March 3 2007, 9:00am-5:30pm @ Catholic University, Washington,D.C.

The below article from the BBC outlines how a British "Vulture Fund" cheaply bought a substantial portion of Zambia's debt when it new that the G8 was planning a debt cancellation deal, and then sued the government of Zambia for the full amount, which it claims were incurred in taxes, fees and other expenses. In other words, a bank bought $4 million of Zambia's debt and has now won a case in which it was suing for more than ten times that amount, $42 million. The judge hasn't ruled on the amount that the government will have to pay, but the ruling itself gives legitimacy to some of the most predatory banking practices out there.

As emerging market economies led by China and India account for a rising share of overall economic growth, the IMF is less in demand as a public lender and is seeking a new role. Could moneterinf exchange rates be it? (Washington Post)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s current revenue model is unsustainable and inequitable and a more diversified income stream needs to be developed to guarantee the institution's financial future, an expert panel convened to examine the Fund's current liquidity crisis, has concluded. (SUNS #6184)

Venezuela, an alternative to the IMF? (Reuters)

It is also the world's largest development research body, centred in the Development Economics Vice-Presidency (DEC). What are the reprecusions?The article debunks claims by the Bank that it serves as an impartial 'knowledge bank' conducting independent and rigorous research. (SUNS #6183)

IMF is advized to sell gold and charge for technical advice (!!!) to cover their present financial crisis. The IMF faces long-term financial problems because its traditional source of revenue - profits on lending - has dried up as countries have paid back giant loans extended during financial crises. Charging for advice might lead the IMF into to prompt bankrupcy, rather than financial stability when we take into account the high failure rates of their technical advice. (Financial Times)

This week offers campaigners the opportunity to mark a number of events, including the IMF-WB meetings taking place October 19-21

Social Movements Assembly at the World Social Forum: More than 2000 activists loudly and energetically endorsed this statement at the Social Movements Assembly in Nairobi.

The first big external audit of the World Bank's use of research finds that it uses questionable evidence to support its market fundamentalism. Check out this article published in the Financial Times Dec 21st 2006. (Financial Times)

The 7th World Social Forum took place in Nairobi, Kenya January 20th to the 25th. 50 Years Is Enough was one of over a thousand organizations that attended.

United Press International is reporting: "Five Iraqi trade union federations have condemned federal oil law negotiations for being too corporation-friendly." (infoZine)

An Internal Report Criticizes World Bank's Efforts on Poverty (Washington Post)

The World Bank's own auditing arm has confirmed what we have long been saying: the Bank's projects did not adequately reduce poverty levels in borrowing nations over the past five years. (Inter Press Service)

If this report is meant to offer options for changing the nature of the disastrous U.S. occupation, one thing is clear: any changes made will continue to prioritize the profits of U.S. and other companies over the needs and the right to survival of the Iraqi people. (Iraq Study Group Report)

The recent series of debt cancellations under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC-I) and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) may offer eligible countries opportunities for expanding domestic policy space, enabling countries to choose from various macroeconomic and development policy options. (Third World Network)

The national US immigration debate largely is split between two camps. Both positions address an extremely narrow question (namely, what do we do with "these people"?) and both fail to ask the primary underlying questions: why are these people coming here in the first place? (Foreign Policy In Focus)

The latest in a string of World Bank reports that underlie what we at the 50 Years Is Enough Network and many other groups have been saying for years: World Bank development policies are based on an ideology of market fundamentalism and not on any evidence that those policies lead to genuine development.

Developing countries taking policy loans from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank still have privatization and liberalization conditionalities attached to their loans, while the two institutions also make use of other methods to push their policies onto developing countries. These views emerged at a Conference on Conditionality organized here on 28 November by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry in Oslo. (SUNS #6152)

Check out 50 Years Director's talk YouTube.

50 Years Director, Sameer Dossani speaks in Richmond, VA.

Sameer will be speaking in Vermont this week. He will discuss the relationship between globalization, the International Monitary Fund and World Bank and immigration, and the economic and geopolitical motives behind the war in Iraq. If you're in Vermont, make sure you catch one of these 2 events!

