Bretton Woods Update No.36 September/October 2003

Interim report on the evaluation of the Integrated Framework

News|6 August 2003

Interim report of evaluator Capra International to the heads of agencies of the Integrated Framework for trade-related technical assistance 10 July 2003 in Washington. read article...

Meeting with NGOs over DFID strategy on World Bank

News|28 August 2003

Notes from a 5 August 2003 meeting between DFID and numerous UK NGOs over plans to draft a new institutional strategy for working with the World Bank. read article...

World Bank social and environmental policies: abandoning responsibility?

Briefing|12 September 2003

The World Bank is planning a controversial major overhaul of its ten social and environmental policies. read article...

IFC decision pending on controversial Haiti free trade zone

News|11 September 2003

The Board of the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private-sector arm, is in the final stages of approval for a loan for development of the first of a series of proposed free trade zones along the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. read article...

PRSPs: ‘Political space’ at whose expense?

News|12 September 2003

New papers argue that PRSPs do not widen the range of policy options for governments and may undermine existing democratic structures. read article...

The myths and dangers of PRSPs

by Demba Moussa Dembele

Comment|8 September 2003

The myths of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers - that they are nationally owned, pro-poor, and poverty-reducing - should be debunked. read article...

Controversial extractives review nears endgame

News|11 September 2003

read article...

Bank silent on corporate corruption in Lesotho

News|8 September 2003

Controversy over the call for debarment of a Canadian contractor is proving a litmus test of the Bank's commitment to apply the same standards to corrupt Northern companies as it does to Southern governments. read article...

The World Bank and conflict

Inside the inst|12 September 2003

Given the recent discussion on the potential roles for multilateral agencies in Iraq, how does the World Bank operate in post-conflict situations? read article...

IMF’s response to crisis “inadequate”

News|12 September 2003

A new report by the IMF Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) highlights mistakes in the handling of three major financial crises in the late 1990s (Indonesia, Korea and Brazil). read article...

‘Real World Economic Outlook’ challenges IMF economics

News|4 September 2003

A counter-report to the IMF's bi-annual World Economic Outlook has been prepared by a UK thinktank. read article...

Activist manifesto on global institutions

News|10 September 2003

read article...

World Bank announces renewed big infrastructure push

News|8 September 2003

The World Bank President has pledged that the Bank will revive its support for megaprojects and a new report expresses serious concerns about the Bank's track record in this area. read article...

Bank review criticises power sector performance

by Navroz Dubash

News|8 September 2003

A critical review of the Bank's energy programmes yields interesting insights but the proposed follow-up appears to be business-as-usual. read article...

Gender at the World Bank: an uphill battle

News|12 September 2003

Assessment of progress in the implementation of the World Bank's gender strategy. read article...