World Bank: No Funds for Developing Nations without LGBT Rights Protections

The President of the World Bank made headlines this week with comments about the institution’s position on the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals. Specifically, he noted that the bank would no longer provide funding to developing nations with laws that endanger the rights and lives of their LGBT communities.

The President of the World Bank made headlines this week with comments about the institution’s position on the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals. Specifically, he noted that the bank would no longer provide funding to developing nations with laws that endanger the rights and lives of their LGBT communities.

Although known as an international institution primarily focused on providing financial aid to developing countries for projects, such as developing infrastructure and overcoming poverty, the Bank has opted to take a socio-political position on the issue of rights for those who identify in the LGBT community. World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim’s comments came during a speaking engagement at The Economist’s “Pride and Prejudice” conference in London on Thursday.

As reported by Pink News, while discussing plans to cut off aid to Uganda, Kim explained that the nation had passed an explicitly anti-homosexual law in 2014, which created a great deal of concern for the Bank:

“In 2014 the Ugandans had passed a law, and it was quite a bit more draconian than a lot of the laws that exist: it said homosexuality would be punished with life imprisonment, but it became a requirement that anyone who suspects others of homosexuality had to report that also…Right at that moment we were about to approve a $90 million loan to support health clinics in Uganda…I worked as a doctor, and this is an important issue for me…but we looked carefully and we found out that it was possible that active discrimination could happen in these clinics, and because of the requirement to report homosexual behavior, gay men and women could go to these clinics…and we could actually endanger people from the LGBTI community, so we had to stop that loan …A lot of people came out and told me I was crazy. The critiques made a lot of sense to a lot of people…a lot of my own staff were [against it]…At the time there were 81 countries with these laws, so what does this mean for our ability to loan to any country in the world that has these kinds of laws?…There were a lot of countries who condemned Uganda…but the money still flowed. We were the only ones who stopped the flow of money.”

The World Bank’s decision has raised a number of concerns over the impartiality of the institution’s lending practices. After all, one of the core tenets of the bank’s policy has been political neutrality. Taking a stand on the issue of LGBT rights may be considered a strong political stance and it could undermine that value. It could also create a risk that nations opt for obtaining financing from other, less reputable sources.

Still, the World Bank believes that the benefits of its lending policies and capacities make it far too appealing a source of financing to be disregarded. As a result, it feels that adherence to its policy of protecting human rights in general, and LGBT rights in particular, will allow it to effect positive change in the developing world.