Photo Credit:Reuters
The World Bank is lifting its ban on lending to Uganda, which was imposed following the passage of a severe anti-LGBTQ law in 2023. This legislation allows for the death penalty for specific same-sex acts. Human rights organizations in Uganda say that since the law’s introduction, many people have been evicted, attacked, or detained due to their sexuality. But the World Bank says it is confident that new mitigation measures will allow it to roll out funding in such a way that does not harm or discriminate against LGBTQ people.
The World Bank cannot deliver on its mission to end poverty and boost shared prosperity on a liveable planet unless all people can participate in, and benefit from, the projects we finance, a spokesman told reporters on Thursday, adding that the organisation had "worked with the Ugandan government and other stakeholders in the country to introduce, implement and test" anti-discrimination measures.
New projects in social protection, education, and forced displacement and refugees have also been approved, an unnamed World Bank spokesperson told the Reuters news agency. Analysts say the World Bank is one of Uganda's biggest sources of external financing, playing an important role in infrastructure development. Road upgrades and widened electricity access are among the projects the organisation is backing in the East African country. But some economists criticise the funding model used by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in general, saying it perpetuates dependency and undermines sustainable growth in the world's poorest nations by tying them to restrictive loan conditions.
News of Uganda's draconian Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2023 prompted international condemnation. It cost the country somewhere between $470m and $1.7bn (£347m and £1.2bn) in the year that followed, mainly because of frozen financing, according to estimates by the UK-based charity Open for Business. Uganda's government says its anti-gay law reflects the conservative values of its people, but its critics say the law is little more than a distraction from real issues such as high unemployment and ongoing attacks on the opposition.
