Desarrollo e instituciones en la década de los sesentas: reflexiones sobre los discursos del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo en la cumbre de Bogotá (abril de 1968) / Development and institutions in the Sixties: Reflections on the Speeches of the Inter-American Development Bank at the Bogota Summit (April 1968)

Resumen El presente artículo indaga sobre los fundamentos y las características del discurso de desarrollo acuñado por el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo a finales de la década de los sesenta del siglo pasado en América Latina. La perspectiva histórica que abordó, permitió comprender cómo desde la celebración del encuentro de gobernadores en Bogotá en 1969, el Banco adelantó una acción estratégica en la región basada en reformas institucionales y vinculadas con las agendas gubernamentales alineadas con las políticas de seguridad provenientes de Washington durante la guerra fría.

Abstract: This article investigates the foundations and features of the development discourse coined by the Inter-American Development Bank at the end of the 1960s in Latin America. The historical perspective that it addressed, allowed to understand how since the celebration of the Governorsı meeting in Bogota in 1969, the Bank advanced a strategic action in the region based on institutional reforms and linked to governmental agendas aligned with the security policies coming from Washington during the Cold War.

Bretton Woods' Pandemic Policies: A Gender Equality Analysis-Perspectives from Latin America.

Using a human rights and feminist economist perspective, this article analyzes the emergency financial policies deployed by international financial institutions (IFIs)-in particular the IMF and the World Bank-to help countries in Latin America cope with the COVID-19 crisis. Looking at the macroeconomic and fiscal assumptions behind IMF loans to countries, it identifies clear signals that fiscal discipline and pro-market options will continue to be priorities as soon as the emergency has been overcome. The study explains how recent adjustment and austerity policies adopted by a number of countries have disproportionately affected women's human rights, reinforcing the invisibilization of gender inequalities in domestic and care work and in turn, making women even more vulnerable to the impact of the pandemic and resulting economic recession. It concludes that in order to properly consider the conditions of IFI loans, countries must evaluate the probable impact of these financial contracts on people's human rights, and in particular on gender equality.

For the children? A mixed methods analysis of World Bank structural adjustment loans, health projects, and infant mortality in Latin America.

BACKGROUND: The World Bank wields immense financial and normative power in health in the developing world. During the 1980s and 1990s, in the face of intense criticism of its structural adjustment policies, the World Bank purportedly turned its attention to "pro-growth and pro-poor" policies and new lending instruments. One focus has been an investment in maternal and infant health. My analysis uses a mixed methods approach to examine the relationship between traditional structural adjustment and health loans and projects and infant mortality in Latin America and the Caribbean from 2000 to 2015. RESULTS: My answer to whether the World Bank's projects in Latin America worked "for the children" is: somewhat. The results are heartening in that quantitatively, health projects are associated with lower infant mortality rates, net of controls, whereas traditional structural adjustment loans do not appear to be negatively associated with infant mortality, though examined across a short time horizon. Qualitative data suggest that infants, children, and mothers are considered in World Bank loans and projects in the context of an economic logic: focusing on productivity, economic growth, and human capital, rather than human rights. CONCLUSION: Taken together, my results suggest that the World Bank appears to, at least partially, have amended its approach and its recent work in the region is associated with reductions in infant mortality. However, the World Bank's economistic approach risks compartmentalizing healthcare and reducing people to their economic potential. As such, there remains work to do, in Latin America and beyond, if health interventions are to be effective at sustainably and holistically protecting vulnerable groups.

Structural adjustment programmes adversely affect vulnerable populations: a systematic-narrative review of their effect on child and maternal health.

Structural adjustment programmes of international financial institutions have typically set the fiscal parameters within which health policies operate in developing countries. Yet, we currently lack a systematic understanding of the ways in which these programmes impact upon child and maternal health. The present article systematically reviews observational and quasi-experimental articles published from 2000 onward in electronic databases (PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar) and grey literature from websites of key organisations (IMF, World Bank and African Development Bank). Studies were considered eligible if they empirically assessed the aggregate effect of structural adjustment programmes on child or maternal health in developing countries. Of 1961 items yielded through database searches, reference lists and organisations' websites, 13 met the inclusion criteria. Our review finds that structural adjustment programmes have a detrimental impact on child and maternal health. In particular, these programmes undermine access to quality and affordable healthcare and adversely impact upon social determinants of health, such as income and food availability. The evidence suggests that a fundamental rethinking is required by international financial institutions if developing countries are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals on child and maternal health.

International financial institutions and human rights: implications for public health.

Serving as lender of last resort to countries experiencing unsustainable levels of public debt, international financial institutions have attracted intense controversy over the past decades, exemplified most recently by the popular discontent expressed in Eurozone countries following several rounds of austerity measures. In exchange for access to financial assistance, borrowing countries must settle on a list of often painful policy reforms that are aimed at balancing the budget. This practice has afforded international financial institutions substantial policy influence on governments throughout the world and in a wide array of policy areas of direct bearing on human rights. This article reviews the consequences of policy reforms mandated by international financial institutions on the enjoyment of human rights, focusing on the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. It finds that these reforms undermine the enjoyment of health rights, labour rights, and civil and political rights, all of which have deleterious implications for public health. The evidence suggests that for human rights commitments to be met, a fundamental reorientation of international financial institutions' activities will be necessary.