June 27- July 1, 2007. Atlanta, Georgia

It's 2 a.m. on a Saturday night. I'm in a Singapore police station. No, this story doesn't involve alcohol. Fortunately neither the death penalty nor caning is likely. (Foreign Policy in Focus)

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus, regarded as the father of microcredit, comes at a time when microcredit has become something like a religion to many of the powerful, rich and famous. Hillary Clinton regularly speaks about going to Bangladesh, Yunus's homeland, and being "inspired by the power of these loans to enable even the poorest of women to start businesses, lifting their families--and their communities--out of poverty." (The Nation)

City Seeks to Void Development Deal (Washington Post)

The Letter.

On Tuesday, October 2, the Norwegian government took the unprecedented step of canceling debt it claimed of several countries on the grounds that it was incurred illegitimately. The debts were incurred in the late 1970s, when Norway was trying to salvage its own ship-making industry by offering credit to South countries which could then use it to purchase the ships.

Jubilee South/Americas celebrates and highlights the importance of the unilateral and unconditional decision of the Norwegian government to stop collecting the debts it still claimed from Ecuador, Peru, Jamaica, Egypt, and Sierra Leone, resulting from what the announcement describes as a “failed development policy”.

by Norwegian Foreign Ministry

Press release from The Norwegian Campaign for Debt Cancellation (Jubilee Norway/SLUG)

World leaders and celebrities declared 2005 to be the "year of Africa" with much fanfare. Beginning with the UK's Commission on Africa report, and culminating in some supposed gains for the continent at the summit meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) wealthy countries, who were cajoled at several musical extravaganzas featuring the likes of U2, Madonna and Youssou N'Dour to do more to end global poverty, the year was billed as a "turning point" for Africa. (Foreign Policy in Focus)

QUITO, Ecuador -- A tough-talking leftist economist and presidential front-runner who rattles foreign investors said Monday he is proud to call Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez his friend. Rafael Correa also said he would not extend the U.S. military's use of the Pacific coast Manta air base as an operational site for drug surveillance flights when the treaty runs out in 2009. (Washington Post)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave much needed debt relief for Haiti a green light yesterday, but the road ahead is still dangerous for Haiti’s poor.

Already buffeted by institutional crisis and policy conflicts, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank are heading into their fall meeting—scheduled to begin September 13 in Singapore—with yet one more problem. Desperate to win credibility among civil society groups, the Bank and the Fund had given official accreditation to representatives of four civil society organizations. The Singapore government had a different idea. It banned the groups “for security reasons.” This commentator was among those specifically named and banned as a “security threat.” (Foreign Policy in Focus)

September 8 — Civil society groups worldwide have reacted angrily to the Singaporean government’s ban on up to 20 delegates who plan to attend Bank/Fund annual meetings there next week. They have also condemned the pressure apparently brought by Singapore’s government on the administration of neighbouring Batam, Indonesia, where a major civil society conference will be held next week. Yesterday it appeared that permission would not be granted for the conference, but today, following an international outcry, official sources in Jakarta confirmed it can go ahead.

This September 2006, the IMF and the World Bank will be holding their Annual Meeting in Singapore on September 19-20. In the spirit of resistance to neoliberal policies and in keeping with the history of people's struggles worldwide against economic domination, Asian movements together with an international group of networks, movements, campaigns and NGOs will be convening an International Peoples Forum vs the IMF and the World Bank on September 15 to 17.

This July the World Bank's private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), turns 50. Birthdays are a good time for reflection, so let's take a moment to ask what exactly the IFC is, and what it has done for the world.

The 50 Years Is Enough Network is seeking a new Outreach and Communications Coordinator. Deadline: 11 August 2006

Please sign your organization on to the call!

Sameer will be in Portland and San Francisco next week for discussions on Iraq, immigration, the World Bank and IMF, U.S. foreign policy, and the future of the global justice movement in the U.S. Please come out and participate in the discussion around these vital issues. These events are fundraisers so please be generous! If you can’t make it but still want to support the Network, you can donate at http://www.50years.org/donate.html.

Walden Bello examines the World Bank's growing role in "reconstruction" efforts - through its involvement in disaster capitalism in Indonesia after the May 2006 quake. At the same time, Indonesia is cutting its ties to the IMF and repaying its debt to the fund.

As economists and politicians debate what to do about the latest challenges facing the IMF, civil society groups have a straightforward answer: take the IMF off life support.

