Bali, Indonesia –“The International Monetary Fund-World Bank’s (IMF-WB) policies and programmes are culpable of the massive displacement, high cost of commodities and other human rights violations to indigenous peoples, rural folk, workers, migrants, women, youth, and other sectors.” asserts Beverly Longid, Co-Chair of the CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE). The civil society platform also raised concern over the erosion of the role of the public sector due to the emphasis on private sector involvement in IMF-WB development policies.
“We are linking arms with peoples of the world who came here in Bali to express their discontent towards IMF-WB and call for reclaiming their rights and future,’ says CPDE Co-Chair Vitalice Meja.
The march coincides with the opening of the IMF-WB Group Annual Meetings, the largest gathering of Central Bank governors and Finance Ministers from all over the world. The high level meetings will be held in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia from October 8 to 14.
“Both the World Bank and IMF remain significantly influential institutions in crafting pro-corporate development models and aggressively facilitating free market policies in developing countries,” Longid says.
In the IMF-WB Annual Meeting, the agenda is to advance the implementation of Maximising Finance for Development (MFD) as the “new diagnostics.’
“For official development assistance, this means the use of public finance to leverage private sector investment to finance development and public goods. In addition, private sector financing are investments driven by corporations, wherein their interests often do not coincide with the goals of sustainable economic development,” adds Meja.
Finally, Longid reiterates that, “Financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank enable this reality of corporate interests over people-centered development.”
CPDE will be holding forums and public events in Bali to tackle effectiveness and accountability of private financing and to discuss effective development cooperation principles in private sector development financing.
The civil society delegation will also participate in the Peoples’ Global Conference against IMF-WBG, an independent initiative of peoples’ movements and civil society to register their resistance against IMF-WB’s corporatization of development.#
For reference, kindly contact comms@csopartnership.org