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Contact BIC staff and experts

BIC staff are experts on a wide range of project, policy and regional issues pertaining to the World Bank and regional development banks. Please visit our Staff Directory for a list of regional and policy experts at BIC. Please contact with general media requests and inquiries.

About BIC

The Bank Information Center (BIC) partners with civil society in developing and transition countries to influence the World Bank and other international financial institutions (IFIs) to promote social and economic justice and ecological sustainability. BIC is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization that advocates for the protection of rights, participation, transparency, and public accountability in the governance and operations of the World Bank, regional development banks, and IMF.

BIC is supported by private foundations and organizations that work in the fields of environment and development. BIC is not affiliated with any of the Multilateral Development Banks, nor does it receive any funding from them.

Learn more about BIC

Press releases

IFC and leading international banks do not have a robust framework for minimizing human rights risks, Center for International Environmental Law, Bank Information Center, August 7, 2008 (CIEL website)

Record 2007 IDB Lending Comes at Expense of Environment, Communities April 7, 2008, Amazon Watch Bank Information Center, Friends of the Earth (Acrobat pdf, 24 KB)

Asian Development Bank Pulls Out of Controversial Coal Project in Bangladesh, April 2, 2008, BanglaPraxis, Bank Information Center, International Accountability Project, Urgewald, World Development Movement (Acrobat pdf, 64 KB)

International Appeal for the Publication of the Final Report of the Ministerial Commission on the Review of Mining Contracts in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- Press Release November 7, 2007, Multiple Organizations (Acrobat pdf, 26 KB)

• Groups Urge World Bank to Strengthen Guidelines for Controversial Mining Projects Press Release by Multiple Organizations, September 6, 2007
• “Prove it”: Groups challenge World Bank to demonstrate the development impacts of its gold mining investments Press Release by Multiple Organizations, September 19, 2006 (Acrobat pdf 58.7 KB)
• Civil Society Launches Transparency Charter for International Financial Institutions Press Release by Global Transparency Initiative, September 17, 2006 (Acrobat pdf 17.5 KB)
• International People’s Forum celebrates successful event Press Release by Organisers of the International Peoples Forum vs IMF-WB, September 18, 2006 (Acrobat pdf 18.0 KB)
• World Bank Energy Framework Sells Climate and Poor People Short – NGOs Press Release by Multiple Organizations, September 17, 2006 (Acrobat pdf 25.2KB)
• Too Little Too Late Press Release by IPF Conveners' Committee, September 16, 2006 (Acrobat pdf 12.2 KB)
• Civil society call for boycott of IMF/World Bank Meetings Press Release by INFID and Bank Information Center, September 15, 2006 (Acrobat pdf 16.2 KB)
• Singaporean and Indonesian authorities crack down on civil society--Credibility of WB-IMF Annual Meetings threatened Press Release by Multiple Organizations, September 7, 2006 (Acrobat pdf 13.8 KB)  

BIC in the news

Articles written by bic staff

Changing of the Guard at the IMF by Soren Ambrose and Bhumika Muchhala, October 31, 2007 (Foreign Policy In Focus website)

Where Oil Flows...Debt Grows full page ad in Financial Times, November 14, 2006 (End Oil Aid website)

ADB's fight for survival: Time to Take Stock by Mishka Zaman, Down to Earth

• Not Banking on Much: ADB's priority is business, not helping out by Mishka Zaman (Down to Earth Website)
• Rhetoric Must Match Action by Mishka Zaman, ADB Review, July 2006 (ADB webiste)
•  A Neocon at the World Bank? by Manish Bapna, New York Times, March 18, 2005 (New York Times website) 
• The Multilateral Development Banks and Burma by Yuki Akimoto, The Irrawaddy magazine, April 2004 (Irrawaddy website)
• How to spend wisely in Afghanistan by Anne Carlin, New York Times, January 26, 2004 (New York Times website)
• Afghanistan: Move forward wisely, not quickly by Anne Carlin, International Herald Tribune, January 28, 2004 (International Herald Tribune website)

articles citing BIC

• Zoellick Fossil-Fuel Campaign Belied by World Bank's Tata Loan, by Christopher Swann, August 11, 2008 (Bloomberg News)

• World Bank critcized for helping fossil fuel plants, by Christopher Swann, August 11, 2008 (International Herald Tribune)

• A new great shame ahead?, by Desislava Stoyanova, July 15, 2008 (European Voice website)

• Food Crisis Rises To Forefront At AsDB Sessions, Marwaan Macan-Markar, Inter Press Service, May 4, 2008 (IPS website)

• IMF: The Times They Are A-Changin', by Robert Weissman, April 14, 2008. (The Huffington Post)

• Development Bank gathers under 'big tent' in Miami by Jane Bussey, Miami Herald, April 14, 2008 (Miami Herald website)

