As Uganda grapples with the fallout from the World Bank’s move to pause new lending over the country’s anti-gay law, activists are calling on other donors to back up their statements of outrage with action.
The bank’s Aug. 8 announcement to pause lending over the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which it said contradicted its values of “inclusion and non-discrimination” came after it sent a team to the capital city of Kampala earlier this year. In June, some 170 groups, including over 60 from Africa and some from Uganda, called for the World Bank to stop payment on current loans to Uganda and to suspend future lending until the “abhorrent” law is scrapped by a constitutional court, in a letter to President Ajay Banga.
“Our goal is to protect sexual and gender minorities from discrimination and exclusion in the projects we finance,” the bank said in its announcement.