Conditionalities
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.
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.
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.
Fact Sheet: Debt delays (December 2001)
After the IMF delayed the HIPC implementation for Nicaragua, here is the summary of other country cases, their social context, and delays in debt relief:
Two steps forward, one step back
Presentation by Derek MacCuish, program coordinator, Social Justice Committee, Montreal, and policy analyst, Halifax Initiative Coalition
