Meeting to discuss World Bank’s investment policies

Goal is to propose analysis and studies on development in infrastructure in Latin American countries

This Thursday, April 19, Conectas will take part, together with other organizations, in the debate “Safeguards and the Country System in Development Financial Institutions”, to be held in Washington DC. The goal is to discuss measures to strengthen national systems for the protection of human rights and the environment.

Financing by multilateral banks now follows a new standard. Instead of being guided by a series of safeguards, with requirements that need to be observed in their investments, banks have now adopted the Country System. This new approach uses local legislation as the basis for verifying whether the defense of human rights and the environment are being observed.

However, there are flaws in the monitoring and oversight system both in Brazilian legislation and in the laws of other Latin American countries. The organizations hope that countries with advanced environmental protection practices can serve as an alternative to the set of rules proposed by the World Bank.

The meeting to discuss these issues will take place during the Civil Society Forum, a side event of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring Meetings that bring together the world’s main economic leaders in the U.S. capital. Conectas will be represented by Julia Cortez, a lawyer and fellow of the Development and Socioenvironmental Rights program. Organizations involved in the topic of environmental and social rights and indigenous peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean may also participate in the meeting, which will be held in partnership with Boston University.

 

EVENT

• Name: Safeguards and the Country System in Development Financial Institutions
• When: April 19, 2018
• Time: 4 pm
• Where: I Street – No. 1850, Room 12-250 – Washington (DC)
• Full program: click here