Walden Bello of Focus on the Global South reports on strategy meetings held last weekend to discuss the future of international campaigning on the World Bank and IMF, coordinated by the 50 Years Is Enough Network and Focus on the Global South, and held at the Institute for Policy Studies.

Today, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank hold their annual joint meetings, leading healthcare advocates and IMF/World Bank critics called on the institutions to end policies that have ravaged the quality, availability, and accessibility of healthcare in impoverished countries.

"The officials talking about changes at the IMF at last recognize they have a dying institution on their hands, but they are trying to pretend the patient can be revived. The time has clearly come to pull the life-support plug and let the IMF die a natural death."

Sign-on statement delivered, along with banner drop, during a World Bank press event featuring Paul Wolfowitz today.

Citing numerous serious violations - including the promotion of policies such as health care privatization, budget caps, and foreign debt repayment - that have devastated the quality, availability, and accessibility of health care in impoverished countries around the world, health department inspectors have declared the IMF and World Bank a public health hazard.

An earlier version of this article appeared in Economic Justice News, Volume 8 No. 3, September 2005. We've updated it in advance of the 3rd anniversary of the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Today the IMF announced debt cancellation for 19 countries. 50 Years' response.

Join the 50 Years Is Enough Network, Jubilee USA Network, and Africa Action and tell the IMF not to be the Grinch Who Stole Debt Cancellation! Tuesday, 20 Dec 2005, Noon in front of the IMF (18th and H Sts, NW, DC).

TAKE ACTION!
Tell IMF country directors to keep the G8's promise! Send an email from Africa Action

The G8 debt cancellation deal approved this September by the boards of the IMF and World Bank is under threat at the IMF. TAKE ACTION!

The G8 debt cancellation deal approved this September by the boards of the IMF and World Bank is under threat at the IMF. Analysis from Soren Ambrose. TAKE ACTION!

The G8 debt cancellation deal approved this September by the boards of the IMF and World Bank is under threat at the IMF. Analysis from Soren Ambrose. TAKE ACTION!

Critics of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) say that further trade liberalization will not help poor countries, but will continue to impoverish and marginalize them in the global economy.

Analysis on the unveiling of the IMF's debt cancellation implementation. (50 Years Listserv)

IMF "shows the yellow card" in South Korea, recommends interest rate hikes.

Two new studies from the Social Justice Committee show World Bank and IMF control of economic and anti-poverty programs in Third World countries to be damaging to government, citizen efforts. (Social Justice Committee)

EU hopeful Romania says no to the IMF.

Sri Lankan government refuses IMF loan, opposes conditions (abolishing pensions, compulsory retiremet, and the privatization of water and several government agencies). (Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka))

Former World Bank president and deputy go to Citibank.

Chad's government seeks to gain access to oil revenues for immediate spending.

The World Bank has threatened to pull out of the controversial Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline if Chad's government decides to change the Bank-imposed revenue management law. Commentary from the 50 Years listserv and response.

Following Nigeria, it looks like Uganda will be the second country to enter a program under the fund's Policy Support Instrument.

Cameroon announces plans to privatize major state-owned enterprises, including the state airline, water utility, and telecommunications company as part of an IMF-backed program, with the aim of entering the highly criticized Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program. (Reuters)

Update on the activities around the fall 2005 IMF and World Bank joint annual meetings. (50 Years Listserv)

Recent UN report says IMF and World Bank policies threaten people's access to food. Click here for the full UN report in PDF. (Lanka Business Online)

Excerpt from a recent article in the New York Times on gold mining. Highlighted: the International Finance Corporation (IFC - the World Bank's private lending arm)'s involvement in gold mining. The article covers resistance to the Glamis Gold mine in Guatemala and the Bank's planned collaboration with Newmont (a US-based mining company currently under prosecution in Indonesia for a high-polluting mine there) in Ghana. The full story can be found here: http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/24/america/web.1024gold.complete.php (New York Times)

The Nigerian government okays IMF surveillance tool Policy Support Instrument (PSI). More on the PSI here. (Daily Trust (Abuja))

This memo from WB President Paul Wolfowitz, now circulating inside the World Bank, suggests that now that his first annual meetings are concluded, complete with several positive profiles in the mainstream media, Wolfowitz is now taking concrete steps to rid himself of his predecessor's team so he can install his own people. (50 Years Listserv)

