As we collectively reflect upon COP29 and the structural change required to advance policy and financing to truly address the climate crisis, we also wanted to share a snapshot of our engagement at the recent Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF, held in Washington DC in late October.
As structural feminists guided by the analysis of our global Majority partners and allies, we know that nothing less than a systemic overhaul of global economic and financial governance is required to enable care for people and planet.
We went to DC, together with our friends at MENA Fem Movement For Economic, Development And Ecological Justice and our incredible consultant Arimbi Wahono from Shared Planet, to build constituency and community with, and to learn from, feminists following the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWIs) processes. In the lead-up to the Fourth Conference on Financing for Development, we also sought to understand the links between these ongoing policy processes and ways to advance a coherent, collective agenda for economic, gender and climate justice.
Some highlights:
Financing Care Economies through Progressive Taxation: Role of IMF driven austerity
We contributed to several events held within the IMF as part of the Civil Society Policy Forum. On October 23, in a session convened by the Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC) and others, Arimbi presented our forthcoming brief on a feminist, decolonial, progressive and ecologically just approach to taxation (co-authored by FTC, Center for Economic and Social Rights, Shared Planet and WEDO). We are looking forward to publishing the paper early in the new year, and to workshopping it with feminists and allies around the next meeting to outline the UN Tax Convention (now that the Convention has been officially agreed in the UNGA Second Committee as of last week!)
Click the thumbnail to watch Arimbi’s brilliant presentation of the paper, starting at the 4-minute mark.
Beyond Austerity: Feminist Perspectives on the Role of Bretton Woods Institutions
We also co-sponsored an event on October 25, alongside Center for Egyptian Women Legal Assistance (CEWLA), MENAFem and many others, which featured incredible activists and analysis from Egypt, Argentina and Bangladesh and presented feminist perspectives on alternative economic models for a just and sustainable future.
Click the thumbnail to watch Katie Tobin, WEDO’s Senior Manager for Programs, moderate this session.
Fossil Fuels Investment Protests
While we engage with partners inside the official space of the Annuals, we also place significant importance on the need for alternative spaces, amplifying the voices and resistance of those calling for a complete overhaul of the World Bank and the IMF. We joined the protests against the BWIs’ investment in fossil fuels, and stood with comrades in front of the White House in a coordinated action calling for the US to meet its obligations to provide climate finance.
Credit: Kevin Wolf, AP
Resist and Revive: A Night of Feminist Art, Beats, and Radical Revelry Against the World Bank and IMF
And above all, the most fulfilling and inspiring experience during our time at annuals was the Feminist Gathering we co-hosted with MENAFem Movement and CESR, alongside ActionAid International, Akina Mama wa Afrika, and the Feminist Macroeconomic Alliance-Malawi (FEAM). Held at iconic DC bookstore and venue Busboys and Poets, this gathering offered feminists and allies an opportunity to come together, heal and share global South feminist stories of resistance to extractive economic hegemony.
Photo by Vit Bitencourt for WEDO
The event included an open mic with songs, poetry, and readings including from the 80th-anniversary feminist blog series recently produced by MENAFem and WEDO, followed by nourishment and feminist joy and liberation (dancing!) through music by local Arab feminist DJ Basbousa. Marking the 80th anniversary of the Bretton Woods system, we sought to create a vibrant, alternative space to challenge its colonial legacy and envision a feminist future.
Photo by Vit Bitencourt for WEDO
We carry this energy forward, sustained by our collaboration and by the spaces for feminist nourishment, joy, and resistance we co-create in the face of multilateral failure and the persistence of political hegemony.
