UN Expert: “the World Bank is a human rights-free zone”

In a report to the UN General Assembly, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, characterizes the World Bank as a “human rights-free zone” and criticizes the institution’s current approach to human rights as “incoherent, counterproductive and unsustainable”. The report calls on the Bank to adopt a new approach to human rights, including mechanisms to support governments in incoporating human rights into development, and a due diligence policy to enable the Bank to adjust or reject projects that would otherwise lead to, or support, human rights violations. Read the full report here.

For more information visit the Bank on Human Rights coalition website: bankonhumanrights.org