This statement was originally published on Working Group on IFIs and can be read here.

Watch here for a video series exposing the impact of 80 years of the World Bank’s policies on people and the planet. From deepening debt and rising inequality to polluting our air, water, and land. Hear directly from activists, academics, and affected communities for a critical look at the Bank’s toxic history of intervention in India and the Global South.

The Bretton Woods institutions – the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)- have completed 80 years of existence and operations.  As people of the global south, who continue to bear the brunt of the impacts of colonial expansion, resource extraction, wealth concentration, climate change and deepening inequality, we demand that these institutions be shut down and make way for a new global democratic and decentralised economic system which protects both people and the planet.  For far too long, the World Bank and IMF have been instrumental in entrenching a system of global financial governance that perpetuates poverty and inequality, displaces people and communities, and destroys nature, livelihoods and life itself.

The World Bank and IMF were created in 1944 at the end of the Second World War to ostensibly rebuild war-torn economies and countries newly liberated from colonialism through international economic cooperation. In truth, however, they have globalised a model of development and financialisation that is rooted in the colonial logic of extraction and exploitation and have been vehicles for the continued extraction and transfer of wealth from the Global South to the Global North.

The Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) and austerity measures imposed by the  World Bank and IMF respectively included the privatisation of essential public services including water, electricity, education, healthcare and transportation, steep cuts in spending on social protection and welfare programmes, labour market deregulation, drastic wage cuts and labour contractualisation, and the reduction and/or elimination of subsidies in food and agriculture resulting in hunger and food and nutrition insecurity. Not only was the existing public sector substantially shrunk across the global south, but the very conditions of building/rebuilding robust public sectors were eliminated.  Rural and urban working classes, poor communities, women, small-scale food producers, indigenous peoples and other marginalised groups were the hardest hit by these policies.

The policy conditionalities at the core of SAPs, austerity measures and so-called Development policy and fiscal stabilisation loans aligned with the economic and financial interests of Western countries that were former colonial powers. These policies, commonly known as the Washington Consensus, boosted the market power of western transnational corporations and established forms of financial-economic governance that have snared countries in vicious debt traps, undermining national sovereignty and people’s democratic control over their resources in the global south.

Projects funded by the World Bank such as big dams, mines, ports, and other large infrastructure projects have displaced entire communities and villages, caused deforestation, and accelerated ecological destruction and degradation.  The earth has been plundered, and countless peoples have been dispossessed of their means to dignified livelihoods and lives.

People across the world in the global south and north have risen up against the World Bank and IMF, leading to massive protests challenging their policies and conditionalities.  In India, protests by affected communities against the World Bank-supported Sardar Sarovar hydropower project that resulted in large-scale displacement without adequate resettlement and rehabilitation forced the World Bank to withdraw its support, citing social and environmental impacts.  Likewise, the fisher people in Mundra, Gujarat challenged the immunity of the World Bank after their sea and fisheries were destroyed by a thermal power plant funded by the World Bank Group.  The tea garden workers of Assam have been questioning the complicity of IFC in perpetuating the low wages, and poor living conditions of tea workers giving rise to poverty and child labour.  The policies of the World Bank and the push for privatisation and deregulation have impacted people’s access to health and quality education on the one hand and impacted the collective bargaining rights of the labour and environmental regulations. .

Despite the destruction that they have wreaked on people, societies, economies and nature, the World Bank and IMF have faced no consequences. Their respective founding charters provide them with full immunity from legal and material accountability–they are literally above the law.  The introduction of Inspection Panels and social safeguard policies have not changed their policies and operations in any meaningful manner, and have reduced all accountability measures to toothless instruments.

Given their origins, history and track records, we believe that the World Bank and IMF are  beyond reform. Their governance, policies, and market obsessed  economic paradigm are too deeply entrenched in the status quo to allow for meaningful change and  their transformation from forces for evil to forces for good. We need a fundamental paradigm change through new institutions founded on principles of democratic and decentralised economic governance, prioritising equality, sustainability, and the needs of all nations, not just a select few.

These new institutions must be committed to truly inclusive development, ensuring that all voices are heard – especially of those who bear the brunt of financial, economic and social insecurity –  and that policies are designed to meet the needs of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable populations. They should promote development approaches that are embedded in human rights, protect the environment, and ensure the abilities of future generations to live in dignity, harmony and peace. The new institutions should support genuine debt relief initiatives as a matter of urgency and provide  favourable financing that helps countries break free from the vicious cycles of debt dependency.

