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Monday, August 24, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Eye on the IFIs
DEVELOPMENT: Food Summit Agrees Greater Liberalisation
The three-day world summit called by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation to respond to the food crisis ended with plans and pledges – and a new push to liberalisation.DEVELOPMENT: Blessed and Cursed by Water
Millions of people are threatened by poor, unreliable, or non-existent water resources, and climate change could make things worse. IPS looked at some of the issues before participants at a World Bank conference on water and sanitation issues held in Oslo last week.FINANCE: IMF “Cure” for Food Crisis Also a Cause
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it is responding to the global food crisis by doling out new emergency loans to 15 of the world's poorest nations, mostly in Africa.HEALTH: World Bank Shifting Gears on AIDS in Africa
The World Bank says it is recalibrating its financing for anti-AIDS efforts in Africa, which shoulders more than two-thirds of the world's HIV/AIDS burden.
DEVELOPMENT: Food Crisis Symptom of Dubious Liberalisation
The high food prices that have sparked riots in many parts of the developing world - from Indonesia, India and Bangladesh to Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire and Haiti - should come as no surprise. These are only the latest in a series of events many developing countries have suffered as a result of opening their borders and neglecting domestic agriculture.DEVELOPMENT: NGOs Pressure AsDB to Strengthen Safeguards
Behind-the-scenes lobbying by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) paid off by the end of the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) concluding here Tuesday. Leading financial officials from a host of European countries came out in favour of the strong "safeguard policies" that activists are championing.DEVELOPMENT: AsDB Soliciting Private Investments
When he was not attending seminars at a conference centre in the Spanish capital, the Asian Development Bank’s (AsDB) Seethapathy Chander was trying to broker deals to attract European investors to developing regions of Asia.ENERGY: World Bank, IFC Seek Investors in Off-Grid Africa
An international campaign to bring modern lighting to one-fourth of Africa's people enters a new phase this week with talks to draw investors to markets beyond the reach of the continent's outdated power grid.DEVELOPMENT: Food Crisis Rises To Forefront At AsDB Sessions
Three words - high food prices - emerged like a gatecrasher at an event hosted by the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) here that was originally billed as a celebration of the bank’s new vision for poverty eradication in Asia.EUROPE: Tax Havens Cheating the Poor
Tax havens in Europe are depriving poor countries of more money than they receive in development aid, it has been alleged.ECONOMY: IMF Reforms Itself, A Little
The poor have been given a little more say in the IMF. It is still a small step, but the biggest such in the last 60 years.FINANCE: World Bank "Playing Both Sides of Climate Crisis"
A new study released by an independent policy think tank casts further doubts on the World Bank's ability to stay neutral in the global politics of climate change.ECONOMY: From the IMF and World Bank, Visions of Gloom
The United States will fall into recession this year, dragging down global economic performance for the next two years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday.ECONOMY: More U.S. Banks Agree to Stall Home Repossessions
A coalition of U.S. mortgage banks said Tuesday that they would join a nationwide effort to stem a rising tide of home repossessions.ECONOMY: IMF Sees Worst Downturn in Years
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has again cut its forecast for world economic growth and is bracing for more bad news in rich and poor countries, but it stopped short of using the word "recession" Tuesday.HEALTH: World Bank, India Confront Corruption
Indian health projects are under the microscope following revelations of fraud and corruption in five ventures backed and overseen by the World Bank.ECONOMY: Global Prospects Pinned on Developing World
The world is entering its second straight year of a U.S.-led economic slowdown but resilient developing economies are cushioning the effects, the World Bank said Wednesday in a report portending pain for the poorest.FINANCE: Watchdog Faults IMF Loan Conditions
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) continues to burden its borrowers with superfluous demands despite efforts to streamline loans, an internal watchdog has found.FINANCE: Prickly Peru Gas Project Gets Key Loan
The Inter-American Development Bank approved key financing Wednesday for a Peruvian bid to become an exporter of gas, over the objections of environmentalists and indigenous people's advocates.FINANCE: Record Support, Some Quibbles for World Bank’s IDA Fund
Donors have promised the World Bank record sums to spend in the poorest countries from next year, largely overlooking concerns that the global lender uses the money for political purposes.CLIMATE CHANGE: World Bank Touts Funds, Critics Smell Hot Air
The World Bank is seeking money for a scheme aimed at making it more lucrative to preserve the world's forests than to fell them.« Previous Page — Next Page »
They underpin the world's financial architecture, with the power to revamp whole economies and channel billions of development dollars each year. But the so-called International Financial Institutions -- the World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund and regional investment banks -- face a new era of public scrutiny and challenges to their relevancy. How are the IFIs responding to growing demands from the South and civil society groups for greater democracy and accountability? And are they living up to their stated mission of promoting economic prosperity for all? IPS reports.
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