Irish Campaigners Call on Minister Cowen to Stop Paying for Poverty

Press Release

For release 00.01, Monday 12th November 2007

Released by: Africa Centre, Comhlámh, Christian Aid Ireland, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland, Latin America Solidarity Centre and Trócaire.

 

Irish Campaigners Call on Minister Cowen to Stop Paying for Poverty

As a major World Bank meeting kicked off in Dublin today (Monday), justice campaigners called on Finance Minister Brian Cowen to stop paying for poverty.

The World Bank meeting, being held in Malahide, Co.Dublin today (Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday), will bring together the richest members of the World Bank to decide how much money to give to the International Development Association (IDA), the arm of the World Bank that lends to the poorest countries over the next three years.

Nina Sachau of Comhlamh commented, "Ireland has a major opportunity today to send a clear message to the World Bank that it must fundamentally change how it does business. It is unacceptable that the World Bank gives money to poor countries with one hand, but takes it away with the other through imposing what are often very damaging economic policy conditions."

Joanne Mc Garry of Trócaire added, "We are calling on Minister Brian Cowen, as Ireland's representative to the World Bank, to stop paying for poverty and to withold Ireland's aid from this round of negotiations at the World Bank unless the Bank ends the unacceptable practice of attaching economic conditions to its aid. Minister Cowen should instead channel this funding through other aid mechanisms that do not impose the same unreasonable demands on recipient countries."

The World Bank's practice of linking conditions to its loans and aid, means that when an aid package is agreed between the World Bank and a developing country, the bank includes a set of policy recommendations as conditions that are often legally required by the Bank before they will disburse funding. These economic policy recommendations have often had highly damaging effects on impoverished countries around the world.

Nessa Ní Chasaide of Debt and Development Coalition Ireland said, "Ireland has a comparatively good reputation internationally for delivering on our overseas aid spending obligations, and for supporting debt cancellation for poor countries. We are calling on Minister Cowen to stand up for the quality of Ireland's aid programme by ensuring an end to economic conditionality at the World Bank. This is a moral imperative if Ireland's commitment to ending global poverty and inequality is to be taken seriously."

For more information contact:

• Nessa Ní Chasaide, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland, Coordinator, 087-7507001
• Joanne Mc Garry, Trócaire, Aid & Accountability Policy & Advocacy Officer, 086 1716146
• Nina Sachau, Comhlámh, Campaigns and Policy Officer, 087-9590142
• José Antonio Gutiérrez, Latin American Solidarity Centre, Research and Development Officer, 086-3667673
• David McNair, Christian Aid Ireland, Policy and Advocacy Officer, 085-7105897

Notes to the Editor:

The World Bank has caused massive damage to the already suffering economies of developing countries. For example, in Mali, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) made their aid conditional on the privatisation of the electricity sector and the liberalisation and privatisation of the cotton sector. Liberalisation of the cotton sector has caused three million Malian farmers to endure a 20 per cent drop in the price they received for their cotton in 2005. This is disastrous as 90% of Malians live on less than US$ 2 per day. Even so, the World Bank ensured the withholding of aid from Mali on the grounds of its failure to privatise its cotton industry. To add insult to injury, private ownership of the Malian electricity company has resulted in minimal improvement in electricity coverage and spiralling of costs for poor people in Mali.

A recent study by the European Network on Debt and Development of recent World Bank lending to the poorest countries shows that while the overall application of World Bank conditionality is falling, economic policy conditions, especially in areas related to privatisation and liberalisation, still make up one quarter of all conditions applied by the Bank. See www.eurodad.org for the report entitled ‘Untying the Knots: How the World Bank is failing to deliver real change on conditionality'.

 

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NOTE TO EDITORS

Originally founded by returned development workers, Comhlámh (the name means 'solidarity') have been campaigning and educating for a more just and equitable world for thirty-one years. 

The Comhlámh Anti-Racism Project seeks to challenge Racism in Ireland through education, advocacy and awareness-raising. The project provides invaluable training, education, and information: in schools, community groups and amongst the general public. Comhlámh also advocate and campaign on public policy and consistently work to promote positive interculturalism in all aspects of Irish society. Through our Le Chéile Artists in Ireland Against Racism initiative we also emphasise the role of the arts in creatively challenging Racism in Irish society.  
For more information on our work or on this event, please contact Alice-Mary Higgins  at alicemary@comhlamh.org  or visit our website www.comhlamh.org