The Bank Information Center joined Accountability Counsel in welcoming the introduction of Chairwoman Maxine Waters’ and Congresswoman Joyce Beatty’s International Financial Institution Improvements Act of 2024 on October 23, 2024. This comprehensive legislation directs the U.S. to advocate for improved environmental, social, accountability, and transparency standards at the IFIs in which it is a member. This bill also reflects the priorities of broader civil society around the need for the IFIs to improve their due diligence before project approval and provide remedy when their projects cause harm. Specifically, we welcome the following provisions:
Many IFIs, most notably the World Bank Group, are undergoing ambitious reform agendas to revamp how these institutions respond to global challenges. As part of this process, several IFIs are requesting increased funding from donors, the United States being one of the largest. Negotiations around these requests are critical moments for the U.S. to push the institutions to adopt and implement policies to protect the environment and project-affected communities from the potential negative impacts of development projects. Reps. Waters and Beatty’s International Financial Institution Improvements Act meets the moment and would require the U.S. to take strong positions during general capital increase and replenishment negotiations. We urge Congress to utilize its oversight role in directing U.S. policy at the IFIs and pass this critical legislation. The value of U.S. leadership at the IFIs is essential to pushing these institutions to fulfill their mandates and center accountability and project-affected communities in all of their work.
Read our press release about the Act here.
