US Congresswoman Urges World Bank Moratorium on Water Privatisation

As the World Bank ends its annual Spring meeting, civil society activists are increasing the pressure against privatization. In the USA, the NGO Corporate Accountability International worked with Congresswoman Gwen Moore, Senior Democrat on the Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, which is tasked with oversight of the World Bank Group (WBG).

In this capacity, Ms. Moore wrote to World Bank President Jim Yong Kim to critique the WBG and its private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) over its policies and lending practices that favour water privatisation.

Ms Moore pointed to serious conflicts of interest in these practices, and suggested that the WBG “cease promoting privatization of water resources until there has been a robust outside evalutation of the IFC conflicts policy and practices.”

PSI General Secretary Rosa Pavanelli welcomed this initiative:

We congratulate Congresswoman Moore for her willingness to pressure the World Bank and we expect a serious response from President Kim. For too long, the Bank has imposed the privatisation dogma on many countries, without seriously assessing the impacts on public health, and on social and economic development. PSI will share this with our affiliates and encourage them to support similar initiatives such that Ms. Moore’s voice is not the only one.