Commenting on the appointment of Ajay Banga as the next President of the World Bank, Niranjali Amerasinghe, Executive Director of ActionAid USA, said:
“The appointment of Ajay Banga as the head of the World Bank is concerning and the inevitable result of the patriarchal ‘gentlemen’s agreement where the US President unilaterally decides the role.
“The World Bank urgently needs new thinking if it is to get on track with its supposed mission and we question whether Banga is the right person to move things forward. Worryingly, his corporate background reflects the kind of inequality-driving, climate-destroying hyper-capitalism that is everything the World Bank should be standing against if it wants to genuinely aim for ending global poverty.
“As Banga starts in his new role, we would urge him to recognize that climate finance should not be provided in the form of loans that will lead to further indebtedness of climate-vulnerable countries. It is time for the World Bank to recognise the scale of the global debt crisis – and to acknowledge that debt is an accelerator of the climate crisis.
“We hope that Banga will respond to the demands of equity and justice as he steps into the role.”
ENDS
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About ActionAid
ActionAid is a global federation working with more than 15 million people living in more than 40 of the world’s poorest countries. We want to see a just, fair, and sustainable world in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity and freedom from poverty and oppression. We work to achieve social justice and gender equality and to eradicate poverty.