• Protracted struggle forces ADB to pull out of Phulbari, One World South Asia, April 8, 2008 (One World South Asia website)
• Paulson pressed on ADB funding rules, by Raphael Minder, March 9, 2008. (Financial Times website)
• US Role as Biggest World Bank Donor at Risk in Negotiations by Christopher Swann, December 14, 2007 (Bloomberg website) 
• Bank of the South (Banco del Sur), Interview with Vince McElhinny on Chicago Public Radio, November 11, 2007 (Chicago Public Radio website)
• Critics Weigh in as IFC Tightens Mining Rules by Abid Aslam, September 10, 2007 (IPS website)
• Mining Projects Need Stiffer Standards -- Report by Haider Rizvi, September 8, 2007 (OneWorld website)
• Dam Project to Displace Uganda Falls: Environmentalists Warn of Potential for Costly Disaster by Scott Calvert, August 27, 2007 (Baltimore Sun website) 
•  At World Bank, Climate Change Isn't Part of the Equation by Judy Pasternak, August 12, 2007 (Los Angeles Times website)
•  World Bank Probes Chevron Nigeria pipeline for violations by Associated Press, July 13, 2007 (International Herald Tribune website)
•  Development Bank Rethinks role by Bob Davis, June 27, 2007 (The Wall Street Journal website)
• Interview: Rachel Kyte of the IFC: Expectations are high but often exceeded by Eoin Callan and Kimberly Wilsonm June 7, 2007 (Financial Times website) 
•  Zoellick likely to be approved as World Bank chief by Lesley Wroughton, May 31, 2007, (Reuters website)
• Reaction to Wolfowitz resignation May 18, 2007 (Reuters website) 
•  Wolfowitz's Iraq Role, Management Style Alienated Bank Staff by Christopher Swann, May 18, 2007 (Bloomberg News website)
•  Wolfowitz Is at the Door by Emad Mekay, May 17, 2007 (IPS News website)
•  For Wolfowitz, a 2nd Chance Dissolves Into Failure by Steven Weisman, May 17, 2007 (NY Times website) 
•  Key Issue for World Bank: How to Tackle Corruption by Neil King Jr. and Greg Hitt, May 14, 2007 (WSJ website)
•  World Bank Faces Rising Competition, With or Without Wolfowitz by Christopher Swann and Rich Miller, May 14, 2007 (Bloomberg website)
•  Pressure to resign rises for Wolfowitz by John Donnelly, May 8, 2007 (Boston Globe website)
•  Wolfowitz Scandal May Spark Wider Changes by Tom Gjelten, May 8, 2007 (NPR website)
•  Kellems, First Head to Roll in Wolfowitz Scandal by Emad Mekay, May 7, 2007 (IPS News website)
•  Wolfowitz aide resigns as World Bank scandal bites by David Dieudonne, May 7, 2007 (Yahoo News website)
•  Wolfowitz to plead his case in crucial World Bank meeting AFP, April 29, 2007 (Brisbane Times website)
•  Activities decry Bank's loan approval for Uganda dam by Emad Mekay, Inter-Press Service, April 27, 2007 (IPS website)
•  World Bank Unit Urges Quick Decision on Wolfowitz by William McQuillen and Christopher Swann, April 27, 2007 (Bloomberg news website)
•  World Bank chief in lonely fight to save his job Agence France-Presse, April 20, 2007 (Globe and Mail website
•  Wolfowitz's World Bank fate in limbo by David Lynch, April 16, 2007 (USA Today)
•  For World Bank, Wolfowitz crisis is ill-timed AFP, April 15, 2007 (Oman Times website)
•  The Next Crusade: Paul Wolfowitz at the World Bank by John Cassidy, April 9, 2007 (The New Yorker website) 
•  Making the IDB matter March 2007 (Latin Finance website) 
•  World Bank Launches Internal Probe to Root Out Leakers by Richard Behar, February 8, 2007 (Fox News website) 
•  Oxfam Calls for Mali's Gold Industry to Open Up by Naomi Schwarz, January 31, 2007 (VOA News website) 
•  Wolfowitz under fire as WB faces exodus by Anwar Iqbal, December 12, 2006 (Dawn website) 
•  Environmental Coalition Fights Oil Subsidies to Help Alleviate World Poverty by Howard Lesser, December 14, 2006 (VOA news website) 
•  In World Bank Role, Wolfowitz Keeps Up Battle to Reshape Iraq by Greg Hitt, October 30, 2006 (WSJ website) 
• Campaigners urge 'massive shift' to transparency by John Aglionby, September 18, 2006 (The Guardian)
• Transparency Begins at Home, WB-IMF Told by Marwaan Macan-Markar, September 17, 2006 (IPS News website)
•  Power Imbalances Under Scrutiny by Jane Monahan, September 2006 (The Banker website) 
•  New IADB head remains enigma but expectations high by Gilbert Le Gras, Reuters, April 5, 2006 (BICECA website) 
•  As Latin American nations settle debts and shake off their reliance on multilaterals, the  IMF and other Washington institutions must redefine themselves to stay in the game by Maria O'Brien, Latin Finance, March 2006 (Latin Finance website) 
•  World Bank's New Social Standards Slippery to Enforce by Emad Mekay, Inter Press Service, February 22, 2006 (IPS website) 
•  Whose world is it after all? by SS Jeevan, NewIndPress, February 23, 2006 
•  Groups appeal to World Bank unit over Newmont mine by Lesley Wroughton, Reuters, January 20, 2006 
•  Wolfowitz Faces Uneasy Transition to World Bank by Lesley Wroughton, Reuters, March 17, 2005 (The Epoch Times website) 
•  Crying Wolfowitz by James Taranto, Wall Street Journal, March 17, 2005 (Wall Street Journal website) 
•  Wolfowitz nomination a shock for Europe by Edward Alden, Christopher Swann, and Guy Dinmore, The Financial Times, March 16, 2005 (The Financial Times website) 
•  World Bank transparency plea by Andrew Balls, The Financial Times, February 3, 2005 (The Financial Times website) 
•  World Bank criticizes itself by Emad Mekay, Asia Times, February 5, 2005 (Asia Times web
•  ExxonMobil says backs World Bank stance in Chad oil fund dispute by Richard Rubin, Platts, December 15, 2005 
•  Chad: Promises to poor are broken in World Bank oil deal gone bad by Emad Mekay, IPS, December 5, 2005 (HighBeam Research website) 
•  Internal Audit Faults World Bank's Biggest Projects by Emad Mekay, IPS, February 3, 2005 (IPS website) 
•  Making the World Bank more democratic is just as important as appointing a new chief by Manish Bapna and Nikki Reisch, The Financial Times, January 13 2005 (The Financial Times website) 
•  NGOs Claim Win as Bank Extends Rules Review by Emad Mekay, IPS, December 27, 2004 (Mines and Communities website) 
•  The Politics of Reconstruction by Solomon Kebede, Capital (web edition), April 13, 2004 (Capital webiste) 
•  World press: Crying Wolfie by Francis Till, National Business Review, March 22, 2005 (National Business Review website) 
•  The World Bank’s Land of Kiosk: ’Community Driven Development" in East Timor by Ben Moxham, CADTM, March 12, 2004 (CADTM website) 
•  World Bank, IMF and Armed Conflicts: Helping Peace or Creating the Conditions for War? Bretton Woods Project, February 2, 2004 (Global Policy Forum website) 
•  Poorest Pay for World Bank Corruption - US Senator by Emad Mekay, IPS,May 14, 2004 (Common Dreams News Center website) 
•  Private Sector no solution for corrupt India, by Rimin Dutt, Indus Business Journal Online, June 1, 2004 
•  Protecting Corruption at Multilateral Development Banks by Pratap Ravindran, The Hindu Business Line, June 22, 2004 (Odious Debts website) 
•  Corruption: Stealing from the Poor by By Murray Hiebert and John McBeth, Far Eastern Economic Review, July 29, 2004 (Odious Debts website) 
•  World Bank, IMF and armed conflicts: Helping peace or creating the conditions for war? Via3net, Growing Humane, Sustainable, Creative Economies, 2003 (Via3net website) 
•  Striking it Poor: Oil as a Curse by Daphne Eviatar, New York Times, June 7, 2003 (Global Exchange website) 
•  IDB Results Beg for Public Scrutiny, Control of Operations by Amy Gray, Insight Magazine, October 16, 2002 (Find Articles website) 
•  Review of Public Bank Projects Weakened, Green Groups Say- Leahy Faults Bush Administration for Reduced Oversight by James Grimaldi, Washington Post, September 19, 2002 (Washington Post Archives website) 
•  Report Alleges Georgia Encourages Pipeline Pipe Dreams by Alec Appelbaum, EurasiaNet, August 15, 2002 (EurasiaNet website) 
•  The World’s Right to Know by Thomas Blanton, Foreign Policy, July-Aug, 2002 (Foreign Policy website) 
•  World Bank Weakens Standards on Aboriginals by Emad Mekay, IPS, June 7, 2002 (HighBeam Research website) 
•  Promises to Listen to Local Opinion by Amy Kazmin, Financial Times, May 5, 2002 (Australian Mekong Resource Center, University of Sydney website) 
•  A Battle with the Toxic Politics of Waste Water by Amy Kazmin, January 25, 2002 (Financial Times website)