IF-EYE Newsletter
Issue #30
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
A publication of the Bank Information Center
Welcome to the March 11, 2008 issue of the IF-EYE – the Bank Information Center’s bi-weekly synthesis of key developments concerning international financial institutions. This issue spotlights IMF gold sales, a civil society groups' withdrawal from the Asian Development Bank's Mekong safeguard consultations, as well as the upcoming World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings. Please send suggestions, contributions and subscription requests to: info@bicusa.org. Thanks for reading!
In this issue:
1. IFI Updates
2. Civil Society Highlights
3. SPOTLIGHT: IMF Gold Sales: the U.S. Treasury agenda, Congressional leverage, and civil society advocacy
4. SPOTLIGHT: NGOs pull out of ADB’s Mekong safeguards consultations
5. SPOTLIGHT: 2008 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings
6. Announcements and Resources
7. New at BIC: BIC welcomes Binta Ceesay as Executive Assistant!
8. Work at BIC: Job openings at BIC!
World Bank General Counsel resigns
3/10/2008 World Bank
World Bank Group General Counsel Ana Palacio is resigning her position, effective April 15, further diminishing former World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz’s legacy.
Read more (BIC website)
Paulson pressed on ADB funding rules
3/10/2008 Asian Development Bank
The Financial Times reported that Senator Patrick Leahy and Congressman Barney Frank, the respective chairmen of the U.S. Senate judiciary and House financial services committees, have written to U.S. Treasury secretary, Hank Paulson urging him to demand that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) stick to tougher environmental and social criteria for approving project financing than what is currently foreseen in its planned policy overhaul.
Paulson pressed on ADB funding rules, by Raphael Minder, March 9, 2008. (Financial Times website)
Read more (BIC website)
EBRD presents draft of its revised Environmental and Social Policy
3/7/2008 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
On February 25, 2008 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) published a draft of its newly revised Environmental and Social Policy. EBRD is soliciting public comments on the draft policy document until April 9, 2008.
Comments may be submitted at: E&SPolicy@ebrd.com
Read more (BIC website)
President of Chad nullifies World Bank agreement to grab oil money and crack down on opponents
3/6/2008 Republic of Chad
As a significant rebel threat to his government appears to recede, Chadian President Idriss Deby has clamped down on political opponents and bypassed controls established by an agreement with the World Bank to redirect oil revenues for military use.
Read more (BIC website)
UK parliamentarians reproach DFID decision-making on World Bank funding increase
3/5/2008 United Kingdom International Development Committee
The United Kingdom's International Development Committee has reprimanded the Department for International Development (DFID) for its decision to hand over a fifty per cent increase in funding for the World Bank without sufficient analysis of whether or not this is good value for money. The report also contains sharp analysis of the Bank's failure to use impact assessments; its continued use of conditionality; and the British government's lackluster efforts to bring democracy to the Bank.
DFID and the World Bank, UK International Development Committee Report (UK House of Commons website) (Acrobat pdf, 684 KB)
Parliamentary committee scolds DFID for its World Bank infatuation (Bretton Woods Project website)
ADB backs Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
3/3/2008 Asian Development Bank
Following similar announcements by other multilateral development banks, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced its endorsement of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The EITI encourages governments to disclose their revenues, as well as companies to publicize their payments from oil, gas, and mining in order to promote transparency and fight corruption.
Read more (BIC website)
World Bank reinventing its role in the Arab world
2/29/2008 World Bank
A high-ranking World Bank delegation headed by the Managing Director, Juan Jose Daboub, has launched a series of consultations on the Bank’s involvement in the Middle East and North Africa region, aimed at developing a plan to strengthen the World Bank’s engagement in the Arab World.
World Bank Managing Director Discusses with the Arab League Opportunities for Strengthening Development Partnerships in the Arab World, February 28, 2008 (World Bank website)
Read more (BIC website)
IFC advises Yemeni government on Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in priority sectors
2/25/2008 International Finance Corporation
On February 25, 2008, the World Bank’s private sector lending arm, the International Financial Corporation (IFC), signed a memorandum of understanding with Yemen’s Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation to advise the government on public-private partnerships (PPP) projects in priority sectors such as transport and power.
IFC to Support Yemen in Implementing Public-Private Partnership Projects in Key Infrastructure Sectors, February 25, 2008 (World Bank Website)
Read more (BIC website)
The IDB prepares its Annual Governors' Meeting in Miami
2/22/2008 Inter-American Development Bank
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is preparing its 49th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors, from April 4 to 8, 2008 in Miami, Florida.
View the Annual Meeting 2008 website for the Intern-American Development Bank (IDB website)
Read more (Choike website)
AfDB commits 60 percent of its resources toward ambitious infrastructure scheme
2/19/2008 African Development Bank
The African Development Bank (AfDB) announced that 60 percent of its funds for low-income countries will go to support infrastructure such as roads, dams, and bridges over the next three years.
