The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is under pressure to better protect workers, citizens, and the environment when investing in countries with questionable human rights records.
Also in today’s edition: Criticism of the European Union’s new agreement on Ukraine aid, U.S. lawmakers slam UNRWA, and we look at Africa CDC’s funding issues.
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EBRD under pressure
Is EBRD’s environmental and social policy fit for purpose? The question is being hotly debated in light of complaints around some of its projects.
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A $70 million scheme three years ago to modernize cotton production in Uzbekistan was hailed for the “economic opportunities for the local population,” but ended up triggering an official complaint alleging illegal land confiscations, exploitative contracts, mass firings, and union-busting, writes our U.K. Correspondent Rob Merrick. Another project, a silver mine in Bosnia and Herzegovina in which EBRD bought a 2.6% stake, faces allegations of “serious damage” to natural resources, including forest-cutting and pollution of drinking water sources, despite the implementing company’s promise of “the highest environmental and social standards.”
The controversies come as the London-based bank carries out regular consultations before implementing a fresh policy document a year from now. EBRD argues its current practices are “robust and ambitious,” while the companies involved in the projects have denied the allegations.
Still, a group of six international civil society organizations, led by CEE Bankwatch Network, have seized the moment to push for significant changes to the policy and argue that EBRD fails to take proper responsibility for projects it co-funds and is not transparent about their impacts.
Read: EBRD under pressure over human rights complaints
Deal for diversion
On Tuesday, we told you about anger brewing over the European Union’s plan to divert €2 billion ($2.16 billion) from its development budget to pay for tougher border defenses against irregular migration. Details are still emerging about the deal — agreed today despite a protest that has now gained some notable allies.
Three former E.U. commissioners joined NGOs and European Parliament members in demanding the plan be scrapped, warning the bloc’s “credibility as a global actor” is at stake.
An article penned by the ex-commissioners — including Pascal Lamy, a former director-general of the World Trade Organization — accused member states of trying “to rip up the rulebook,” because EU law states unused funds must not be diverted but “retained for and reinvested in their original purpose.”
The plan “signals danger at every corner” the former commissioners argue, adding: “instead of increasing resources in the face of existing and emerging crises the EU seems more likely to turn its back to look inwards, at the time the world needs it most.”
After the agreement was made public, ONE Campaign EU Director Emily Wigens told Devex that the move is “irresponsible and shortsighted, declaring that “the EU has decided to turn its back on global action in order to pay for internal priorities like migration control.”
Stay tuned for Rob’s coverage of the agreement’s implications for development in the coming days.
The 7-year crunch
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has its seventh anniversary this week. Launched in 2017, the organization has come a long way in its effectiveness and scope of responsibilities. But it still struggles to finance growth, writes Senior Reporter Sara Jerving.
It has lofty goals, with Director-General Jean Kaseya setting an annual budget of at least $1 billion at a ceremony celebrating its birthday. It has already mobilized more than $2.4 billion from over 200 institutions, he says.
During the pandemic, it played a pivotal role in leading the continent’s response and has since been on a path toward achieving greater autonomy from the African Union, which includes a new governance structure, and boosted staff numbers from 11 people to over 260, according to Kaseya. But he admits that inadequate funding and limited human resources have challenged the agency.
“This past year, Africa CDC was not able to meet the increasing needs of member states to effectively respond to outbreaks nor was it able to implement programmes to strengthen public health systems sufficiently,” according to a blog post in the Center for Global Development written by two of the agency’s staff.
Read: Inadequate funding strains Africa CDC's growth (Pro)
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Deepening controversy
U.S. lawmakers blasted the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, this week, just days after Israel alleged that 12 of the agency’s employees were involved in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.
Devex Reporter Elissa Miolene watched a briefing in the U.S. Congress, where members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs — along with senior officials of multiple other organizations — described UNRWA as “riddled with terrorism,” fueled in part by U.S. taxpayer dollars. An Israeli intelligence briefing found 10% of UNRWA’s 12,000 members of staff have links to Islamic militant groups, adding fuel to a long-burning fire against the agency.
“America can finally see what many of us here have seen for years and decades,” said U.S. congressman Scott Perry, who has unsuccessfully tried in the past to defund UNRWA. “This absolutely must end, and must end now.”
Last week, the United States temporarily halted UNRWA funding, with the United Kingdom, Germany, and other countries quickly following suit. Now in the fourth month of the Israel-Hamas war, the agency has been left scrambling — and both lawmakers and aid agencies are expressing outrage, albeit for very different reasons.
At least 27,500 people have died in Gaza since Israel’s counteroffensive began, according to unconfirmed reports from Gaza’s Health Ministry, including 152 UNRWA employees. Meanwhile, Devex Senior Editor Tania Karas interviewed Michael Fakhri, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food, who told her that while famine has not yet been declared in Gaza, it’s “imminent.”
“If the funding suspensions are not reversed we may see a complete collapse of the already restricted humanitarian response in Gaza,” warned two dozen aid organizations, including Save the Children, Oxfam, and the Norwegian Refugee Council, in a recent statement.
The decision to cut UNRWA's funding, the agencies said, was “reckless” — but during the congressional hearing, many U.S. lawmakers said it hadn’t come soon enough. Congressman Brian Mast, Republican chair of the Oversight and Accountability Committee, said it would soon introduce legislation to “claw back any recent dollars” provided before the funding halt. Mast also introduced a bill Monday calling for UNRWA to be disbanded and, according to the text of the bill published on Mast’s official website, replaced by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR.
“I want to call not just into question what we spend on UNRWA, but on the United Nations in general,” said Republican Rep. Rich McCormick. “I’m very much in favor of ceasing all spending until they get their stuff straight.”
Read: Why famine is 'inevitable' in Gaza — and what's next
ICYMI: UN relief workers accused of participation in Hamas massacre
+ Explore all our coverage of the humanitarian fallout of the war in Gaza.
In other news
The International Monetary Fund approved the latest review of its $44 billion program with Argentina, paving the way for $4.7 billion to be immediately disbursed. [France 24]
The Asian Development Bank pledged a record amount of $9.8 billion in climate finance last year to help member countries in Asia and the Pacific reduce greenhouse gas emissions. [ADB]
UNHCR reported nearly 8 million people displaced by war in Sudan and urgently called for additional support due to a chronic shortfall in funds. [Al Jazeera]
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About the author
Helen Murphy
Helen is an award-winning journalist and Senior Editor at Devex, where she edits coverage on global development in the Americas. Based in Colombia, she previously covered war, politics, financial markets, and general news for Reuters, where she headed the bureau, and for Bloomberg in Colombia and Argentina, where she witnessed the financial meltdown. She started her career in London as a reporter for Euromoney Publications before moving to Hong Kong to work for a daily newspaper.
