New set of rules for financial assistance, says World Bank
Posted on: 05/Aug/2015 11:02:22 AM
On Tuesday, the World Bank announced a new set of rules to receive financial assistance. The rules are on social and environmental lines. They will apply to all of its 188 member nations.
An official statement by the World Bank said that the draft has been under discussion for many years now. (The draft) represents a major step forward for the development lender that strengthens its protection of the environment and the world`s poor and vulnerable in its investment projects, said the Bank. The borrowing countries will now extend labour rights. This will include the rights to collective bargaining and freedom of association. This is the first time such a rule has been put forth. The Bank has also changed the environmental standards. Now, those actions that are meant to compensate for unavoidable biodiversity impacts lined to economic development, what it termed as `offsets`, will now be a last resort. The indigenous people of the areas affected by the projects will need to give free prior consent. If prior informed consent is not shown, the project will not proceed.
This move has created unrest in non governmental organisations. 19 civil society organisations including Oxfam and Human Rights Watch issued a joint statement, According to the statement, (The new rules are a) dangerous rollback in environmental and social protections... The proposed rules will vastly weaken protections for affected communities and the environment at the same time as the bank intends to finance more high-risk projects.