The new paradigm of financial and economic governance must recognise the interconnectedness of economic, social,  environmental, climate and political justice. It must end the financialisation of nature, protect the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities,  workers, women and youth, and legally regulate the economic power of transnational corporations.

It is time for the World Bank and IMF to realise that their time is over. These outdated institutions should be replaced by ones that reflect the needs and aspirations of all communities and nations. Only by doing so can we build a more just, equitable, and sustainable world.

Endorsed by:

Aashima Subberwal – Friends of Earth India
Abha – One Billion Rising
Achin Vanaik
Adarsh K Warman
Aditya Nigam
Adv Dr Shalu Nigam
Agnes Kharshiing
Alpha Thomson Abumwami – YPC
Ambika Yadav – Jharkhand Kishan Parishad
Amitanshu Verma – Centre for Financial Accountability
Anant Phadker – Shramik Mukti Dal
Andrew Wheeldon – Bicycle Cities
Anirban – CFA
Anne Stegmann
Annie Namala
Anshu Kumari – JJSV, Bihar
Anto Elias – KSMTF
Aparna – NCDHR
Aravind Unni – NAPM – SHRAM (Urban Struggles Forum)
Arundhati Dhuru – NAPM
Ashish Kothari
Ashish Ranjan – JJSS
Ashok Choudhary – All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP)
Ashok Shrimali – Mines, Mineral & People
Asmi Sharma – Jan Sarokar
Avinash Kumar Chanchal – Greenpeace India
Aysha – Right to Food Campaign
Badami Lal – Aravallis Suraksha Udaipur
Banojyotsna – Independent Research Consultant
Benny Kuruvilla – Focus on the Global South
Bhanumathi Kalluri – Dhaatri
Bharat Patel – Machimar Adhikaar Sangharsh Sangathan, Mundra, Gujarat
Bhargav Oza
Bhavreen Kandhari
Bijay Bjai – Bharat Jana Andolan
Butchaiah Gadde – United Nations
Chinmay Mishra – Madhya Pradesh Sarvoday Mandal
Chythenyen – Centre for Financial Accountability
Debsmita Roychowdhury
Devaky
Devidas Tuljapurkar – Maharashtra State Bank Employees Federation
Dinesh Abrol – Delhi Science Forum
Disha A Ravi – Fridays For Future India
Dr Meena Kandasamy – Writer
Dr Sunilam – Kisan Sangharsh Samiti
Dr. O. G. Sajitha
Dr. Suhas Kolhekar – National Alliance of People’s Movements
Eddy Monte
Elsy Gomes
Financial Accountability Network India (FAN India)
Fr. Eugene Pereira
Gautam Bandyopadhyay – Nadi Ghati Morcha – India
Geeta Sahu
Geo Damin – Poovulagin Nanbargal
Guman Singh – Himalaya Niti Abhiyan
Hans Kaushik
Haripriya Harshan – CFA
Himanshu Thakkar – SANDRP
Himmat Singh – Bahujan Communist Party
Ian Williamson
India Greens Party
Jacob Kurien – Sarvodayasangham
Jammu Anand – Indian Social Action Forum
Jannet Cletus – Theeradesa Mahila Vedi
Jawan Singh – VMKS
Joe Athialy – Centre for Financial Accountability
John Dayal – Writer
John Dsouza – CED
Jones Thomas Spartegus
Josephine Joseph – CWCSN
K VITTALRAO – RAI CENTRE Utnoor, Adilabad
K.V Krishna Kumar
Kailash Anerao – Environmental & Climate Change Activist
Kailash Mina – NAPM
Kamayani – JJSS
Kangkimang Takuk – Siang Indigenous Farmers Forum (SIFF)
Kanhaiya – Aravalli Mazdoor Sangathan
Kapil Agarwal – YMC
Kavita
Khirod Routray – Udyog
KP Das
Krishna
Krunal
Kurien  John
Lalita Ramdas
Lambodar Mohanta – EKTA NIKETAN
Lara Jesani
Lima Sunil – Fr. Thomas Kocherry Centre
Linda Chhakchhuak
Lisa Pires
Lucas Braganca
Mahendra Kumar – NCAER
Maimoona Mollah – AIDWA Delhi-NCR
Maju Varghese – BIC Trust India
Mallela Seshagiri Rao – Capital Region Farmers Federation, Amaravathi
Manan – Independent Journalist
