Rapporteur participates in World Bank meetings in Washington

Between April the 19^th and the 23^rd, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Raquel Rolnik, was in Washington, United States, to participate in the Civil Society Policy Forum, part of the World Bank Spring Meeting, an event held annually by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The Civil Society Policy Forum is an open arena for the interaction between civil society organizations and the bank, bringing together organizations that permanently monitor the policies pursued by the institution and its economic, social and political impacts, including on human rights.

The Rapporteur was especially invited to discuss the review process of the World Bank safeguard policies (“The World Bank’s Safeguard Policies: review and update“), with which she has already been contributing. Moreover, since 2010, the Rapporteur has been closely following the World Bank’s policies that have a direct impact on the right to housing. At the time, Rolnik held a mission to the institution and, in 2011, presented a preliminary note on the visit. The Bank sent some comments on the note to the Rapporteur; however it did not answer the questions sent by her, preventing more dialogue from then on.

In 2012, after the beginning of the public consultation process on the revision and updating of the safeguard policies, the Rapporteur decided to take the opportunity to focus her work on the analysis of housing-related safeguards. In March, Rolnik presented the final report on the theme, highlighting the importance of incorporating the right to housing in all policies and lending  instruments of the bank. These proposals have also been officially submitted to the committee responsible for the safeguards review process.

At the meeting in Washington, in addition to presenting her proposals in the Civil Society Policy Forum, Rolnik met with the reviewing commission and with some of the Executive Directors of the Bank’s board.

The time for public consultation for the safeguards review was closed at the meeting. In the upcoming months, the responsible commission will prepare a report to be referred to the Committee on Development Effectiveness (Code) from the Bank’s board. At the event, the Rapporteur had the opportunity to talk not only about the safeguards review, but also on the need to incorporate a wide human rights perspective throughout the Bank’s policy.

Incidentally, during the event, there was a protest against a programme funded by the World Bank in Ethiopia, which is not subject today to the safeguards. This programme has been provoking mass evictions of some ethnic groups. The Rapporteur also had the opportunity to talk about housing policies and the impacts of financial reforms on housing rights. After the event, she participated in a  civil society seminar on involuntary resettlements as well.