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The International Monetary Fund (IMF), Policy Conditionality and Human Rights, 2001–2021

Martin Tarkpor, Gerard Clarke

Human Rights Review, Volume: 25, Pages: 339 - 363

Swansea University Author: Gerard Clarke

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DOI (Published version): 10.1007/s12142-024-00730-x

Abstract

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been criticised for their weak commitment to human rights, with the World Bank subject to greater scrutiny and criticism than the IMF and despite significant progress since 2015 in linking its policies and operations to international human ri...

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Published in: Human Rights Review
ISSN: 1524-8879 1874-6306
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2024
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68349
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spelling 2025-08-21T15:37:23.5816972 v2 68349 2024-11-27 The International Monetary Fund (IMF), Policy Conditionality and Human Rights, 2001–2021 cfeec5339b0ed351848d33801069bcb0 Gerard Clarke Gerard Clarke true false 2024-11-27 The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been criticised for their weak commitment to human rights, with the World Bank subject to greater scrutiny and criticism than the IMF and despite significant progress since 2015 in linking its policies and operations to international human rights law. In this light, we explore the extent to which the IMF meets its responsibilities under international human rights law. We focus on IMF conditionality, on the conditions attached to IMF loans to countries in the global South. Using QDA Miner Lite, and a system of interpretive coding, we explore the extent to which international human rights standards are reflected in IMF loan conditions on the basis of inter-temporal and cross-country comparisons. We find that human rights are increasingly reflected in IMF conditionality, but also that it continues to undermine human rights, for instance, by unduly constraining the fiscal space available to sovereign governments. The IMF, we conclude, continues to compare unfavourably to other multilateral institutions, warranting enhanced scrutiny by organs of the UN Human Rights Council and by human rights NGOs. Journal Article Human Rights Review 25 339 363 Springer Science and Business Media LLC 1524-8879 1874-6306 Human rights, International monetary fund, Policy conditionality, Liberia 26 11 2024 2024-11-26 10.1007/s12142-024-00730-x COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Swansea University 2025-08-21T15:37:23.5816972 2024-11-27T10:10:36.2388585 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations Martin Tarkpor 1 Gerard Clarke 2 68349__32976__ea5cc128aa86426082a03bb287b60aa8.pdf s12142-024-00730-x.pdf 2024-11-27T10:13:00.0613463 Output 792968 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2024. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0). true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title The International Monetary Fund (IMF), Policy Conditionality and Human Rights, 2001–2021
spellingShingle The International Monetary Fund (IMF), Policy Conditionality and Human Rights, 2001–2021
Gerard Clarke
title_short The International Monetary Fund (IMF), Policy Conditionality and Human Rights, 2001–2021
title_full The International Monetary Fund (IMF), Policy Conditionality and Human Rights, 2001–2021
title_fullStr The International Monetary Fund (IMF), Policy Conditionality and Human Rights, 2001–2021
title_full_unstemmed The International Monetary Fund (IMF), Policy Conditionality and Human Rights, 2001–2021
title_sort The International Monetary Fund (IMF), Policy Conditionality and Human Rights, 2001–2021
author_id_str_mv cfeec5339b0ed351848d33801069bcb0
author_id_fullname_str_mv cfeec5339b0ed351848d33801069bcb0_***_Gerard Clarke
author Gerard Clarke
author2 Martin Tarkpor
Gerard Clarke
format Journal article
container_title Human Rights Review
container_volume 25
container_start_page 339
publishDate 2024
institution Swansea University
issn 1524-8879
1874-6306
doi_str_mv 10.1007/s12142-024-00730-x
publisher Springer Science and Business Media LLC
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been criticised for their weak commitment to human rights, with the World Bank subject to greater scrutiny and criticism than the IMF and despite significant progress since 2015 in linking its policies and operations to international human rights law. In this light, we explore the extent to which the IMF meets its responsibilities under international human rights law. We focus on IMF conditionality, on the conditions attached to IMF loans to countries in the global South. Using QDA Miner Lite, and a system of interpretive coding, we explore the extent to which international human rights standards are reflected in IMF loan conditions on the basis of inter-temporal and cross-country comparisons. We find that human rights are increasingly reflected in IMF conditionality, but also that it continues to undermine human rights, for instance, by unduly constraining the fiscal space available to sovereign governments. The IMF, we conclude, continues to compare unfavourably to other multilateral institutions, warranting enhanced scrutiny by organs of the UN Human Rights Council and by human rights NGOs.
published_date 2024-11-26T05:21:43Z
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score 11.090091

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