1830 Connecticut Ave. We write today as members of the international academic community, in support of the World Bank Bonds Boycott. A worldwide movement for social and environmental justice has brought the World Bank under increasing scrutiny in recent years. The World Bank has refused calls to grant full and unconditional debt cancellation for the poorest countries, and the Bank continues to collect debt service payments from these countries.
Payments are often many times more than the amount spent on health care or education.
The World Bank has also lent money for projects that despoiled the natural environment and violated the rights of indigenous peoples, especially for dams, for the extraction of oil and gas, and for mining. In just one example, in June 2000, disregarding the objections of local groups and environmental and human rights organizations, the Bank approved the Chad-Cameroon pipeline. The project will cause severe, irreversible environmental damage as it cuts through indigenous villages, hundreds of miles of rainforest, and several wildlife sanctuaries. Of particular concern to those of us within institutions of higher education, World Bank lending policies for education have led to a collapse in many Third World educational systems. Expenditure per pupil for primary education fell precipitously under World Bank structural adjustment programs.