October 8, 2001

Mr. James Wolfensohn
President
World Bank Group
1818 H Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20433

Dear President Wolfensohn:

We write to you today, regarding your commitment to an independent review of  the World Bank Group's support of extractive industries. In your statements in Prague you offered that the Bank Group would engage in a serious analysis  of the pros and cons of these industries, similar to the World Commission on Dams (WCD).

Why do the world banks insist on their hurricane cut?

The international financial institutions aren't letting a disaster stand in the way of debt repayment.

Derek MacCuish, Social Justice Committee of Montreal
 
As efforts get under way to rebuild the Central American countries hit by Hurricane Mitch, the international community faces an old dilemma. Should one deal with the devil, if there is some good in the outcome?

Thousands of people were killed in the hurricane. disaster, and most of the rest are now trying to patch their lives together in a context of profound poverty. They need food and medicine, clothing and shelter. People around the world understand this need, and are sending as much as they can, without hesitation.

June 29, 2001

In Canada, CASA is being undertaken by a Steering Committee of non-governmental organizations from a

In Canada, CASA is being undertaken by a Steering Committee of non-governmental organizations from a number of sector

In Canada, CASA is being undertaken by a Steering Committee of non-governmental organizations from a num

7 February 2001

President Gustavo NoboaPalacio de Gobierno
García Moreno 1043
Quito
Ecuador

Dear President Noboa:

We write to you as representatives of civil-society organizations concernedabout the impact of IMF- and World Bank-imposed structural adjustment programs around the world. We are alarmed by reports of violent suppression by your government of the legitimate public protests against the most recently implemented adjustment program in Ecuador. We urge you to cease this repression and to launch a national dialogue to find lasting solutions to the pressing economic and social problems confronting your country.

 
 
"Taxing Currency Transactions for Development"
January 2001
 

ABSTRACT

The Köln Debt Initiative: An Initial Response

In many ways, it can be seen as the end of the beginning, rather than the beginning of the end.-Roy Culpeper, President the North-South Institute

The Köln Initiative, measured by its rhetoric, is two steps forward, one step backwards. In reality we may not have moved much at all.- Derek MacCuish, Programme Coordinator, Social Justice Committee of Montréal

The Halifax Initiative, a broad-based coalition of Canadian non-governmental organizations, welcomed the desire to improve the HIPC Initiative by the G7 governments expressed in the Köln Debt Initiative. Unfortunately, this welcome is qualified by the concern that two major issues remain unresolved, so that the effort to lift the debt burden of the poorest countries remains insufficient. The welcome is also qualified due to a wariness of the gap between what the G7 may wish and what the IFIs may do.

The Halifax Initiative Coalition members include development, human rights, environment and church organizations. In Canada, it is the main voice for reform of the international financial institutions so that they better serve the poor.

Like many others, the Halifax Initiative Coalition initially extended a tentative welcome to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Process, hoping that the language of "country ownership" and "civil society participation" would, in time, result in some level of empowerment of people affected by IFI policies and programs.