[stop-imf] Sri Lanka Action Alert

[Robert Weissman]

>From 50 Years is Enough and friends:

*****
Action Alert =96 Sri Lanka PRSP

A group of over 125 civil society organizations called the Alliance for
the
Protection of Natural Resources and Human Rights in Sri Lanka has
rejected
the proposed Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) as written by the
Sri
Lankan government under close direction from the IMF and World Bank. The
Alliance rejects the PRSP because there has been no adequate civil
society
consultation to develop the policies contained in the PRSP. The
government,
under duress from the Fund and Bank, has already attempted to force
reforms
based on the PRSP through the Sri Lankan Parliament in a hasty and
undemocratic manner. The Fund and Bank are set to approve the PRSP and a
subsequent IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) loan at the
beginning of April 2003.

The Alliance is an umbrella civil society group that includes 31
people=92s
organizations including peasants and fisheries workers, 72 trade unions,
and 37 members of religious clergy, to date. The Alliance is calling for
substantive and meaningful consultations among civil society and social
movements (especially those representing groups most affected by the
PRSP),
the government, and the international financial institutions.

The PRSP was submitted by the Sri Lankan government to the IMF and World
Bank at a donors=92 Development Forum in June 2002. It outlines the full
set
of economic development policies that the Sri Lankan government intends
to
follow over the next three-year period, though its repercussions will be
felt for years to come. Contrary to the Fund and Bank=92s stated
commitment
to principles of country ownership and participation that are supposed
to
guide the PRSP process, this document was written to mirror the Fund and
Bank=92s policy recommendations for Sri Lanka, without any consultative
process with Sri Lankan civil society. The trade unions, for example,
were
not made aware of the PRSP until the ILO held a workshop about it in
July,
after it had already been written and submitted to the Fund and Bank.
Members of the Alliance have attempted to find out the identities of the
groups the UNDP claims to have consulted, but with no success.

Also in July, in efforts to =93maintain the necessary pace of structural
reform in preparation for the PRGF=94 (IMF Country Report No. 02/199, p
22,
2002), the Sri Lankan government introduced 36 bills in Parliament,
directly corresponding to the reforms detailed in the PRSP, including
land
law reform, fiscal reform, and labor market reform. The government
attempted to force these bills through Parliament without public review
and
comment such that the Fund and Bank would approve the PRSP and
subsequent
PRGF loan disbursement by the end of 2002. The timeline has since been
pushed back and the executive boards of the Fund and Bank will now be
meeting in April to approve the PRSP.

Large countrywide demonstrations against the PRSP and its resulting
reforms
have been carried out by the Alliance over the last few months. Their
efforts have helped delay implementation of some of the intended
reforms,
including the labor law reforms. Labor union pressure on the government
over the lack of democratic process drew a commitment from the
government
that the new laws would not be implemented until an adequate social
safety
net exists to aid those workers who would lose their jobs due to the reform=
s.

Now the Alliance needs your help.

Please show solidarity with the Alliance and do one or both of the followin=
g:

** Send a letter to your country=92s representative on the World Bank, IMF
and ADB Boards, the President and Sri Lanka Country Representative for
each
of these IFIs, and the UNDP (see contact info below), demanding that
these
organizations halt approval and implementation of the PRSP until it can
be
redrafted based upon full civil society and social movement
participation
in the development of the plan.

** Have your organization endorse the Alliance letter. Email
info@50years.org by *Thursday March 27* to sign on. A letter will be
sent
with the signers=92 names to the officials at the World Bank, IMF, ADB,
and
the UNDP.

*****
The Alliance for the Protection of National Resources and Human Rights
Galkanda Purana Raja Maha Viharaya, Eppawala
Tel: 025 - 49387

Officials of the World Bank
Officials of the IMF
Officials of the Asian Development Bank
Officials of the UNDP

March 2003

Your Excellency, Hon Sirs

Poverty Reduction Strategy

We are writing to support the position of the =93Alliance for the
Protection
of National Resources and Human Rights=94 regarding the recently drafted
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) for Sri Lanka. We ask that
approval
of the PRSP be delayed until thorough consultation takes place involving
all stakeholder groups.

The Alliance consists of over a hundred Sri Lankan people=92s
organisations
including major trade unions and organisations of farmers, fisheries
workers, plantation workers, human rights activists, environmental
activists, internally displaced persons and those threatened with
displacement, women, youth, students, intellectuals and religious leaders.

These groups are deeply concerned about the likely impact of the
government=92s poverty reduction strategy as outlined in the PRSP (Poverty
Reduction Strategy Paper).

The main areas of concern are:

1.=09The lack of public consultation in the preparation of the PRSP and
the
lack of appreciation of the effects of rejection of the proposals by the
people.

2.=09Increased levels of national indebtedness and consequent loss of
sovereignty.

3.=09The failure of current policies (both in terms of achieving growth
and
in the distribution of the rewards of growth) and the continuation of
these
policies under the PRSP.

