Washington, 19 Jul 2001 (IPS) - An obscure World Bank agency that guarantees private investment in developing countries should be abolished and its funds redirected toward efforts that help people and the environment, say activists.
Their target is the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), which provides corporations and banks with insurance coverage against political risks in developing countries.
Armed with a new report, entitled ‘Risky Business,
Their target is the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), which provides corporations and banks with insurance coverage against political risks in developing countries.
Armed with a new report, entitled ‘Risky Business,
MIGA’s critics are kicking off a campaign
to pressure the US and European governments to cut off funding or withdraw from the agency.“MIGA has the worst environmental and public disclosure policies of any World Bank lending agency,” said Carol
Welch, deputy director of international programmes at Friends of the Earth (FOE). “It’s more interested in helping multinational corporations than advancing development.”FOE released the study with Urgewald, a German non-governmental organisation (NGO), and Italy’s Campaign for the Reform of the World Bank. The US-based Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and several other philanthropies focussed on international issues funded the research.
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