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The proof of the pudding will lie in the eating: reflections from the IMF/World Bank Civil Society Forum and Annual Meetings

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by Mandeep Tiwana, Policy and Advocacy Manager, CIVICUS

CIVICUS actively participated in the International Monetary Fund/World Bank Civil Society Forum and Annual Meetings from October 8-13. Some key activities that CIVICUS engaged in were: moderating the CSO town-hall meeting with the heads of the IMF and World Bank; participating in the CSO interaction with the World Bank Managing Directors; hosting a workshop on assessing an enabling environment for civil society; and contributing to discussions in workshops at the civil society forum.

During various meetings and interactions with World Bank and IMF staff, CIVICUS sought to seek answers to two critical questions:

First, the Arab Spring and pro-democracy movements around the globe have shown that development without freedom is meaningless. It is increasingly clear that economic stability and political freedoms are deeply entwined and that a vibrant civil society is a way to achieve both. How can multi-lateral institutions and their member governments collectively protect and promote a civil society enabling environment?

Second, pro-democracy protests, occupy movements and anti-corruption demonstrations have highlighted people’s frustration with governments ignoring their social contract with citizens and increasingly outsourcing the provision of basic services to the private sector at an enormous price to society as a whole. Yet, the language of public-private partnership continues to be touted as the panacea for all development. How do we ensure action on peoples’ demand for greater accountability from governments and the private sector?

Although, the opportunity to raise the issues directly with the leadership of the two institutions is a positive development, there still remains much ground to be covered for civil society to be able to translate its access to decision makers into actual impact on the ground. A major stumbling block is the inability of the World Bank to adopt a rights-based approach to development which is holistic and promises progress on civil and political freedoms along with social and economic development. Because of this, far too many authoritarian regimes that actively persecute peaceful political opponents and civil society members manage to use continued World Bank support as a crutch to legitimise their repressive actions.  The situation is further exacerbated when public praise is forthcoming from the World Bank for controversial leaders for the results they have achieved on economic indices without taking into account the price society pays for the repression unleashed by them.

From a civil society perspective, the World Bank could be proactively using its influence to support projects on democratic governance and nation building including by engaging its partner governments on creating an enabling environment for civil society. A proliferation of restrictive laws, regressive public policies and incidents of active persecution of human rights defenders in all regions of the globe are undermining the promises made by world leaders at the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea at the end of 2011. The Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (BPEDC) negotiated by multiple stakeholders commits donor and partner governments to guarantee an enabling environment for civil society in line with international human rights standards. As a major provider of development assistance, it is critical that the Busan commitment to an enabling environment for civil society is championed by the World Bank.

From IMF’s side there was a lot of anxiety expressed about the global economic recession and the need to create employment opportunities ostensibly through greater support for the private sector. Justification was also offered by the IMF head on the issue of support for removal of government subsidies on the grounds that large part of the benefits derived from subsidies are actually siphoned off by the wealthy with the poor only managing to get a disproportionate benefit from them. It was explained that IMF’s research concludes that in the long run, removal of subsidies is good for national economies.

From civil society’s perspective, while there was a lot of talk by the IMF and World Bank about the need to promote private sector investment to create jobs, there was barely any conversation about the need to protect people particularly those lower down the food chain from the havoc wreaked to their livelihoods and savings from corporate excesses, the kind of which precipitated the current economic crisis. The near absence of any telling debate on the UN Framework on Business and Human Rights is deeply troubling. Additionally, if the IMF wishes to prevent undue benefits from government subsidies accruing those who are profiting from them, then it must prescribe closing the loopholes in that regard but still find a way to protect the poor through targeted subsidies as they bear the brunt in times of economic hardship. Governments have a responsibility towards the vulnerable and marginalised people of society which they must not abdicate. Finally, a cautionary note needs to be sounded on the much touted benefits of public-private partnership which often result in higher costs being incurred by the public to access basic services such as health, education, transport, policing etc.

Overall, there were few reasons to celebrate as the meetings took place in an anxious atmosphere about the negative impacts of the economic downturn in the global economy.  Nevertheless, there were some important milestones achieved that deserve acknowledgment. One of these is the Open Aid Partnership developed by the World Bank Institute that enables citizens’ access to information about World Bank supported projects in their countries which can be a powerful tool for active citizen engagement. The IMF’s support for the introduction of the Financial Transaction Tax, which will raise significant funds to be channeled towards development is another positive development. Perhaps, in response to the public outcry over unprecedented levels of inequality in societies around the world, resolve was expressed to “end poverty and create shared prosperity”. Delegates were invited to share their views in this respect. Lastly and significantly, there was an across the board acknowledgement of the need to focus energies on ensuring gender equality and addressing climate change. The proof of the pudding, of course, will lie in the eating.


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