Even setting aside the complex and entertaining Nicaraguan political scene, there is much of interest here in the article below. Many will no doubt remember Robert Zoellick as the U.S. Trade Representative until 6 or 8 months ago, a role he played with gusto. Now as the #2 at the U.S. State Dept he is playing a role that many U.S. diplomats before him have perfected: shameless interventionist in the domestic politics of Central America. (The Guardian)

Press release for September 2005 IMF/World Bank protests in Washington DC. (50 Years Listserv)

This report is in two parts. The first is a close reading of the G8 debt plan and some of the interpretations and proposals about the plan that have emerged since July. The second is an analysis of its implications.

World Bank staff may return to Iraq after operating from outside the country for months. (Washington Post)

Damning article and commentary on the IMF's role in creating famine in Niger. (Pambazuka)

From the Stop-IMF listserv: Provocative comments from the IMF, intriguing especially in light of Hurricane Katrina and the certainty that the US Congress will disregard the foolish advice from the IMF. (Sofia News Agency)

First a story from the Financial Times, followed by a press release and backgrounder from 3 Canadian groups leading the charge on this issue (Halifax Initiative, Friends of the Earth Canada, MiningWatch Canada)

Stories from Reuters and International Oil Daily with commentary.

From the World Rainforest Movement (Montevideo, Uruguay). This is from its April 2005 newsletter, a special issue on the World Bank and forests. See http://www.wrm.org.uy/bulletin/previous05.html#93 for more. (50 Years Listserv)

This June, G8 leaders promised 100% debt cancellation for 18 of the world’s poorest countries. Since then the agreement, which would provide these countries with desperately-needed resources for development goals, has faced reservations, concerns, and outright opposition from both the World Bank and the IMF.

WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (IPS) - Anti-debt campaigners leaked a document Tuesday showing that the World Bank is considering extending additional loans to countries eligible for a widely-publicised debt cancellation plan by the world's richest nations, a scheme that they say would defeat the purpose of the write-off.

At least 13 people were killed Wednesday in the Middle Eastern nation of Yemen in massive protests against fuel price increases that came as part of an economic reform programme promoted by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). (Interpress Service)

World Bank lending to developing countries rose last year by 2.2 billion dollars to 22.3 billion dollars on the back of renewed borrowing from middle-income countries, the Bank said Thursday. (Interpress Service)

Summary of and commentary on leaked IMF documents from several IMF executive directors that moved to attach IMF conditions to the G8 debt cancellation deal. From the European Network on Debt and Development (EURODAD). Excerpts from the leaked documents and response from the African EDs follows.

Wolfowitz strays from the traditional emphasis on foreign investment...

Op-ed by 50 Years director Dossani published ahead of the July 2005 annual meeting of the Group of 8 of the world's wealthiest countries. The original can be found at http://counterpunch.org/dossani07052005.html. (Counterpunch)

Sign-on letter from the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network, delivered at a press conference during the 2005 G8 meetings.

Article on IMF's plans to require Iraq to cut state subsidies (oil and food) to qualify for debt relief. (Middle East North Africa Financial Network)

The announcement by G8 Finance Ministers on June 11 of a deal to cancel debts claimed of 18 Global South countries by the IMF, World Bank, and African Development Bank (AfDB) represents a significant success for debt campaigners around the world.

Blogger Stephen Gowans' analysis of the Iraqi debt relief deal. (Stephen Gowans)

ACTON ALERT: Newmont Mining, the largest gold mining concern in the U.S., is attempting to block sales of IMF gold to fund debt cancellation.

Washington, DC Reporters & Photographers: Activists will be staging a theatrical event in Murrow Park (across from World Bank headquarters) at 9:30 am on Wednesday, June 1 - Pennsylvania Ave. & 18th St., N.W.

From the Common Dreams website, outgoing 50 Years Is Enough Network Director Njoki Njoroge Njehu and United for Peace & Justice National Coordinator Leslie Cagan have their say on Paul Wolfowitz's new job as president of the World Bank. (Common Dreams)

The ten-year reign of James Wolfensohn as president of the World Bank ends this week amidst growing global poverty and inequality, a significant backsliding by his institution in critical areas of environmentally sensitive programming, and a growing resistance in borrowing countries to the unbalanced economic policies imposed on them throughout Wolfensohn's tenure.