While according to the World Bank=92s PRSP website, the PRSP must be
created
=93through a participatory process involving civil society=94 this has not
been
the case. We note that the strategies laid out in the current PRSP
hardly
differ from other documents laying out recommendations for Sri Lanka=92s
economy, such as the recent IMF Article IV consultation.
While these policies, which have been touted by the World Bank group in
principle and in the case of Sri Lanka for years, are present in the
PRSP,
suggestions about democratic governance, social safety nets, fair and
just
employment policies and ecosystem management that citizens=92 groups have
long been promoting are absent. One can only conclude that citizens=92
groups
promoting these alternatives have not been consulted, or that their
input
has not been considered in the final draft of the PRSP.
In light of the lack of consultation in the process of drafting the
PRSP,
we call upon the World Bank and the IMF to halt the process of their
Boards=92 endorsement of the PRSP until it has been redrafted to reflect
input from Civil Society groups.
Yours sincerely,



*****
Contact Information

World Bank
Peter Harrold
Country Director, World Bank
DFCC Building, 1st Floor
73/5 Galle Road
Colombo 3
Sri Lanka
pharrold@worldbank.org
94 1 448 070 (phone)
94 1 440 357 (fax)

Chander Mohan Vasudev
Sri Lanka Executive Director, World Bank
1818 H St NW
Washington, DC 20433
USA
cvasudev@worldbank.org
1 202 473 1000 (phone)
1 202 477 6391 (fax)

Carole Brookins
US Executive Director, World Bank
1818 H St NW
Washington, DC 20433
USA
cbrookins@worldbank.org
1 202 473 1000 (phone)
1 202 477 6391 (fax)

James D. Wolfensohn
President, World Bank
1818 H St NW
Washington, DC 20433
USA
jwolfensohn@worldbank.org
1 202 473 1000 (phone)
1 202 477 6391 (fax)

IMF
Jeremy Carter
Senior Resident Representative, IMF
Level 14
C/O Central Bank of Sri Lanka
Colombo 1
Sri Lanka
jcarter@imf.org
94 1 346 300 (phone)
94 1 477 022 (phone)
94 1 346 259 (fax)

Yaga V. Reddy
Sri Lanka Executive Director, IMF
700 19th Street NW
Washington, DC 20431
USA
yreddy@imf.org
1 202 623 7000 (phone)
1 202 623 4661 (fax)

Nancy P. Jacklin
US Executive Director, IMF
700 19th Street NW
Washington, DC 20431
USA
njacklin@imf.org
1 202 623 7000 (phone)
1 202 623 4661 (fax)

Horst Kohler
Managing Director, IMF
700 19th Street NW
Washington, DC 20431
USA
hkohler@imf.org
1 202 623 7000 (phone)
1 202 623 4661 (fax)

Asian Development Bank
John R Cooney
Country Director, ADB
49/14 Galle Road
Colombo 3
Sri Lanka
jcooney@adb.org
94 1 387 055 (phone)
94 75 331 111 (phone)
94 1 386 527 (fax)

Jeung-Hyun Yoon
Sri Lanka Executive Director, ADB
P.O. Box 789
0980 Manila
Philippines
jyoon@adb.org
632 632 4444 (phone)
632 636 2444 (fax)

Paul W. Speltz
US Executive Director, ADB
P.O. Box 789
0980 Manila
Philippines
pspeltz@adb.org
632 632 4444 (phone)
632 636 2444 (fax)

Tadao Chino
Director, ADB
P.O. Box 789
0980 Manila
Philippines
tchino@adb.org
632 632 4444 (phone)
632 636 2444 (fax)

United Nations Development Program
Miguel Bermeo-Estrella
Country Director, UNDP
202-204 Bauddhaloka Mawatha,
Colombo 7
Sri Lanka
miguel.bermeo@undp.org
94 1 583 805 (phone)
94 1 581 116 (fax)

Mark Malloch Brown
Administrator, UNDP
United Nations Development Programme
One United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
USA
mark.mallochbrown@undp.org
1 212 906 5364 (fax)

*****
Further Information

The Sri Lankan PRSP: =93Connecting to Growth=94
http://www.erd.gov.lk/publications/regaining/Part%20II%20-%20Regaining%20Sr=
i%20Lanka%20-%20Connecting%20to%20Growth%20-%20Text.pdf

Sri Lankan Civil Society statement against the 36 bills
http://www.dailymirror.lk/2002/08/02/opinion/2.html

Movement for National Land and Agricultural Reform website (Has
information
about the Alliance and trade union activities also)
http://www.geocities.com/monlarslk/index.htm

TIE-Asia Update on Sri Lanka labor law reform (scroll to January news)
http://www.tieasia.org/NEWSsection.htm

More Info on the IMF and World Bank=92s PRSP Process
http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/strategies/review/index.htm