Civil society groups have long been concerned about the negative impacts of IDB operations on the environment and on indigenous peoples, as well as on the prospects for genuine economic and democratic reform in the region.
IDB General Capital Increase
The Inter-American Development Bank’s Board of Governors met in 2009 to discuss a proposed 200% or $200 billion General Capital Increase (GCI). Civil society groups issued a set of recommendations urging donor countries, in particular the U.S. Government, to insist on stronger commitments to sustainability and evidence-based results before considering the Bank’s request.
In part due to civil society pressure, the IDB launched a GCI-9 consultation process on Sept. 8, 2009. An analysis by BIC summarized broad concerns with the IDB's poor track record and finds that the bank has consistently failed to comply on four of the six performance evaluation indicators outlined by U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner. To read the full report and the recommendations for reform on which a capital replenishment should be based, click the link below.
In response to its stakeholders, the IDB has scaled back its capital increase to between $50 and $100 billion, and have outlined a series of reforms in the areas of information disclosure; climate change and clean energy; risk management; gender; accountability; integration; and sustainability. To read the most recent (Feb. 18, 2010) IDB capital increase proposal, read the document below:
As the IDB nears the Mar. 19-23, 2010 Annual Meeting of its Board of Governors in Cancun, Mexico, the proposed "Better Bank" agenda in the GCI proposal has yet to demonstrate lessons learned since the last GCI in 1994. An IDB Evaluation on IDB-8 Guidance Implications for Future Capital Increase Agreements, found a remarkable persistence of problems that undermine accountability for results and suggest an operating misconception that learning has already been achieved. With 200 million Latin Americans continuing to struggle in poverty and the highest indices of inequality, 50 years and $110 billion in IDB lending have done surprisingly little to address these trends.
IDB at 50 Campaign:
The 50th Annual Meeting of the Board of IDB Governors held in the city of Medellin, Colombia from the 27 - 31st of March, 2009 was an occasion both for celebration by the Bank and for deep concern and rejection by a group of popular movements and social organizations throughout Latin America. Challenging the IDB to explain a half century of enduring inequality, civil society organizations from across Latin America confronted the IDB Governors Assembly in a series of alternative events.
Overview
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) was established in 1959 as a multilateral development finance institution whose mission is “to contribute to the acceleration of the process of individual and collective social and economic development of member countries in key areas of development.” The IDB is the largest multilateral public lender for Latin America, providing the region’s governments and private sector entities with:
- Loans, grants, and guarantees;
- Equity investments (via two affiliated bodies);
- Technical cooperation (interest-free loans); and
- Technical assistance for planning and implementing development projects and policy and sector reform programs
According to an agreement made by the Governing Assembly as part of the eighth replenishment of the Bank by the U.S. treasury, the IDB should also “prioritize social equality and the reduction of poverty, the growth of sustainable economy, the modernization of the state and regional integration.” Together with other multilateral development banks, the IDB is mandated to be a catalyst for sustainable social and economic development in Latin America.
However, civil society groups have long been concerned about the negative impacts the IDB’s operations have on the environment and on indigenous and traditional peoples, as well as on the prospects for genuine economic and democratic reform in the region. Through project monitoring, civil society organizations (CSOs) have been able to document that IDB-financed operations have contributed to widespread environmental and social damage, adversely affecting many of the region’s poorest and most vulnerable communities, the very groups on whose behalf the IDB claims to operate.
Visit BIC’s BICECA website for more information about IIRSA - the IDB's flagship regional infrastructure integration initiative and other problem projects.
This page was last modified on November 6, 2009