World Bank

As the Annual Meetings of the World Bank kick off in Washington this week, Oxfam welcomed the focus on inequality, but urges top officials at the institution to align their words with their actions if they are serious about combating inequality and poverty. 

The International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private lending arm, has little-to-no control over how around 90 percent of its investments into commercial banks and other financial institutions are used.

“We’re very pleased to see the World Bank focus its flagship report on inequality and underscore the threat that inequality poses to fighting poverty," said the head of Oxfam International’s Washington office, Nadia Daar. 

Over the past six years, the International Finance Corporation has channelled over $50bn to the financial sector. However, the evidence continues to grow that this private sector arm of the World Bank Group has little control over how a great deal of this money is spent.

We continue to believe that the International Development Agency (IDA) is a critical place for donors to be putting their aid dollars.

This year’s G20 Summit will raise the stakes for the group to prove itself against growing doubts about its effectiveness – not least for people living in poverty, says Oxfam.

"We’re frustrated and disappointed that the World Bank couldn't agree on stronger policies to fully guarantee the rights of communities affected by the projects they fund," said the head of Oxfam International's Washington office, Nadia Daar.

The final draft of the World Bank’s social and environmental protection policies fails to guarantee the rights and well-being of people affected by the Bank’s development projects, said Oxfam. 

Today’s World Wealth Report from Capgemini shows that times have never been better for the world’s wealthiest - since 2009 more than 4.5 million new millionaires have been created, rising to a total of 15.4 million millionaires across the world last year. Yet while the wealthy prosper, 702 million people living in extreme poverty are being left behind.

This global tax platform represents a step in a long road towards building a fairer and more transparent global tax system. The platform must be able to deliver tangible results and combat inequality, but most importantly, it must give the poorest countries a voice.