As we wait to hear what is really happening in Bolivia today, we can take heart from the new Ecuadoran government. Ecuadorean president opposes IMF's policy recommendations. (Associated Press)

IMF's new Policy Support Agreement targets countries that do not need nor want a more formal IMF program. Article and extensive commentary by Soren Ambrose. (Reuters)

We did a lot of work in the lead-up to the April 15/16 meeting of G7 Finance Ministers, and the IMF/WB spring meetings that followed them, in the hope that they would result in real progress toward a deal on multilateral debt cancellation for a large groups of impoverished countries. They did not.

New World Bank report details its involvement in pushing free trade on Central American governments, through financing CAFTA-friendly reforms.

As finance ministers of the Group of Seven (G-7) wealthy countries prepare to meet on Friday, ahead of this weekend’s IMF and World Bank meetings, civil society groups held a press conference today calling on the G-7 governments and the international financial institutions to support 100% multilateral debt cancellation for all impoverished countries with no harmful conditions attached.

WASHINGTON – Leading advocates of poor country debt cancellation will gather in a rally outside the G-7 Finance Ministers meeting this weekend to call for full debt cancellation for impoverished nations without harmful conditions.

Two hours ago, President Bush announced his nomination of Paul Wolfowitz, currently Assistant Secretary of Defense, to be the next President of the World Bank. The U.S., by tradition, nominates the World Bank President. Although the Bank’s Board of Governors must approve it, no nomination has ever been rejected.

Debt campaigners have identified 2005 as a potential breakthrough year. Beginning with the June 2004 G8 Summit in Sea Island, Georgia, the finance ministers of the most powerful countries of the world have been discussing 100% multilateral debt cancellation for a number of the world’s most impoverished countries.

The 50 Years Is Enough Network celebrates the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to a close ally and friend, Wangari Maathai of the Green Belt Movement of Kenya. (50 Years Is Enough listserv)

As the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank wound down, representatives from a broad range of organizations decided that the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector lending and investment arm of the World Bank, had not done enough to meet the terms of responsible engagement with civil society. They therefore elected to boycott a meeting that had been set up between them and IFC officials.

Report on results of the October 1 meeting of G7 finance ministers, where new debt proposals were discussed, and on the IMF/WB annual meetings. (50 Years Is Enough listserv)

The G7 and IMF/World Bank meetings fail to agree on proposals from the U.S. or U.K. for significant multilateral debt cancellation. (Washington Post)

A report on the vigil outside the 2004 IMF/WB annual meetings, plus an interesting item, also from the Post, suggesting that the meetings might move outside of Washington in the future. (Washington Post)

As part of its debt cancellation proposal, the U.S. was rumored to be suggesting a mechanism that would make official the IMF's oversight function over virtually all developing-country economies, even in the absence of lending programs. The proposal was given a cold reception at the IMF/WB meetings. (Dow Jones newswires)

Announcement of overnight vigil sponsored by 50 Years Is Enough and allies outside the IMF/World Bank annual meetings as proposals for debt cancellation were discussed. (50 Years Is Enough press release)

As the International Finance Corp. (IFC), the private sector lending and investment division of the World Bank Group, embarked on a controversial rewriting of its environmental (and other) standards, Brazilian NGOs walked out of a consultation on the subject after determining the talks were not being conducted in good faith. This action was followed a week later by the decision of NGOs attending the IMF/WB annual meetings to boycott an IFC consultation on the same subject, and fuelled talks of boycotts of other consultations scheduled for Europe, Africa, and Asia. (50 Years Is Enough listserv)

A report documents how rapid privatization of basic services, demanded by the World Bank, has curtailed access to water and more in Tanzania. (Guardian (UK))

In the run-up to the 2004 annual meetings of the IMF/World Bank and the G7 Finance Ministers meeting the same weekend (Oct 1-3), the US government proposes that 100% of the multilateral debts of 30+ countries be cancelled. Disagreements among the G7 countries about how to "finance" the cancellation threaten to derail this historic position on the part of the U.S. (Washington Post)

Activists and survivors of the 1982 massacre of 400 Guatemalans to make way for a WB-funded dam take over the dam site to demand compensation. (50 Years Is Enough listserv)

Activists from around the world sign an assertive and eloquent letter ot the IMF and World Bank demanding that they pledge not to use their influence over countries' budgets to inhibit them from accepting all possible aid to fight the HIV/AIDS crisis. (50 Years Is Enough listserv)

Indian civil society organizations announce organized opposition to the World Bank's Country Assistance Strategy for India. (50 Years Is Enough listserv)

When the new head of the IMF, Rodrigo Rato, visits the region of the first time, the presidents of Uganda, Kenya, and Malawi let him know how they feel about the IMF's treatment of their countries. (Monitor (Uganda))

The IMF's recently-established independent evaluation office determines that the IMF made serious errors in dealing with Argentina and its financial crisis of 2001 (and beyond). The Argentinian government responds by suggesting that the IMF take serious steps to demonstrate it will take responsbility for its actions. (Washington Post / Financial Times)

Picket at World Bank (18th & Pennsylvania, N.W.) Thursday, July 22, 2004 – 9 am

Public Protest Outside World Bank (18th & Pennslyvania, N.W) 8 am, Tuesday, July 20

Protesters stage a party in the WB lobby as staffers come to work. Why a party? 60 Years of Exploitation and High Living for Corporations & Investors! (50 Years Is Enough listserv)

The controversial new government in Haiti is not making its own economic policy -- instead a group of donors, including the World Bank, is. And they're doing it in secret, with no input from Haitians. (Inter Press Service)

Leave it to the World Bank to be "more Catholic than the Pope." When the EU starts to concede that the Global South should be able to retain tariffs, the WB steps in to scold them and remind them of the hardline market fundamentalist viewpoint: maximum liberalization everywhere now. (Reuters)

Press release issued jointly with Jubilee USA Network at end of Sea Island, Georgia G8 Summit

Press release issued at opening of G8 Summit in Sea Island, Georgia as rumors of a major deal on debt cancellation flew around (they proved unfounded, at least for now)

How things really get done at the IFIs (Texas Observer)

Denunciation of IMF selection process, quoted by news outlets such as AP and Reuters. (50 Years Is Enough listserv)

A report on the activities organized by the 50 Years Is Enough Network, Mobilization for Global Justice, and others parallel to the 2004 spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank. Also, analysis of developments at the official meetings and a selection of news articles on the events. (50 Years listserv)

Press advisory announcing 50 Years press conference during April 2004 mobilization

A surprise press release on the IMF website: 11 of the 24 members of the Board of Directors are calling for substantial reform in the way the next head is chosen (after Horst Koehler's March 4 resignation). The EU, which customarily selects the IMF Managing Director, is poised to nominate Spanish Finance Minister Rodrigo Rato, but will likely have to reconsider now. (50 Years Is Enough listserv)

Press reports and 50 Years's own speculation on the meaning of Koehler's departure to become President of Germany. (50 Years listserv)

50 Years letter blasts WB on Extractive Industries Review and calls for "early retirement" on the organization's 60th anniversary. (Financial Times)

For the second time in less than six months, the government of Argentina stood up to the International Monetary Fund -- and the IMF backed down. Last week the Fund approved the latest installment of its lending to Argentina, after having failed in its efforts to get a better deal for Argentina's private creditors. (Syndicated Column)

The news isn't that the debt relief program is failing, but that the IMF acknowledges it. (50 Years listserv)

50 Years press release for IMF/WB annual meeting in Dubai - Sept. 2003 -- calls for continuation of "spirit of resistance" from Cancun WTO meeting, and critiques WB report on privatization of basic services (50 Years listserv)

At the 2003 annual IMF/WB meetings in Dubai, environmental groups put out a report denouncing the World Bank's new "high risk/high reward" infrastructure strategy. (50 Years listserv)

The UNDP Human Development Report for 2003 is an unusually strong condemnation of neo-liberal development policies and lists the countries which are falling behind rather than making economic progress. (50 Years listserv)

Wall Street Journal article exposes World Bank's part in creating Ethiopian famine of 2002-03. (50 Years listserv)

Press release on 2003 G8 summit (Evian, France) (50 Years listserv)

Press release from World Council of Churches on declaration from Latin American churches calling on governments to repudiate international debt. (50 Years listserv)

