Catherine Sasman
19 October 2007
Windhoek — The Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) coalition is preparing high profile action in Washington as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) prepare for their annual meetings there over the weekend.
The coalition will demand greater transparency, accountability and democratic governance in the way the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) are run.
Its presence will be significant with meetings, press conferences, photo stunts and a Poverty Requiem performance, articulating specific demands for justice as expressed by civil society organisations.
"For over six decades, the IMF and the World Bank have used their influence to exert control and restructure societies in the global South, serving the economic and political agenda of the few wealthy nations that control these institutions," said the GCAP.
"The effect on poor people's lives, the environment, economies, as well as political structures in the South has often been devastating, generating a massive protest from civil society alliances, such as GCAP, against these institutions."
GCAP's three co-chairpersons, Kumi Naidoo (Secretary General of CIVICUS in South Africa), Ana Agostino (from Uruguay), and Sylvia Borren (Executive Director of Oxfam Novib in The Netherlands) will be in Washington as spokespersons.
"In recent years the World Bank and IMF have declared themselves to be champions of poverty reduction and good governance," said Naidoo.
"However, they persist in ignoring the priorities and demands of developing countries in everything from the appointment of new chiefs to the conditions attached to agreements. Countries in the South need to have a say at least in decisions that will have long-lasting consequences for them. Today, we are saying that we cannot ignore millions of voices around the world calling for reform."
Oxfam International called on World Bank President Robert Zoellick and IMF head, Rodrigo de Rato, to put health and education for the poorest countries on their agendas.
"The World Bank has a role to play to tackle poverty and help countries deliver services that will lift millions out of poverty. The Bank should be working with developing countries to provide free heath care and education for all their citizens. There is still a need for six million more teachers, doctors and nurses in the developing world. This staffing crisis needs to be addressed today," said Elizabeth Stuart of Oxfam International.
"Zoellick has his work cut out from the start," she said.
"The Bank has been attacked from all sides lately, and now is facing more competition than ever as Africa looks to Beijing rather than Washington. He must act now to build a Bank that delivers poverty reduction rather than the usual blueprint of more privatisation and market opening."
Stuart said donors should fill the Bank's coffers, but should insist that it "radically" changes the way it operates.
"Some 85 percent of all the Bank's loans still require countries to privatise," she said, adding that the Bank should explore innovative ways, such as tax on carbon emissions, to raise the necessary U.S.$50 billion to fight climate change.
"This must be in addition to current aid promises," she insisted.
Oxfam International went on to say that IMF's de Rato will be leaving the Fund at the end of this month, "after promising more than three years ago to reform the institution".
"Mr de Rato leaves the IMF without having delivered the meaningful reform so vitally needed. The way the Fund is run has to change so that all developing countries, including the poorest, have a voice inside it. What has been suggested so far comes short of the long-overdue reforms that are needed," Stuart said.
She added: "In terms of its credibility, this is the Fund's last chance to prove it can still play a legitimate role in the globalised world, including the poorest countries.
Many countries have already rebelled against the IMF's strictures and the institution needs to change or get used to the sidelines."
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