The Special Rapporteur, Raquel Rolnik, conducted a mission to the World Bank Group from October 26 to November 1st, 2010. The main purpose of the mission was to explore the relation between the policies and projects supported by the World Bank Group and the right to adequate housing.
During her visit, the Special Rapporteur met with staff of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) working in different sectors and regions, as well as with members of its Board. She also met with the secretariat of the Inspection Panel and with officials of the Independent Evaluation Group. The visit was preceded by consultations with non-governmental organizations and independent experts.
In January 2011 the Special Rapporteur presented a preliminary note on her mission to the World Bank Group. Click here to read it.
The preliminary note provided an overview of the relation between the policies and projects supported by the World Bank Group and the right to adequate housing. After receiving the World Bank’s comments on the preliminary note, the Special Rapporteur sent a letter to the World Bank requesting additional information, but she regrets that the bank did not reply to the letter or provided the additional information requested.
In the absence of this additional necessary information, and in light of the World Bank’s current two-year consultative process to review and update its environmental and social safeguard policies, the Special Rapporteur decided to focus her final report on the World Bank’s safeguard policy, the most timely of the issues she explored during her mission.
The report highlights the importance of incorporating human rights standards and obligations within the safeguards framework of the Bank. The report elaborates on particular aspects of the policies and operations of the International Development Agency (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) (referred to collectively as “the World Bank”) in terms of their implications for the right to adequate housing.
The Special Rapporteur urges the World Bank to consider the observations and recommendations made in this report in the current review process. She welcomes the commitment by President Kim at the October 2012 Annual General Meeting in Tokyo not to dilute the Bank’s safeguard policies and she recommends that the World Bank utilize the current review process to bring its safeguard policies into line with international human rights standards and strengthen its capacity to ensure effective implementation.
To read the report, click on the green button below.
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