About the Annual Meetings
(excerpted from imf.org)
The Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group (Bank) and the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (Fund) normally meet once a year to discuss the work of their respective institutions. The Annual Meetings, which generally take place in September-October, have customarily been held in Washington for two consecutive years and in another member country in the third year.
The Inaugural Meeting of the Boards of Governors was held in Savannah, Georgia, USA in March 1946. The first Annual Meetings were held in Washington in 1946.
In recent years, the Annual Meetings have been preceded by meetings of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the Development Committee, the Group of Ten, the Group of Twenty-Four, and various other groups of members. At the conclusion of their meetings, the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Development Committee, as well as several other groups, issue communiqués. The Annual Meetings include 2 days of plenary sessions, during which Governors take up matters of business, consult with one another, and address the assembled delegates to present their countries’ views on current issues in international economics and finance. At the Annual Meetings, the Boards of Governors make decisions on how current international monetary issues should be addressed and approve corresponding resolutions. The Annual Meetings are chaired by a Governor of the Bank and the Fund, with the chairmanship rotating among the membership each year. Every two years it elects Executive Directors. Each year any new members are welcomed into the Bank and Fund.
Because the Annual Meetings bring such a large number of member country officials together, they provide opportunities for consultations large and small, formal and informal. Numerous seminars are held in conjunction with the meetings, including seminars conducted by staff members for members of the press. The Annual Meetings Program of Seminars is designed to foster creative dialogue among the private sector, government delegates and senior Bank and Fund officials. The Per Jacobsson Lecture on international finance, which is sponsored by a foundation set up in honor of the Fund’s third Managing Director, is also given each year in conjunction with the Meetings.
Protests:
Antiglobalization takes new tack with IMF protest
By Laura MacInnis
Reuters
WASHINGTON — The antiglobalization movement took a decisive step away from its raucous past on a quiet weekend in Washington, as smaller-than-expected anti-IMF and World Bank protests were tightly controlled by police.
Property damage was limited to one smashed store window and scattered graffiti, and arrests dropped sharply each day.
Police outnumbered activists, who said U.S. security concerns after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — and low official tolerance for risky tactics — had forced antiglobalization onto a new, more mainstream tack.
“The police are unbelievable, it’s very intimidating,” organizer Jason Mark said during Sunday’s anti-war march that drew hundreds of officers, some in riot gear. “A lot of people stay away because they don’t like that vibe.”
Washington police kept close watch over protesters, largely thwarting plans to disrupt meetings of the world’s financial leaders at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
On Friday, they arrested 649 of 1,500 to 2,000 who had planned to blockade roads in downtown Washington. Five people were charged with destruction of property and the other 644 for parading without a permit or disobeying police.
“There’s no chance for this sort of thing. It is squashed every time,” American University student Andrew Willis, 19, said. “The police have no tolerance for us.”
Demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday were mostly peaceful, with activists beating drums and staging sit-ins to demand debt relief for poor countries, AIDS treatment for Africa, and the prevention of war against Iraq.
Four protesters were due in court on Monday on charges of carrying nail bombs near the IMF and World Bank headquarters.
But despite the police and a large metal barricade across downtown Washington, the demonstrations were on the whole cheerful, lively, and low-key — a far cry from three years ago in Seattle, when violent protests interrupted a World Trade Organization meeting and sparked the raucous movement.
CONSENSUS BUILDING
Much of the action was off the streets, in church basements and small offices where activists discussed the nuts and bolts of globalization.
Ralph Nader, a consumer advocate and 2000 U.S. presidential candidate, cautioned a packed audience that large-scale demonstrations needed a more studious image. “Every year, we come and protest and demand. And too many people travel to Washington and spent time talking to one another…. We need to go to the next level and find more people to believe in it.”
Antiglobalization gained strength in some circles after the demise of major U.S. companies like Enron and WorldCom gave credence to activists’ wariness of corporate power.
Recent criticisms by Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs and former presidential advisor Joseph Stiglitz have thrown academic weight behind the notion that the IMF and World Bank foster disruption in places they are meant to help.
Some activists say the next antiglobalization push will be from groups within the developing world fighting privatization of utilities like electricity, telephones, and water. Njoki Njehu of the 50 Years Is Enough coalition said demonstrations in Washington are seen as a show of solidarity for more direct action in South Africa, Bolivia, and Argentina.
“These victories have to start happening here. I hope you feel yourself infected by these victories,” Njehu told protesters after an address by Latin Americans and Africans. “You need to think about what you will tell your grandchildren when they ask, ‘What did you do when people were starving? What did you do when rivers were being polluted?”’