The IMF and World Bank recognize that people need support, but then they promote narrow means-tested programs that—both by design and due to chronically high error rates—exclude many people who are struggling, says Sarah Saadoun, senior economic justice researcher and advocate at Human Rights Watch.
Discussions at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Annual Meetings that open in Marrakesh, Morocco, on October 9, 2023, should prioritize systemic reforms to align policies with human rights, the watchdog highlighted.
"To ensure economic recovery that best advances rights in the short and long term, the IMF and governments should halt austerity policies that threaten rights. They should ensure that spending on health, education, and social security meet, at a minimum, international benchmarks as a percentage of GDP and national budgets," the Human Rights Watch said.
"Despite a commitment to promote universal social protection, the World Bank often funds programs that are means-tested, for which eligibility hinges on income, assets, or narrow poverty indicators.
Research shows that these programs suffer from high error rates, corruption, and social mistrust, while missing the chance to build social cohesion and new social contracts anchored in solidarity and rights."
On October 4, forty-three human rights and economic justice organizations began an initiative, under the hashtags #RightToSocialSecurity and #UniversalSocialSecurity, urging governments and international financial institutions to commit to universal social security, which provides benefits to everyone at various times in their life course as part of a human rights approach to the economy, and end policies that have been failing hundreds of millions of people.
Full Statement
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/05/imf/world-bank-systemic-reforms-needed