“The World Bank is a Human Rights-Free Zone,” Says UN Special Rapporteur

Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty, recently released a report analyzing the World Bank‘s “confusing” treatment of human rights, and arguing for a new approach.  The strongly worded document charges that “in its operational policies, in particular, [the World Bank] treats human rights more like an infectious disease than universal values and obligations.”   The Special Rapporteur urges that the Bank President initiate a transparent process for developing a coherent human rights approach that incorporates economic, social and cultural rights.  The Special Rapporteur’s report will be presented to the UN General Assembly on October 23.

This report builds on previous efforts by Alston and other UN human rights experts, and NGOs.  In 2014, Alston addressed the issue head-on in a keynote address to the Nordic Trust Fund and in a Washington Post op ed.  Likewise, NGOs such as Human Rights Watch submitted commentary to the World Bank during its consideration of a new Environmental and Social Framework, urging it to be explicit in addressing human rights.

On September 30, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission highlighted the issue in a hearing on international financial institutions and human rights, at which Philip Alston testified.

The UN reports that Alston will “spend the next few weeks talking to the World Bank and its member states about his recommendations, before the official presentation of his report to the UN General Assembly in New York” — a positive sign after the World Bank President declined to meet with Alston in March.

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