The World Bank has said it will not present any new lending proposals for Uganda projects to its board pending the satisfactory implementation of measures to protect sexual or gender minorities from discrimination or exclusion. Photo courtesy World Bank
Aug. 9 (UPI) -- The World Bank announced it has suspended its lending programs for Uganda in response to the East African country's passage of a harsh new anti-LGBTQ law in May.
No new public financing proposals would be considered pending the outcome of negotiations with Ugandan authorities on implementing additional measures to ensure World Bank-funded projects do not discriminate against or exclude sexual or gender minorities, the Washington D.C.,-based bank said in a news release Tuesday.
The bank also said it would "significantly increase" third-party monitoring and grievance redress mechanisms allowing it "to take corrective action as necessary."
"Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act fundamentally contradicts the World Bank Group's values. We believe our vision to eradicate poverty on a livable planet can only succeed if it includes everyone irrespective of race, gender, or sexuality," the bank said. "This law undermines those efforts. Inclusion and non-discrimination sit at the heart of our work around the world."
The decision follows a three-month in-country review of the bank's Uganda portfolio in light of the new legislation signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni that punishes "gay sexual conduct" with life sentences and aggravated offenses with the death penalty, drawing the condemnation of the international community.
The bank noted its longstanding and productive relationship with Uganda, stressing that it remained committed to alleviating poverty and helping all Ugandans access vital services and improve their lives.
The World Bank's decision came days after the United Nations' human rights watchdog was forced out of the country after 18 years.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights closed its last remaining office in the country in the capital, Kampala, on Saturday after the government decided not to renew its Host Country Agreement with the watchdog.
The OHCHR has also been highly critical of what it called the "deeply discriminatory and harmful anti-homosexuality" law which it said was already having a negative impact on Ugandans, as well as a crackdown on civil society and backtracking on international human rights treaties Uganda has ratified.
