USA: San Francisco City Officials Vote Unanimously to Boycott World Bank Bonds

WASHINGTON, DC -- On Monday, the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution which commits the city not to
purchase bonds issued by the World Bank. By joining the international
boycott of World Bank-issued bonds, the City of San Francisco is continuing
its legacy of supporting social and environmental justice including its
support for selective purchase campaigns against Apartheid South Africa and
the military junta in Burma.

The President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Tom Ammiano,
stated, "Passage of this resolution and the recent protests against the WTO
and the World Bank go to show that when people in local communities take a
stand they can have a positive effect of impacting policies with these
institutions."

The San Francisco resolution is part of an international campaign against
the World Bank and its sister organization the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), whose projects and policies have caused enormous environmental
destruction and displaced and impoverished upwards of ten million poor and
indigenous people. It is also part of a growing, nationwide grassroots
movement of activists seeking to encourage their local and state
governments to use their purchasing and investment power to advance a more
just global economy.

Sponsor of the resolution Supervisor Michael Yaki stated, "We, the City of
San Francisco, should not invest in development banks that do not support
sustainable economic development models."

"This is an important and exciting initial step in halting global, economic
institutions such as the World Bank whose claims of 'development' and
poverty alleviation have, in reality, meant increased poverty and
desperation for millions of people worldwide," states Rosalyn Fay, a member
of Economic Justice for Africa Now, a Bay Area economic justice advocacy
group which generated support for the resolution.

The Cities of Oakland and Berkeley, California; the Communications Workers
of America; the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of
America (UE); Citizens Funds; and the Sisters of Loretto have also
committed through resolution or statement of policy not to purchase bonds
issued by the World Bank. Coalitions of human rights and social justice
groups in cities and on university campuses across the country are
organizing additional boycott resolutions.

The boycott was launched because, while the World Bank has adopted new
rhetoric, its policies on debt and structural adjustment -- austerity
programs imposed on indebted countries -- have remained largely unchanged,
plundering environments and economies of poor countries. The campaign
demands that the World Bank halt its devastating structural adjustment
lending and cancel debt claims it has on countries in the Global
South. The World Bank gets 80% of its financing through bond sales on
private financial markets to institutional investors and others. The World
Bank Bonds Boycott was launched in April at the time of the spring meetings
of the IMF and World Bank in Washington. Human rights, environmental, labor
and development groups in over 35 countries support the campaign.

World Bank Bonds Boycott Campaign

1830 Connecticut Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20009

tel: 202-299-0020

www.worldbankboycott.org

• 194 World Financial Institutions