Denunciation of U.S. calls for debt reduction for Iraq -- not the reduction, but the U.S. hypocrisy in ignoring other, more pressing cases. Also: details on actions for spring mobilization 2003 (50 Years listserv)

The World Bank should revamp its lending policies for mining, oil and gas projects to avoid corruption, mismanagement and poor economic performance spreading in countries that rely on such industries, says a confidential study by the Bank's internal review body. (Inter Press Service)

One of the most egregious of the PRSPs (the "participatory" plans governments are supposed to create with civil society organizations in order to qualify for structural adjustment loans) is that of Sri Lanka. As the country emerged from its brutal civil war, the IMF & WB tolerated a process in which no civil society organizations were explicitly consulted on the PRSP, and the final document called for wholesale changes in national laws in order to facilitate economic liberalization. Within weeks of the paper's publication, the government announced it would push for the passage of 36 pieces of legislation in a couple months' time to institute sweeping change. A civil society coalition came together to oppose the plans, and succeeded in stopping at least one-third of the legislation. This international alert was part of their campaign (please do not respond now). (50 Years listserv)

As the U.S. diverted attention by invading Iraq, the IMF released a report suggesting that globalization may hurt the poor -- a reversal of its position that the process, which its austerity conditions have facilitated, would ultimately be long-term gain for short-term pain. Now it appears to be all pain, no gain. (50 Years listserv)

A consortium of civil society organizations object to a WB conference on privatization which refuses to tackle the single most spectacular failure of the Bank's water privatization agenda: the revolt against Bechtel Corp. in Cochabamba, Bolivia. (50 Years listserv)

A second World Bank study demonstrates the false promises of the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) debt relief program of the IMF & World Bank. (50 Years listserv)

For years, the IMF & World Bank have been urged to give borrowing countries more voting power and leverage at the board level. The proposal made in 2003 was a lame effort -- and even that the U.S. government ultimately blocked. (50 Years listserv)

The popular movements in Bolivia begin uprising that will force Pres. Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada (Goni) to resign. IMF conditions are frequently cited as a cause for popular discontent. (50 Years listserv)

During 2002 Uganda was told by the IMF not to increase spending on health because doing so would pour too much money into its economy. Widespread ridicule of the IMF position did not cause the institution to budge, and in fact the World Bank joined the delusion. But the Ugandan government finally decided to put its people's health over the economic blinders offered by the IMF and World Bank. (50 Years listserv)

IMF refuses promised debt relief to countries on grounds that they are not privatizing fast enough (and other conditions). Another clear case of IMF prioritizing ideological commitment to neo-liberalism ahead of welfare of people in poor countries. (Inter Press Service)

News of a World Bank program (subsequently cancelled) which would "teach" people who already practice good hygiene how to wash their hands in order to avoid disease. Critics point to participation of Procter & Gamble, Unilever, & Palmolive in an area with an indigenous soap industry as the likely motivation for the superfluous program. (Water Observatory)

Prominent economists Joseph Stiglitz (winner of the Nobel Prize), Jeffrey Sachs, and Paul Krugman have broken the silence: the IMF is not wearing any clothes. Perhaps it should be put out of its (and our) misery altogether. (50 Years listserv)

The World Bank's own Inspection Panel finds multiple problems with the Chad-Cameroon pipeline. The project goes ahead anyway. (Financial Times)

Renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs calls for countries to repudiate debt in order to save their people's health. (50 Years listserv)

Report on the G8 Summit in Alberta, Canada, and associated activities, including the Global Justice Action Summit of activists the previous week, in Missoula, Montana (50 Years listserv)

Analysis and article on a legislative victory in the battle to use Congressional power to curb the multilateral development institutions from imposing user fees on health and education, and on calling for increased transparency at the institutions. (50 Years listserv)

Statement by African civil society organizations denouncing the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) (50 Years listserv)

Joint statement of peasants organizations and others from around the world critiquing the World Bank's "market-based" land reform model. (50 Years listserv)

The official verdict of the International People's Tribunal on Debt, held in Porto Alegre, Brazil at the 2002 World Social Forum, with a concluding session in Washington in April 2002. (50 Years listserv)

Press release announcing 50 Years Is Enough Network protest at the 2002 spring meetings of the IMF & World Bank (50 Years Is Enough Network)