Manasi – Johns Hopkins University
Manisha Desai – Center for Changing Systems of Power, Stonybrook University
Md. Zahidul Islam – COAST Foundation
Mecanzy Dabre – Kamgar Ekata Union, Maharashtra
Meera Sanghamitra – National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
Mercy Mathew – Cheru Resmi Centre
Mohammad Chappalwala – Sambhaavnaa Institute
Moncy M Thomas
Monica – Independent Researcher
Moushumi Basi – Jawaharlal Nehru University
Mujahid Nafees – MCC
Mukta Srivastava
Muralidharan – National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled
Nancy Pathak – Pension Parishad
Narayan Lal Panwar
National Hawker Federation
Navdeep Mathur – IIM Ahmedabad
Nawaz – Avsar Collective
Neelam Ahluwalia Nakra – Founder Member, People for Aravallis
Nidhi
Nikhil Dey – MKSS
Nikita Chatterjee
Nikita Naidu – Climate Action
Nitin
Nitin Sethi
P. M. Bhattacharya
Pamela Philipose
Pavuluri Siva Prasad
People for Aravallis
Pervin Jehangir
Prafulla Samantara – Lok Shakti Abhiyan
Prakash Chandra Bhagota – SR Abhiyan
Prakash Louis
Pranay Raj – CFA
Pranita Kulkarni – CFA
Prasad Chacko – People’s Union for Civil Liberties
Priya Dharshini – Delhi Forum
Purushan Eloor – Periyar Malineekarana Virudha Samithy
R Ravi – Samata
R. Ajayan – Editor, Navayugom, Kerala
Radha Raghwal – Ekal Naari Shakti Sangathan Himachal Pradesh, District Kangra
Raj Kumar Sinha – Bargi Bandh Visthapit Evam Parbhavit Sangh
Raj Shekhar – Right to Food Campaign
Rakesh Dewan – Sarvodaya Press Service
Ram Puniyani – All India Secular Forum
Ram Wangkheirakpam – Indigenous Perspectives
Ranjan Kumar – JJSV, Bihar
Rashi Rajgor
Ravindranath – River Basin Friends
Rema – Sutra NGO
Rita Das
Rizwan – Pension Parishad
Rohini Hensman – Writer and Independent Scholar
Rohit Prajapati – Environment Activist, Gujarat
Roma – All India Union of Forest Working People
Rosamma Thomas – Freelancer
Saba Dave
Sabita Lahkar – NWMi
Sagari Ramdas – Food Sovereignty Alliance
Saktiman Ghosh – National Hawker Federation, India
Sameer Vartak – Paryavarn Samvardhan Samiti
Samir K. Chakravorty – Freelancer
Sandeep Pamarati
Sandiksha Roychowdhury
Sandip Roychowdhury
Sanjeev Chandorkar
Sarath Cheloor – Dynamic Action, Keralam
Sarika – IGP
Satheesh Lakshmanan – Poovulagin Nanbargal
Sauraj Gurjar
Sayantan Das
Shabnam Hashmi – Anhad
Shamala Kumar – University of Peradeniya
Sheelu Francis – Women’s Collective
Shehri Mahila Kamgar Union
Shiraz Bulsara Prabhu – PUCL
Sho – Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan, Bihar, India
Shruti – PhD student at VIT-AP University
Shweta Tambe
Shyam – चरागाहएवंपर्यावरण विकास समिति
Simran Grover
Sitaram Shelar
Soumya Dutta – Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha (BJVJ)
Subham Biswas – Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan
Suchetana Ghosh
Sujata Patel
Sukumaran Krishnan – Advocate
Suma Josson
Suresh Garimella – CPI-M
Sutapa Majumdar
Tani Alex – Financial Accountability Network India
Thomas Franco – People First
Uma Shankar
Usha Lachungpa – Green Circle, Sikkim
Usmangani Sherasiya – Samsat Machimar Samaj Gujarat
Vaishnavi Paliya – Azim Premji University
Vaishnavi Varadarajan – International Accountability Project
Vanaja Mercima Soundarabai
Veena M – Ecosystems Services
Venkateswara Rao Maddi – Maddi Lakshmaiah & Co Pvt Ltd
Vijoo Krishnan – All India Kisan Sabha
Vinay Baindur
Vinita Balekundri – Maharashtra Hawker Federation
Vinod Koshy – Dynamic Action
Yash Agrawal – Fridays For Future Mumbai, & Atlas Movement
Youth For Himalayas