The World Bank must stilll apologise : IMC-SA

The World Bank

C/o Kevin M. Cleaver and K. Deininger

Dear Mr Cleaver,

The World Bank (WB) response to Fian and La Via Campesina (May 8, 2002), is a clear attempt to mislead the international community - and particularly our international civil society allies - about the position of African civil society vis a vie the World Bank's current land policy process. The World Bank response to the letter drafted by Fian and La Via Campesina did nothing to dispel the widely held perceptions of landless people across the world that the World Bank lacks sincerity when it talks about participation or review of its policies.

In short, the World Bank's use of the name of the National Land Committee (NLC) of South Africa was clearly calculated to sow confusion and division within the ranks of those who have stood firm on the side of the landless against the policies of the World Bank - policies which have left the landless poor even poorer and have instead benefited the land rich. This clear and unacceptable effort by the World Bank to distort and mislead the international community is clearly part of the Bank's strategy to undermine the legitimate questions which the NLC has joined forces with Fian and La Via Campesina to raise about the Bank's so-called consultations and land policies. Such deceptive and deliberate misinformation on the part of the World Bank is indicative of the Bank's modus operandi in dealing with people and countries affected by its policies generally.

Why we say the World Bank is intentionally misleading the international community when it deliberately distorts the role and position of the NLC and African civil society generally:

The National Land Committee is a signatory to the letter by the FIAN and La Via Campesina which raises serious questions about the whole World Bank "consultation" process.

The National Land Committee with other land NGOs signed an African letter to the World Bank raising similar objections as those raised by the FIAN and La Via Campesina letter around the Kampala “consultations”

The NLC and other Civil Society organsations attended the World Bank Kampala meeting with the clear view of raising objections to the process and to confirm our position which we share with FIAN and Via Campesina.

The second person to speak from the floor on the first day of the Kampala meeting was Andile Mngxitama of the NLC, who asked that it be put on record that the NLC was not attending the meeting to be consulted but to raise objections which they share with the FIAN and La Via Camapesina. We further made it clear that we signed the FIAN/ Via Campesine to the World Bank. We explicitly asked for this to be put on record!

During the entire “consultation”, many objections were raised around the nature and intent of the “consultations”.

On the closing day of the “consultation” (May 2, 2002), part of the land civil society signed and delivered a statement to Klaus Deininger of the World Bank in Plenary, where again the position of African Civil Society was made clear. Part of the statement reads: “This meeting has been neither consultative nor participatory. It is not a process out of which a policy can emerge”. The statement further noted that: “We would emphasise, however, that our participation in this workshop does not constitute consultation with civil society in African countries. The exclusion of peasants’ organisations and social movements from the forum comprehensively undermines any claim that genuine consultation has happened.”

The NLC also signed the statement made by land organisations and NGOs held in Washington DC 15 - 17 April 2002.

At every point the African civil society organisations made its position clear both verbally and in writing. There is literally no room for an honest misunderstanding of our position. We are left with no option but to conclude that the World Bank is playing a devious game and cannot be trusted. This experience should teach all progressive people desiring change that the best way to deal with the World Bank is to boycott it!

The World Bank is further misleading when it claims that the process was consultative (see Civil Society letter), and is even more devious in claiming that there was agreement that all “participating groups will discuss the issues raised during workshops with their members and transmit the result of this discussion to the World Bank…”. No such agreement exists!

The World Bank not only disregard the opinions of the millions of people affected by its policies, but also shows great disrespect for those with whom it claims it wants to work. It is even more clear now than when the international protest action against the Bank's land policy "consultations" first began that the World Bank has no intention of changing its harmful land policies, but instead will resort to the most underhand methods to do what it has been doing all along - putting markets before people's interests.

We demand an immediate apology from the World Bank for it's intentionally misleading portrayal of the position of the NLC and other African civil society organisations.

Yours truly,

Andile Mngxitama

Land Rights Coordinator
National Land Committee South Africa