Read more (BIC website)
High-level panel issues report on prospects for African Development Bank
2/15/2008 African Development Bank
On January 22, 2008 a “high-level panel” convened by African Development Bank President Donald Kaberuka in 2006 released a report that argues that the AfDB should become Africa’s premier public financial institution, and that its donors and regional member states should put more confidence and resources into it.
Read more (BIC website)
No funding from US and UK export credit agencies for Sakalin II project
3/4/2008 Multiple Organizations
In a victory for local environmental groups, the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, Ltd. (Sakhalin Energy) told Dow Jones that it is withdrawing applications for hundreds of millions of dollars in public financing for the crisis-plagued Sakhalin II project from the US Export Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) and the UK Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD).
Read more (BIC website)
The shadowy bank that has loaned £150bn of your cash
3/2/2008 The Observer
The Observer reports that the European Investment Bank is bigger than the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Yet, the little-known lender is being criticized for spending taxpayers' money on 'pet projects', some of which fly in the face of development priorities.
The shadowy bank that has loaned £150bn of your cash by Heather Stewart, The Observer, March 2, 2008 (The Guardian website)
Analysis of implementation of revenue transparency commitments of IFC and EBRD loans
2/26/2008 By Sonia Zilberman, Europe and Central Asia Program, Bank Information Center
Read the preliminary assessment of the implementation of project level revenue transparency commitments for the extractive industry projects financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Read more (BIC website)
African NGO calls for new millennium development goal on internal displacement
2/24/2008 Africa Internally Displaced Persons Voice
The World Bank supported large scale development projects in the name of investment and infrastructure development have encouraged forced evictions, land speculation and threatened the land rights of the majority of citizens in Africa who depend on land for their survival.
Read more (AfricaFiles website)
BIC teams with local partners to train civil society in Indonesia
2/22/2008 Bank Information Center, debtWATCH Indonesia, UPLINK, Bandung Institute for Governance Studies
In the first week of February 2008, BIC Indonesia, in collaboration with its local partners, held two trainings on the multilateral development banks (MDBs) in Indonesia. Those in attendance learned about the basics of the MDBs, particularly about the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
Read more (BIC website)
World Bank’s IFC approves loan to Camisea II despite civil society concerns
1/29/2008 Multiple organizations
The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), which lends money to private sector projects, has approved a major loan to the second phase of the troubled Camisea gas project, in the Peruvian Amazon. The decision comes despite the recent efforts of Peruvian, Latin American, North American, and European non-governmental organizations (NGOs), who recently sent a letter to the IFC urging the institution to not approve additional funding. The NGOs cite insufficient project due diligence; the lack of a full economic cost-benefit analysis; and social and environmental impacts as reasons why IFC financing should be withheld.
Open Letter to International Finance Corporation regarding Financing for Camisea II, January 29, 2008 (Amazon Watch website)
3/11/2008 Bhumika Muchhala, IMF Program, Bank Information Center
On February 25, the U.S. Treasury announced its decision to support the International Monetary Funds’s (IMF) proposal to sell a small portion of its gold reserves in order to fund the IMF’s future operations. The Treasury’s support followed the public approval granted by the Group of Seven (G7) nations on February 9 in Tokyo.
The IMF faces a $400 million per year deficit by 2010. It desperately needs new income sources given the erosion of its traditional source of income—the interest generated from its loans to developing countries. Just over a decade ago, after IMF policies exacerbated the financial crisis across East Asian and Latin American countries, these governments started shunning the IMF. They built their foreign exchange reserves as “self-insurance” against the increasingly ill-reputed financial institution and increasingly accessing global financial markets. The change in the Fund’s clientele is marked by the fact that in August 1999, one-third of its outstanding credit was owed by Russia and Indonesia, while today neither of the two countries have any loans with or debt owed to the IMF. Thus, the IMF is anxious to use its vast 103.4 million ounces of gold—the third largest reserve in the world after the U.S. and Germany. IMF's gold reserves are valued at a whopping $92 billion at current market prices, thanks to a four-fold increase in the price of gold over the last five years. The IMF is seeking to sell a fraction of its reserves—specifically, 12.9 million ounces of gold in the commercial market, which would generate an estimated $10 to $12 billion at current gold prices.
Although the U.S. Treasury has voiced its support for International Monetary Fund (IMF) gold sales under its own set of reform priorities, the ultimate leverage rests with the U.S. Congress. Civil society has started to conduct policy advocacy to the U.S. Congress, calling for the attachment of a number of key policy reforms for development in low-income countries.
Read more (BIC website)
3/5/2008 Multiple organizations
Joining hands with their Burmese colleagues and civil society groups across the Asia Pacific region, Vietnamese and Cambodian civil society groups declined the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) invitation to attend the March 5-6, 2008 Mekong Consultation in Hanoi. They highlighted the reasons for their absence in letters addressed to the Director Environment and Social Safeguards Division and copied to senior management and the Board of Directors. Foremost amongst these was their view that the draft does not offer sufficient protection to the poor and marginalized communities that are impacted by ADB projects.
