Just hours ago, World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim announced his resignation from the institution effective February 1. One of the key pieces of Kim’s legacy will be the continued advancement and acceleration of the Bank’s pro-privatization agenda, including water.
Later this month, leaders from around the globe will convene in Abuja, Nigeria for an international water summit and organize to put an end to World Bank-backed water privatization schemes like that in Lagos, Nigeria.
Please see the statement below from Lauren DeRusha Florez, water campaign director:
“When Dr. Jim Yong Kim assumed the helm of the World Bank Group, he was heralded as an outsider, who would shake things up at the Bank for the better. But more than six years later, the World Bank is still pushing policies and priorities that run counter to its stated mission and actually harm those most in need.
Under Kim’s watch, the Bank continued to push water privatization schemes on communities that threatened access and affordability and lined the pockets of the Bank and global water privatizers like Veolia and Suez. So it comes as no surprise that Kim’s next stop is a private infrastructure investment firm where he will likely put his experiences from the Bank to use — pushing schemes that put profits over people.”
