World Bank Should Address its Own Violations in Ethiopia - HRW

Human Rights Watch claims that the World Bank has to confront its African department’s abuses in Ethiopia that were recently revealed by the organization’s internal inspection effort.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The World Bank has to confront its African department’s abuses in Ethiopia that were recently revealed by the organization’s internal inspection effort, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) press release.

“The World Bank should fully address serious human rights issues raised by the bank’s internal investigation into a project in Ethiopia,” HRW said in the press release issued on Monday.

The World Bank’s independent accountability mechanism, the Inspection Panel, found that the bank violated its own policies in Ethiopia by ignoring human rights risks, according to the press release.

Moreover, there was “an operational link” between the World Bank projects in Ethiopia and a government relocation program known as “villagization,” the release read.

“Human Rights Watch found that the relocation was accompanied by serious abuses, including intimidation, assaults, and arbitrary arrests by security officials, and contributed to the loss of livelihoods for the people forced to move,” it added.

The Inspection Panel also pointed out to problems concerning budget support and blocking grants that cannot be tracked at the local level in Ethiopia, according to the release.

“These findings should prompt the World Bank and other donors to take all necessary measures to prevent and address links between its programs and abusive government initiatives,” HRW said in the release.

The World Bank board of directors plans to consider the investigation report and management’s response to it on Thursday.