Burmese civil society groups had previously sent an open letter to the ADB stating that the weak Safeguard Policy Statement draft will cause not only social and environmental harms but may also lead to human rights violations.
Despite these setbacks, the ADB plans to continue with the Pakistan-Afghanistan, Europe, North America, and Japan consultations ignoring demands by ADB watchers in those countries to consult with them only on the basis of an improved second draft.
Read the full text of the Burmese letter:
Open letter to ADB on the SPU from Burmese civil society groups, March 4, 2008 (Acrobat pdf, 37 KB)
Read the full text of the Vietnamese letter:
Vietnam NGO letter to ADB Regarding Consultations in Hanoi, February 28, 2008. (Acrobat pdf, 21 KB)
Vietnam NGO letter to ADB Regarding Consultations in Hanoi -- in Vietnamese, February 28, 2008. (Acrobat pdf, 133 KB)
For more information please visit BIC's webpage on the ADB Safeguard Policy Update process (BIC website)
The 2008 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be held over the weekend of April 12-13 at the World Bank and IMF Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) will be held on Saturday, April 12 and the Development Committee (DC) will be held on Sunday, April 13.
As in previous years, the Civil Society Policy Forum, a program of policy dialogues for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) will be organized alongside the Spring Meetings. The Civil Society Policy Forum will be held from Thursday, April 10 through Sunday, April 13. Information about discussions being planned for the Forum is available here and will be updated frequently as we near the date of the Meetings.
All CSO representatives interested in participating in the Spring Meetings must obtain formal accreditation. CSO representatives are encouraged to apply for accreditation as soon as possible to give themselves enough time to obtain a US visa and make travel arrangements. The online accreditation system accepting applications for civil society accreditation opened on February 19, 2008 and will close on March 23, 2008.
The on-line accreditation form can be accessed here.
Read the latest information on World Bank and civil society events organized around the upcoming World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings and how to get involved on BIC's website.
Be sure to post any events you are planning around the 2008 Spring Meetings on IFIWatchnet. Please let us know if you are planning to be in Washington, DC during the Annual Meetings by adding your name to the "Who's in Town" page on IFIWatchnet.
Civil Society Guide to IFI Policy Reviews
1/30/2008 Bank Information Center
BIC's "Civil Society Guide to IFI Policy Reviews" website keeps track of important dates, consultation documents, and more concerning policy reviews at the major international financial institutions.
View the guide (BIC website)
FIAN International releases its universal periodic review of human rights violations in large-scale mining operations in Ghana
FIAN International, in cooperation with FIAN Ghana and the Wassa Association of Communities affected by Mining (WACAM), has recently submitted its universal periodic review of human rights violations caused by large-scale mining in Ghana to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The human rights situation in Ghana will be discussed by the UN Council for Human Rights in May and June this year. Transnational mining companies are to a high degree complicit in these violations. Examples mentioned in the text include companies like AngloGold Ashanti, Newmont, Chirano and Bogoso Gold Limited.
Read the full review:
Universal Periodic Review - Ghana (May 2008) -Human Rights violations in the context of large-scale mining operations - FIAN International (Acrobat pdf, 64 KB)
Binta joined BIC as the Executive Assistant in February 2007 and helps to support the Executive Director in his daily tasks. Binta received her Bachelors in International Relations & Political Science from Michigan State University, majoring in African studies. She has worked on development issues while supporting the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa in Washington DC, and the National Women Farmers Association in Senegambia. Binta is fluent in Mandingo, Wolof, & Krio, and can converse in French. Contact Binta at: bceesay@bicusa.org
Finance Associate: BIC is seeking a Finance Associate who will be responsible for maintaining timely and accurate financial records of the organization, and assist in office management. The Finance Associate will report to the Finance and Operations Manager.
Program Assistant: BIC is seeking a Program Assistant to work with the Europe and Central Asia program (ECA), which focuses on the activities of the World Bank Group (including the International Finance Corporation), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the Europe, Central Asia and Caucasus region. The successful candidate for this position will focus on issues related to transparency and accountability at the international financial institutions, particularly on efforts to ensure greater revenue and contract transparency in extractive industry projects, and other issues related to the activities of the IFIs in the ECA region.
Intern, BICECA project, Latin America program: BIC's Latin America Program seeks an Intern will work to provide support to our partners in Latin America and to strengthen our ability to work with and support civil society in the region. The Latin America Program Intern should possess excellent analytical, writing abilities as well as IT knowledge; preferably experience with database and websites. The intern should have demonstrated research skills and an interest in social justice issues. Excellent English and Spanish spoken and written language skills are essential.
Get full details of these positions on BIC's jobs and internships page (BIC website)
You have received this message because you requested email updates from
www.bicusa.org.
Click here to manage your newsletter subscriptions
Click here to unsubscribe