August 31st, 2010, by Eurodad Unprecedented flooding this month is pushing Pakistan to the brink of collapse. Widespread devastation will require massive external financing to meet the basic needs of six million homeless and 20 million affected overall. ...continua »

August 2nd, 2010, by Eurodad This briefing examines conditions in World Bank lending to Ghana in 2009. The briefing concludes that while the overall number of conditions in World Bank loans has gone down on average, some countries, such as Ghana, still experience a high number of conditions in their loans in crucial sectors of the economy.

July 28th., by Katie Allen (The Guardian)

Leaked report says wealthy investors are threatening local resources as they buy up farmland to gain on commodity prices

After a spate of investments in African land by sovereign wealth funds looking for gains on rising commodity prices and by countries such as China worried about their own food security, the World Bank launched research into the area. Its report is due to be published next month, but a draft copy leaked to the Financial Times painted a picture of largely speculative investment badly lacking agricultural expertise, and a rush towards countries with lax laws. It mentioned only a handful of successes.

 ...continua »

July 21, By Tirivangani Mutazu, AFRODAD 

Although not all Heavily Indebted Poor countries (HIPC 1999) have benefited from the debt relief initiative and the subsequent Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI 2005), these processes have left us with many enduring lessons. These lessons include the fundamental fact that such relief initiatives are not sustainable.

July 19, CEE Bankwatch

Representatives from Russian non-governmental organisation Movement to Defend Khimki Forest have today erected blockades and plan to continue their defence of the protected Khimki Forest area on Moscow's northern outskirts against construction on one section [1] of the 8 billion euro Moscow-St. Petersburg motorway.

17 July 2010, By John Chan

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week told the Japanese government to push ahead with increasing the rate of the consumption tax, despite the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) losing its majority in the upper house of the Diet in last Sunday’s elections.

The defeat for the DPJ government headed by new Prime Minister Naoto Kan was a direct result of mounting public opposition to his proposed doubling of the 5 percent tax, and other austerity measures, in order to avoid a Greece-style debt crisis.

MEXICO CITY, Jul 5, 2010 (IPS)

Non-governmental organisations from across the Americas are demanding that the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank institute policies that favour sustainable energy and help mitigate climate change.

 ...continua »

June 25th 2010 by Bretton Woods Project

The G20 has turned to the IMF to operate as a research and advisory body on their behalf since those governments’ leaders first met in November 2008. The IMF’s work in this area has mainly fallen in three areas: technical advice, surveillance, and research.

G20 mutual assessment process and the IMF

IMF input into the G20 has largely been considered technical assistance or technical advice. Work of this type is provided for in the IMF Articles of Agreement, on the basis that the IMF is not mandated to perform it and it is also voluntary for the member country concerned. Under the provisions of the IMF’s transparency policy there is no presumption that this technical advisory work will be publicly disclosed.

 ...continua »

AFRODAD is implementing a research under the theme A Critical Assessment of Chinese Development Assistance in Africa: The case of Ethiopia and Cameroon You are invited to submit expression of interest to undertake this research in the respective counries on behalf of AFRODAD. ...continua »

Please consider adding your organization’s endorsements to the sign on letter below regarding World Bank control of international climate finance.

A window of opportunity has opened up here at the UN climate negotiations in Bonn to keep the World Bank from managing global climate finance. Pressure on the US government is key. The deadline for signatures is 10 PM Bonn time (4 pm Washington, DC time) Wednesday (June 9).

Endorsements should be sent to korenstein@foe.org .

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Dear President Obama: