| World Bank and IMF pledge for job creation and protection against economic downturns |
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In their annual meeting held in Washington D.C. from 21 to 26 September, The World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) defined job creation as one of the main priorities to advance economic growth in developing countries and to build a “safety net” for cases of economic downturn. The meeting also saw the launch of the WB 2012 World Development Report on Gender and Development. Civil society organisations (CSOs) have however criticised the report for presenting gender equality as being “good economics” and to insufficiently address its social and political dimensions. During the meeting of the development committee (DC), a joint forum to facilitate intergovernmental consensus-building on development issues, participants stressed the need to prioritise job creation as a means to foster economic growth in developing countries. WB President Robert Zoellick underlined the importance to set up worldwide safety net programs to counteract the effects of economic downturns. Zoellick also warned that the current drop of confidence in developed countries may spread to developing states — a process that negatively affects domestic demand. “If developing countries start to lose domestic demand then the source of what's been half of global growth evaporates”, the WB head warned. According to the IMF’s latest economic forecast, emerging and low-income countries have become especially prone to volatile capital flows and remittances, mainly derived from developed countries. African finance ministers expressed their worries about the negative effects the economic problems of the Eurozone may have on their countries. While three years ago, the effects of the economic crisis could be limited due to effective policy responses, the current Eurozone crisis was displaying a much greater challenge to developing countries, the ministers stressed. “Our economies are still on the recovery path and in the process of restoring critical economic buffers”, said Tanzania’s finance minister Mkulo. “There is real danger that the modest progress we have attained in meeting some of the Millennium Development Goals will be eroded by an ensuing global economic crisis”, he warned. IMF director Christine Lagarde stressed that developing countries should “protect spending on infrastructure for growth and continue to drive to diversify their sources of value creation”. High food and commodities prices were furthermore mentioned as a source of poverty, especially in times of crises. As CSOs have however pointed out, those issues were not on the agenda of this year’s meeting that mainly focused on the promotion of economic growth. Another meeting saw the launch of the 2012 WDR report on “Gender Equality and Development”. WB representatives acknowledged that although gender equality could be improved, “gaps remain[ed] in many areas”. “Greater gender equality can enhance productivity, improve development outcomes for the next generation, and make institutions more representative”, reads the report that has been criticized for perceiving the promotion of women’s rights primarily as a means to foster economic growth. Civil society groups and trade unions have said that the report does not adequately address women’s fundamental rights and the causes of gender pay gaps, and keeps silent about past Bank practices that failed to successfully address gender inequality. Read the DC communiqué here: IMF Sources:  |
