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Lehane, Gwen --- "Human rights at the World Bank Group" [2018] ELECD 1214; in Radi, Yannick (ed), "Research Handbook on Human Rights and Investment" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) 186

Book Title: Research Handbook on Human Rights and Investment

Editor(s): Radi, Yannick

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781782549116

Section: Chapter 6

Section Title: Human rights at the World Bank Group

Author(s): Lehane, Gwen

Number of pages: 34

Abstract/Description:

The World Bank is arguably the single most important international agency with a mandate to deal with extreme poverty and human rights, with its goals of eliminating poverty and boosting shared prosperity. In spite of this fact, the Bank has declined to incorporate internationally recognised human rights standards into its work, leading some to brand it a ‘human rights free zone’. This chapter will first explore the reasons behind this historical aversion, examining the evolution of the Bank’s mandate since its inception. We will then move on to consider the role the Bank’s safeguard policies, as well as its procedural safeguards, play in effectively fulfilling human rights. Although these safeguards make no reference to human rights, we shall assess whether they in essence operate as an effective substitute for a binding human rights policy. A number of mass human rights violations in the context of Bank-funded projects, as well as gaps and flexibility in these safeguards, may lead some to conclude that these safeguards are in fact not ‘separate but equal’. Finally, this work shall reference the new draft Environmental and Social Framework and whether this may go some way towards improving human rights protection of those affected by World-Bank-funded projects.


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