World Bank’s aid policy challenged

AS the World Bank meets in Dublin this week we, as Irish global justice organisations, would like to highlight our deep concerns about the often devastating impact of the bank’s practices on the lives of poor people throughout the world.

The World Bank meeting here in Ireland represents a crucial stage of the negotiations on the levels of funding that will be provided by the richest members of the bank to the International Development Association — the arm of the bank that lends to the poorest countries.

We are calling on Finance Minister Brian Cowen not to provide funding to this round of negotiations unless the World Bank commits to ending its practice of attaching economic conditions to its loans and grants.