Time for the World Bank Group to take human rights seriously 28FEB11

TOO often the World Bank funds projects proposed by huge multi-national corporations (who are wealthy enough to invest their own funds but are too greedy to do that) in Third World countries with no regard for the human rights of the local population and no concern about possible environmental damage. These projects are rape and pillage operations that leave communities and countries reeling from economic, social and environmental damage while these corporations grow richer. Please join Amnesty International in calling on the World Bank to adopt strict regulations on human rights and environmental controls when providing funding, click the header or link or go to their website.

Time for the World Bank Group to take human rights seriously

Corporations can have an enormous negative impact on the rights of individuals and communities. Through its research, Amnesty International has exposed how these impacts can range from community livelihoods being threatened or destroyed to forced evictions carried out to make way for extractive operations.

The World Bank Group, among other functions, finances the activities of corporations in developing countries. This is done through an agency called the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The IFC frequently supports industries of a particularly invasive nature, such as oil, gas and mining projects. These industries are often associated with environmental damage and human rights harm.

The IFC must make sure it has strong safeguards to prevent human rights abuses as a result of its operations.

Unfortunately the World Bank Group is refusing to take human rights seriously. In May 2011 the IFC will adopt new policies to manage social and environmental risks associated with the activities it supports. Not only is the IFC proposing to adopt safeguards that are inadequate to prevent negative human rights impacts, but it is REFUSING to even make a commitment to respect human rights.

As an institution that claims to be committed to fighting poverty and improving people’s lives, and which is governed by member states that have international human rights obligations, this is entirely unacceptable.

You can find Amnesty International’s full analysis of the IFC policies here.

Corporate actors cannot be let off the hook for their negative impact on human rights. Take action and tell the head of IFC it is time to take human rights seriously now!

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Time to invest in human rights: A human rights due diligence framework for the International Finance Corporation

Time to invest in human rights: A human rights due diligence framework for the International Finance Corporation

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Index Number: IOR 80/004/2010
Date Published: 31 August 2010

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is part of the World Bank Group. One of its major functions is supporting private sector investment in developing countries. These countries often face significant challenges in ensuring effective protection of human rights. In 2009, IFC launched a review of its sustainability framework, a set of policies that lays out IFC's own responsibilities and the expected behaviour of its clients. This report provides a human rights analysis of the draft revised Sustainability Framework and also assesses IFC's own human rights analysis, which it carried out as part of the review process.

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