GLOBAL CIVIL SOCIETY OPEN LETTER:
PRESIDENT BANGA, DO NOT RESTART LENDING IN UGANDA

16 September 2024

President Ajay Banga
World Bank Group
1818 H Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20433 USA

Dear President Banga:

As you know, on August 8, the World Bank stopped new lending in Uganda in response to implementation of the Anti-Homosexuality Act (the Act), one of the most draconian anti-LGBTQI+ laws in the world. We profoundly appreciated this action. Not only did it signal to governments around the world that the World Bank firmly believed in nondiscrimination as a key driver of economic development but it indicated that the World Bank was willing to make difficult decisions and expend its own political capital in defense of this belief.

We are writing to you from Uganda and around the world now because we are alarmed by the World Bank’s plan for mitigation measures in Uganda. The World Bank has announced that it will be testing the effectiveness of “mitigation measures” from July - September 2024 and that the World Bank will restart lending if they decide the measures are effective in protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination.

As you likely know, there is ongoing  troubling evidence of discrimination and violations of the human rights for LGBTQ+ people alongside the broader crackdowns on civil society in Uganda.To be clear, nothing has improved in Uganda regarding the protection of the rights of LGBTQ+ people or their ability to participate in the economy of Uganda since the bill was signed into law in 2023.

We are concerned that the World Bank’s mitigation measures are gravely flawed both in structure and substance and that implementing them will be a setback in the fight for non discrimination not only in Uganda but more generally around the world. For example:  

1. The measures will be implemented by the Government of Uganda—which is incapable of mitigating harms from its own law which the parliament passed and the government signed. Discrimination against LGBTQI+ people is codified into Ugandan law so the government cannot be a partner in mitigating these harms. This structure is akin to putting the Taliban in charge of monitoring violations of women’s and girls’ rights in Afghanistan.
2. The World Bank has refused to describe any objective metric of what constitutes “effective,” signaling that the measures are arbitrary and that the results from testing will be open to manipulation by the Government of Uganda, who have a vested economic interest in assuring the World Bank that there are no pernicious impacts of this law, despite the ample evidence to the contrary.
3.  LGBTQI+ people are not explicitly referenced as targets in the mitigation measures themselves, nor is other relevant terminology. The failure to explicitly reference LGBTQI+ individuals ignores the necessity and purpose of the mitigation measures themselves and enables the Government of Uganda to ignore its obligations to its LGBTQI+ citizens, furthering the reality of discrimination within the country.

These mitigation measures as structured are a façade. They are unlikely to protect LGBTQI+ Ugandans from discrimination and they risk damaging the situation further by driving key issues underground. Furthermore, we understand that the World Bank plans to use this approach in response to other governments’ discriminatory laws and policies, providing an illusion of protection while sanctioning discriminatory governments. As such they are a massive setback to the fight for inclusive economic development.    

As an inadequate package that will be impossible to measure and enforce, and will do nothing more than provide the mirage of protection for LGBTQI+ Ugandans, they should be withdrawn.    

We are calling on you to show leadership now: do not restart lending to Uganda. Such decisive action is necessary given the policies mandated by the World Bank’s Board of Directors.

Restarting lending to a country that is flagrantly and continuously violating the rights of vulnerable people on the basis of this package of appallingly weak measures will go down in history as a green light for not only the discrimination of Ugandans, but also for enabling government embrace of discriminatory policies and laws globally.  

Sincerely,

#Unify Movements
ACT UP New York
ACGS PLUS
Action Against AIDS Germany
Advocates for Youth
Africa Japan Forum, Japan
Aidsfonds - Soa Aids Nederland
All Out Action Fund
Amelia Rock Consulting, LLC
Association for Promotion Sustainable Development
ATHENA Network
AVAC Busia Survivors Organisation, Kenya
Bridge Initiative
Çavaria, Belgium
Centre for Environment, Human Rights & Development Forum (CEHRDF), Bangladesh
Centre for Popular Education and Human Rights, Ghana
Coalition PLUS
Colored Voices Media Foundation
Convening for Equality (CFE), Uganda
Council for Global Equality
Civil Society Engagement Mechanism (CSEM) for UHC2030
DRC AID
EATHAN - East Africa Trans Health & Advocacy Network
ECOM - Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity, Estonia
Equality Access to Health and Rights Initiative (EAHRI)
Equality California
Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Fundación Huésped, Argentina
galck+, Kenya
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
GenDemocracy
Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE)
Global Fund Advocates Network (GFAN)
Global Network of Black People Working in HIV
Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+)
Global Network of Young People Living with HIV (Y+ Global)
Good Women Association (GWA)
Health and Social Advocacy
Health GAP
HIV i-Base
HIV Justice Network
HIV Legal Network
Harm Reduction International
Housing Works
Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
Immigration Equality
Inclusive and Affirming Ministries (IAM)
Kaleidoscope Trust
Key Population Consortium of Kenya (KPCK)
Key Population TransNational Collaboration (KP-TNC)
Kgorogo Social Investments, South Africa
Khulna Mukti Seba Sangstha (KMSS), Bangladesh
Koppa - The LGBTI+ Economic Power Lab
Key and Vulnerable Populations (KVP) Forum, Tanzania
Latu Human Rights Foundation, Zambia
LGBT+ Rights Ghana
Life Building Awareness Initiative (LIBAI), Nigeria
MPact Global Action for Gay Men’s Heath & Rights
Noyki Design Enterprise, Ghana
NPS Sicilia ODV
Minority Persons Empowerment Program, Kenya (MPEG)
Most at Risk Young Mothers and Teenage Girls Living with HIV Initiative (MOYOTE)
Open For Business
Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration (ORAM)
Outright International
Omphalos LGBTI, Italy
PFLAG National
Pema Kenya
Peter Tatchell Foundation
Planned Parenthood Global
Platform Layalat, Morocco
Plus - Rete Persone LGBT+ Sieropositive - aps
Plus Roma
Positive Action Initiative Ghana
PrEP4All
Pride at Work Canada
Prevention Access Campaign
Qreative Ones Queer Collective
Queer Liberation March
Rainbow Railroad
Reclaim Pride
Red Ribbon Istanbul Association
ReportOUT
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
Round Care Development Initiative, Nigeria
Salama Community CBO
Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG)
Show Me Your Number
Social Action for Minorities Empowerment, Ghana
St. Paul's Foundation for International Reconciliation
Stephen Lewis Foundation
Transgender Red Umbrella
Sophia Forum
Southern Africa Miners Association (SAMA)
Stop the Coup 2025 Campaign
Sukaar Welfare Organization
Taaluf Humanitaire International Organization
The Voice Organization
Transgender Equality Uganda
TRANZURI Community Based Organization, Kenya
Treatment Action Group
Treatment Action Campaign, South Africa
United Belize Advocacy Movement
UHAI EASHRI
UK Community Advisory Board (UK-CAB)
UTOPIA_BXL
Voice of Hope Foundation
WACI Health
Youth and Women for Change in Eswatini
Zambian Key Populations Consortium