Montreal, QC -- (ReleaseWire) -- 04/28/2016 -- In the video record of a talk in New York on April 6, in which there was discussion about Berta Caceres, the Honduran activist who had opposed a hydro project and was murdered in March, the president of the World Bank, Dr. Jim Kim, said "You cannot do the kind of work we are trying to do and not have some of these incidents happen."

Social Justice Connection has posted a two-minutes video with his remarks on its Youtube channel, "SJC-CJS Montreal" with excerpts from the talk, called The Principle of Mercy, at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City in April 2016. The full talk is available on the Youtube channel of the Union Theological Seminary.

In his talk, Kim discusses climate change, the need for energy generation in economic development and aspects of human rights, including the absence of a human rights-based approach at the World Bank. His comments on Honduras and Berta Caceres came one hour into the talk, as part of a response to comments from a participant about Caceres, Honduras and the opposition of indigenous people to dams in their territory.

Kim said "I think our commitment is to hear the voices of the Berta Cacereses of the world. We have to hear those voices." One minute later, after some comments about the displacement of people and controversy, he says, "You cannot do the kind of work we are trying to do and not have some of these incidents happen. We just have to be honest when it happens, admit it, and then try to fix it as best we can."

Caceres was shot and killed in her home on March 3. More than a hundred indigenous activists have been killed in Honduras in recent years.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

The absence of a human rights policy will be a contentious topic at World Bank policy discussions this weekend

Montreal, QC -- (ReleaseWire) -- 04/15/2016 -- Religious leaders of various faiths have joined together in a letter to World Bank President Kim asking that the organization adopt a human rights policy. The World Bank distributes billions of dollars every year with no obligation to international human rights law and does not require human rights impact assessments in its projects.

Human rights will be a highly discussed topic at the 2016 Spring Meetings from April 15-17, in Washington, DC, during which the latest draft of the World Bank's new social protection policy, expected this summer, will be discussed.

"Adopting a more explicit human rights approach would help ensure that the World Bank's resources are used well in its noble goal of a world free of poverty, and not in ways that contribute to persecution on the basis of religion and belief," the letter states.

The letter was signed by people of various faiths, including Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh, along with inter-faith networks around the world.

"The purpose of this letter is not to ask that the funding to repressive regimes stop," said Derek MacCuish, executive director of Social Justice Connection, which organized the letter effort. "It asks that the World Bank recognize international human rights law, and conduct impact assessments to ensure that its funding does not support violations of human rights such as freedom of religion."

For an overview of human rights violations in countries receiving World Bank funding, please refer to this document. The letter to Dr. Kim is available at the web site of Social Justice Connection, here.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Montreal, QC -- (ReleaseWire) -- 04/15/2016 -- Journalists and other advocates for freedom of expression around the world are calling on World Bank President Kim to embrace a human rights policy for the organization. The World Bank distributes billions of dollars every year with no obligation to international human rights law and does not conduct assessments to identify human rights impact.

Human rights will be a highly discussed topic at the Bank's Spring Meetings from April 15-17, in Washington, DC, which will influence the final draft of the World Bank's new social protection policy, expected this summer.

The World Bank lends billions of dollars to governments that condone media censorship and the arbitrary harassment, imprisonment, and murder of journalists and bloggers. The abusive conduct of many governments receiving this funding prevents journalists from speaking out against oppression and corruption for fear of violence or arbitrary fines.

"Ethiopian journalists cannot investigate corruption or they end up in prison and probably tortured. The World Bank ignores the problem, along with the fact that it cannot be assured that its funding is used well for the people that need it," said Derek MacCuish, executive director of Social Justice Connection, which organized the letter effort. "The World Bank needs to recognize international human rights law to ensure that its funding does not support or implicitly condone this kind of violation of freedom of expression."

China and Egypt, the two countries with the world's highest journalist incarceration rates, had 72 journalists imprisoned in 2015 according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), one of the groups that signed the letter. Together these two countries received three billion dollars in World Bank funding last year.

"Journalists play a vital role in ensuring transparency and accountability for development initiatives and combatting corruption, so explicitly recognizing the importance of press freedom and the protection of fundamental human rights in World Bank policies would be an important step for an organization with its level of influence," said Courtney Radsch, CPJ's advocacy director.

For more on why press freedom matters for development see this CPJ resource, and for an overview of human rights violations in countries receiving World Bank funding, please refer to this document. The letter to Dr. Kim is available at the website of Social Justice Connection, here.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm