19 November 2003
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Never doubt that a small, highly committed group of individuals can change the world;
indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead
Power concedes nothing without a demand. -Frederick Douglass
About the Toolkits for Activists
These Toolkits are a series of fact sheets that describe the structure, functions, policies and procedures of the World Bank Group. They address the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).
The Toolkits are intended to support non-governmental organizations (NGOs), grassroots social movements and other civil society organizations in their efforts to monitor and influence World Bank-financed development projects and environmental and social policies. The Toolkits include information for communities that are interacting with the Bank for the first time, and materials for long-term Bank-watching activists. They describe the rights of citizens who are affected by Bank projects, and the responsibilities of the Bank and borrowing government in implementing publicly-financed development.
The Toolkits for Activists are written and edited by Kay Treakle, with contributions from Lisa Jordan, Christopher Chamberlain and Kari Hamerschlag of BIC, and Nancy Alexander of the Globalization Challenge Initiative. Designed by Cutting Edge Graphics.
Introduction to the Toolkits for Activists
As the largest public development institution in the world, the World Bank has an enormous impact on the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in developing and transition countries across the globe. Projects it has financed have disrupted indigenous communities, displaced millions of poor people, and caused widespread environmental damage in the Bank's borrowing countries. Structural adjustment programs have reduced government spending, dismantled state agencies, devalued currencies, and opened countries to volatile global market forces, while millions of poor people have been left behind. And the promise of more democratic societies in the post-cold-war era is unfortunately being eclipsed by macroeconomic rules imposed from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It could be argued that the Bank has more influence in developing country budgets and operations than most elected governments. Meanwhile, most Bank loans are developed and decided without the informed participation of the borrowing countries' citizens.
Over the last 15 years, a global movement has emerged that has challenged the Bank to protect rather than destroy the environment, to empower rather than impoverish citizens, and to be more transparent, accountable and democratic in its approaches to development. Campaigns have been waged to stop disastrous projects, to establish environmental and social policies, and to fundamentally change the development approach of the World Bank and other multilateral lenders to aim more directly at alleviating poverty. This global movement-which includes NGOs and grassroots social organizations-has successfully pressured the Bank to undertake significant reforms.
Because of their efforts, citizens around the world now have greater access to information about the Bank's lending activities. Environmental policies are in place that require environmental assessment of projects and financing for environmental mitigation. And people now have a mechanism-the Independent Inspection Panel-to which they can directly appeal if they feel they have been harmed by Bank projects. Moreover, the Bank has begun to acknowledge that economic growth must be embedded in a social framework that recognizes that good governance and equity are as important as growth in order to achieve real development.
All of these changes have given citizens more tools to participate in economic decision making. The ability to take advantage of opportunities, however, depends on an informed civil society. If it is true that "power concedes nothing without a demand," citizens need to understand what their rights are in the face of the power of the World Bank, in order to effectively make their demands. Despite changes, there is a gap between the Bank's rhetoric and the on the ground reality of its projects and policies.
After more than 10 years of monitoring the Bank, BIC believes that without independent citizen monitoring and pressure, the gap between rhetoric and reality will remain wide. That is why we have developed these Toolkits for Activists: A User's Guide to the Multilateral Development Banks. We hope to increase civil society participation in development decision making by empowering citizens with essential information: about what the Bank is and how it functions; about Bank policies that are intended to protect the environment and people's rights; and about strategies that can be used to influence Bank lending for economically just and environmentally sound development. We hope these Toolkits will help people around the world find a way to defend their rights in the face of often destructive development decisions.
Download the Toolkits:
Acknowledgments
BIC would like to thank the W. Alton Jones Foundation, the Moriah Fund, the C.S. Mott Foundation, Turner Foundation, Education Foundation of America, the MacArthur Foundation, Public Welfare Foundation and NOVIB for their generous support of our work to provide publications, information services and strategic assistance to our partners. We also wish to thank our dedicated and hardworking staff and interns for research assistance: Liz Sweet, Abigail Parish, Karen Decker, Jessica Farley, Lonneke van Heyst, Maria Fitzpatrick, Melissa McNamee, Amalia Merino, Khutso Madubanyo and Minette Nieuwenkamp.
Ordering Information
Hard copies of the Toolkits are available in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Bahasa Indonesian, and Khmer. BIC would like to invite NGOs and Civil Society Organizations to translate them into other languages, and to distribute them widely (with attribution, please). Please return to this website to download updates and new issues, or you may order hard copies from .
Note* If you would like to be notified of these Toolkits as they are produced, please send an email to .
Notes on Publication Dates
- The documents above were published by BIC in September 2001.
- The Updates Insert in Issue 1 reflects revised Bank policy dating from January 2002.