A World Bank executive has declared that, in order to resume new funding, the World Bank will strive to prevent discrimination against gay and transgender Ugandan’s in its programs.
This development comes after the suspension of funding to Uganda in August due to an anti-LGBTQ law.
Victoria Kwakwa, the World Bank’s head for eastern and southern Africa, has stated that World Bank project documents will explicitly state that LGBTQ Ugandans must not experience discrimination, and that the bank’s staff will not face arrest for including them in their programs.
According to rights groups, the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), implemented in May and prescribing the death penalty for specific same-sex acts, has led to a surge in harassment and abuse against LGBTQ individuals, predominantly perpetrated by private individuals.
“We’re doing all this to clarify this is not what you should be doing in World Bank-financed projects and to say you are allowed to do it the right way and you will be not be arrested,” Kwakwa said, on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s annual meetings in Marrakech, Morocco.
She did not specify a timeframe for evaluating the effectiveness of these measures and making a decision regarding the resumption of new funding for Uganda.
“We have discussed this at length with government. Government is comfortable with that,” Kwakwa said.
Ugandan officials criticized the World Bank for what they saw as hypocrisy when the institution suspended new funding. They argued that the World Bank was providing loans to countries in the Middle East and Asia with similar or even more stringent laws targeting LGBTQ individuals.
At the time, a junior finance minister stated that the government would have to adjust its budget to account for the possible financial consequences of the suspension.
The World Bank’s portfolio of projects in the East African nation stood at $5.2 billion at the close of 2022. The suspension of new financing has not impacted these existing projects.
