What follows is the sort of news we don't normally see here in the US, but that is widely noted in Africa and the Middle East: On the same day that Kofi Annan called for emergency help to stop the fighting in Darfur, and just after George W. Bush signed into law a new set of sanctions against Sudan, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund gave Sudan a high sign! No wonder Sudanese government leaders say they are feeling less and less international pressure in regard to their conduct in Darfur.
Backing from the international financial institutions is expanded! This complements and reinforces the economic contributions Sudan receives from China, India, Russia, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia.
The following is reported today in the Sudan Tribune, by way of the Middle Eastern News Agency.
KHARTOUM, Dec 23, 2004 (MENA) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) adopted an initiative to exempt Sudan from its debts and lure international finance for reconstruction operations and arrangements for the post-peace stage.
An IMF-WB Joint Assessment Mission (JAM), at the end of talks it held with a host of Finance and National Economy Ministry officials, underlined a strategy to combat poverty with a view to macro-economy regarding economic growth rates and fair distribution of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The mission discussed with the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Sudan institutional reforms to apply the government statistics system in the budget and upgrade the efficiency of cash flow management.
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Photo above is of the world headquarters of the World Bank, in Washington, D.C., and at left is a photo of the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund. Note that both institutions run with very little democratic ovesight, but with funds originally supplied mainly by the US and other western countries. In a sense, these organizations have their own foreign policy.
Congression staffers who are reading this: perhaps there is an important question to bring forward to US Senators and Representatives: What are we allowing the World Bank and the IMF to do? How can we let these instititutions to undermine our policy initiatives, and side with China to shore up the genocidal regime in Sudan--at the very time that that Khartoum regime is stepping up military operations, sealing borders, and disabling even the humanitarian agencies' work?
Ingrid and Dan and others in the UK, is there any chance you could get an MP or perhaps a member of Blair's cabinet to inquire of the World Bank and the IMF what the hell they think they are doing?
By the way, it occurs to me that if the WB and the IMF persist in this path, they should become the target of demonstrations. There are a number of groups that seem to enjoy picketing these two insititutions, so perhaps we could drum up something of meaningful size and aggressiveness..
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