Campaigners from all over the U.S. and abroad at the first ever U.S. Social Forum marked the June 30 expiration of the Presidential Trade Promotion Authority, also known as Fast Track, with cautious optimism.

President Bush’s announcement today of Robert Zoellick’s nomination for the position of World Bank President is, according to campaigners, a challenge to the World Bank’s board.

Ideologue Blinded by Self-Importance was “Appropriate Symbol” for Institution

As the World Bank’s Board of Directors takes further steps to censure World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz for granting a pay rise to his longtime partner, Shaha Riza, World Bank campaigners are demanding more than merely another U.S. replacement for Wolfowitz.

Advocacy Groups Demand the end of Wolfowitz’s presidency and accountability at the World Bank

"Corruption Cannot be Tolerated; World Bank President Must Resign"

“Imperialist Monetary Fund” to Call for Federal Sales Tax on Eve of IMF Meetings and of Annual Tax Filing Deadline

Institutions’ Edges Fraying as Finance Ministers Gather for Semi-Annual Meetings April 14-15

32 organizations demand institutions live up to gender equality commitment

by Norwegian Foreign Ministry

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

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.

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.

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."

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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.

Press release for September 2005 IMF/World Bank protests in Washington DC. (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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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

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)

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

Press advisory announcing 50 Years press conference during April 2004 mobilization

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)

Press release on 2003 G8 summit (Evian, France) (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)

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)

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