Friends of the Earth International
Campagna per la riforma della Banca
Mondiale
WORLD BANK PRESIDENT ENDORSES COMMUNITY
RIGHTS OVER OIL, MINING & GAS BUT
MANAGEMENT PREVENTS IMPLEMENTATION
Washington D.C. -- In the run up to the
World Bank's annual meetings, Mr James
Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, made
a historical statement in support of the
implementation of free prior and informed
consent (FPIC). FPIC was one of the main
recommendations of the Extractive Industries
Review [1] that was requested for decades by
thousands of indigenous peoples and civil
society.
However, during meetings with civil
society, Rashad Kaldany, Head of the Bank's
Oil, Mining & Gas Unit, refused to make
any such commitment. After six months of
questioning on the outcomes of the EIR, Mr
Kaldany was not able to confirm what
necessary reforms of human rights,
transparency, renewables, protected areas, or
consent processes would be proposed by the
Bank Management in June [2].
Jaroslava Colajacomo of Campagna per la
riforma della Banca Mondiale said:
"The management response must be a
concrete one. How to implement the
Extractive Industries Review's key findings
is the management's duty in order to allow
the board members to express an informed
position on the recommendations. Management
is diluting the recommendations into vague
and secretive processes that threaten a
political decision resulting in no serious
commitment."
Hannah Ellis, International Financial
Institutions Campaigner at Friends of the
Earth, commented:
"When will the World Bank accept rhetoric
must be replaced by genuine
commitments? The Bank claims it is not
powerful enough to implement the changes
required to ensure its mission of alleviating
poverty. After 60 years the World Bank is
still unable to define what poverty means,
let alone propose a solution. The Bank for
too long has been investing taxpayers' money
in the pockets of multinational corporations
at the expense of the poor and the
environment."
Contacts:
Jaroslava Colajacomo (in Washington D.C.)
00 1 202 297270
Hannah Ellis (in Washington D.C.) 00 1 202
4922154
notes
[1] The EIR, a two year independent
assessment of World Bank fossil fuel related
lending's potential to contribute to poverty
alleviation. For more information see
www.eireview.org
or
www.eireview.info
[2] World Bank board of executive
directors will decide on the EIR
recommendations in June or July.
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