UN Poverty Expert Calls Out World Bank

In a recent speech at the World Bank, entitled « Rethinking the World Bank’s Approach to Human Rights, » Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, described how the World Bank « stands almost alone…in insisting that human rights are mere matters of politics, rather than an integral part of the international legal order. » Alston argues that « the anti-poverty and human rights agendas must complement one another » and « neither the Bank nor any other development actor in the twenty-first century can afford to neglect that complementarity. » Read the full speech here.