SAPs
Section Articles
CSO Common Statement on the Norwegian Conference on Conditionality
On the eve of a meeting convened by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Oslo to discuss the issue of World Bank and IMF conditionality, CSOs from these countries have drafted a common statement on the issue. The meeting on November 28 and 29 will bring together government officials from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom (and up until last night, Canada!) and CSOs from the North and South. The Halifax Initiative will attend.
Two Reports - Driving under World Bank and IMF Influence (October 2005)
Two reports, prepared in 2005 by the Social Justice Committee, look at the role of the World Bank and the IMF in Guyana and Senegal, highlighting how excessive control of the institutions over development plans undermines democracy and the programs themselves.
At the Table or in the Kitchen? (September 2004)
The Halifax Initiative Coalition and the Canadian Council for International Co-operation have co-authored the report "At the Table or in the Kitchen? CIDA's New Aid Strategies, Developing Country Ownership and Donor Conditionality," which seeks to understand the implications of three converging elements in CIDA's implementation of its 2002 policy the agency's reliance on PRSPs to define country priorities for poverty reduction, its support for program based approaches to deliver increasing aid budgets for poverty reduction, and its increased coordination with the World Bank and other major donors in these PBAs.
Impoverishing a Continent: The World Bank and the IMF in Africa (July 2004)
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are the two most powerful institutions in global trade and finance. Since 1980, the United States government which dominates both bodies has used them to economically subjugate the developing world. The World Bank and the IMF have forced Third World countries to open their economies to Western penetration and increase exports of primary goods to wealthy nations. These steps amongst others have multiplied profits for Western multinational corporations while subjecting Third World countries to horrendous levels of poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, illiteracy and economic decline. The region worst affected has been Africa.
Water, Land, Labour: The Impacts of Forced Privatization in Vulnerable Communities (June 2003)
"Water, Land, and Labour: The Impacts of Forced Privatization in Vulnerable Communities" The World Bank and the IMF have used their considerable power to force countries to privatize natural and public resources. This report documents some of the impacts, ranging from reduced access to essential services, loss of jobs and increased corruption.
Going beyond HIPC (June 2003)
Going Beyond the HIPC Initiative: Another Pathway to Achieving Freedom from the Burden of Debt (June 2003).
Issue Brief: Conditions for debt relief (May 1999)
The World Bank and IMF adopted new rhetoric about reducing poverty, and linking debt relief primarily to poverty actions in the fall. But countries entering the debt relief process are still facing the same old conditions that have nothing to do with poverty reduction, and can actually increase the hardships of the poor.
Letter to Ecuadorian President Noboa (Feburary 2001)
We write to you as representatives of civil-society organizations concerned about the impact of IMF- and World Bank-imposed structural adjustment programs around the world. We are alarmed by reports of violent suppression by your government of the legitimate public protests against the most recently implemented adjustment program in Ecuador.
PRSP Review Submission (June 2000)
The Halifax Initiative Coalition members include development, human rights, environment and church organizations. In Canada, it is the main voice for reform of the international financial institutions so that they better serve the poor. Like many others, the Halifax Initiative Coalition initially extended a tentative welcome to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Process, hoping that the language of "country ownership" and "civil society participation" would, in time, result in some level of empowerment of people affected by IFI policies and programs.
Excerpts from a letter sent to the IMF & WB (July 1999)
Excerpts from a letter sent to: Tom Bernes, Executive Director for Canada, International Monetary Fund and Terrie O'Leary, Executive Director for Canada, World Bank
The IMF's Structural Adjustment Programme for Canada 1994-1995 (December 1995)
This report outlines the Structural Adjustment programs that Canada must adhere to governed by the IMF.
