in order to pursue determined development goals. Many – if not all of them – claim to have a clear purpose: poverty reduction and sustainable development.
The World Bank (WB) Group’s mission has two goals: to ‘end poverty’ and to create ‘shared prosperity. The IFC is the private sector lending arm of the WB. Over half of the IFC’s investments are channeled through Financial Intermediaries – third parties such as private equity funds or commercial banks. This investment model brings with it a host of increased risks for local communities and the environment. This is an investment trend at both IFC and other Development Finance Institutions. The lack of transparency around this form of lending has made it much more difficult to monitor end uses of these financial flows via various financial actors and to link the IFC with the projects supported by FI clients.