Access to Information and the World Bank

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Chad Dobson

Posted April 20, 2009 | 11:47 AM (EST)

BIO

Voices Struggling to Be Heard: Access to Information and the World Bank

The World Bank's Development Policy Loans, more dubiously known as "Structural Adjustment Loans" in the 1980s and 90s, present a cautionary tale of what can happen when policy is dictated in a vacuum of civil society input and how far reaching the effects of bad policy may be. In the name of fiscal responsibility, said loans prioritized debt repayment and fiscal austerity before development. Loan conditions were determined behind closed doors, oftentimes with only the finance ministers present while excluding ministers of education and health. Budget ceilings were placed upon health and education spending in an attempt to corral the national budget into what the Bank deemed appropriate, as a condition of the loan. The resulting damage to development cannot be overstated: AIDS-ravaged sub-Saharan Africa without the funds to hire and retain healthcare workers and schools without teachers, chalk or books. Many countries were forced to enact school fees to increase revenues, blocking education as an option for many of the poorest children, especially girls. Budgetary measures that directly and profoundly impacted the lives of many were decided by a scant few. (more)