(April 5, 2005) A new dam funded by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and hailed as a windfall for Laos may end up doing more harm than good to one of the world’s poorest nations and its vulnerable farmers, several independent development groups say.
One small step for Africa
(March 30, 2005) The Africa Commission report could mark the beginning of the end of Africa’s decline but there is no quick way back up.
The World Bank’s watershed decision: Nam Theun 2
(March 28, 2005) In April, the countries on the governing board of the World Bank will consider a proposed high dam on the Nam Theun River – a decision that will set a pattern for decisions regarding hydroelectric dams around the world for years to come.
Down and out! Who broke Africa?
(March 24, 2005) The African development conundrum: Western donors and aid agencies compound Africa’s problems because their approach is ‘leader-centred’.
Will power
(February 18, 2005) Once again Canada has found cause to wag its diplomatic finger at Africa, this time shaking a despairing head over Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and his government’s failure to stamp out corruption.
Dealing the debt
(January 27, 2005) As the ‘Make Poverty History’ lobby takes up a new call for redistribution between the first and third worlds Jon Harle wonders what part debt actually plays in poverty.
Time to find embezzled millions: opinion
(January 18, 2005) Money embezzled and hidden in foreign banks by African government officials is a potential new source of funds for the continent, a US-based academic has suggested.
Haiti: A ravaged land more bleak
(December 26, 2004) International groups spent millions of dollars to plant trees in Haiti but failed to slow the deforestation that leads to floods like the one that killed 3,000 people in Gonaives, writes Susannah A. Nesmith in the Miami Herald.
Laos Premier urges ASEAN to support mega-dam project
(November 29, 2004) Laos’ prime minister lobbied Monday for a massive dam in his country, urging Southeast Asian leaders to support the long-delayed project, aimed at alleviating poverty but slammed by critics.
Patricia Adams’ Oral Statement to the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
(October 29, 2004) The oral statement presented by Patricia Adams to the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the roundtable discussion on multilateral development bank corruption.
PI Submission to World Bank Nam Theun 2 Workshop
(September 10, 2004) Based on Probe International’s review of all available information, World Bank and Asian Development Bank funding for the Nam Theun 2 hydroelectric project would constitute foreign aid abuse.
Contribution to the final report on the Sept. 7 consultation in Paris (France): Nam Theun 2 dam
(September 9, 2004) Invited by the World Bank to attend a day of consultation on the Nam Theun 2 dam project, the Lao Movement for Human Rights (LMHR) elegation came away dissatisfied with the answers they were given.
Drowned, not downed, trees in the Amazon get nasty
(September 7, 2004) A funny thing happened back when the Brazilian government was building the giant $8 billion dam that bears the name of this town in the eastern Amazon.
Getting priorities right is a must
(September 3, 2004) What the Lesotho case and the Lugar corruption hearings demonstrate is that institutions must reflect the interests of the countries concerned instead of the domestic politics of the rich and the powerful.
World Bank consults on big Laos dam project
(September 1, 2004) The World Bank launched an unprecedented exercise in public consultation yesterday on whether it should back a project to build a dam in Laos in a tributary of the Mekong river.
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