About our Work

Global economic and political governance is closely linked to the role played by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (the Bretton Woods institutions (BWIs)) and the various regional development banks (RDBs) such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in shaping national economic policy, especially in debtor countries of the South. The conditionalities imposed by international and regional financial institutions constrain the economic policy tools that developing countries can choose from in pursuing their development objectives. Hence, any work on global governance must necessarily be linked to work relating to the global institutions that define and implement monetary, fiscal, debt, and development infrastructure policy.

There is a need to look more deeply at how these institutions’ agendas influence and are influenced by those of other global governance institutions and actors. More work needs to be done in building up analytical and advocacy capacity to look at the linkages that exist, analyze and critique these linkages, and come up with more pro-active suggestions on how such linkages can support developing countries' genuine development goals.

In particular, the Programme focuses on:

1. Reforms in the governance structures and processes of the BWIs and RDBs so as to make them more representative and transparent, both to Southern governments and civil society;
2. Changes in their structures and policies to enable them to better support and promote equitable and sustainable development patterns in the South;
3. Increasing the capacity and ability of the South and of global civil society to participate in decision-making processes and to evaluate the sustainable developmental impact of BWI and RDB projects and policies; and
4. Promoting or developing various conflict resolution, dispute settlement or grievance mechanisms in BWIs or RDBs with respect to both their policymaking processes and the impacts of their projects and activities, with a view to ensuring greater transparency and Southern participation therein.

Publications

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