On Sunday, April 16, 2000, about 30,000 people converged on Washington DC to create the largest protest ever in the U.S. against the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Even the weeks and long days of preparation had not prepared us for what April 16th turned out to be. With the dawn came rain and thousands of activists from around the world gathered in Washington to send a clear message to the IMF, to the World Bank, and to the rest of the world. We demand debt cancellation, an end to structural adjustment programs, accountability and transparency, an end to environmental destruction, an end to war; fair trade, and justice.

On July 13, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its foreign operations appropriations bill.  After much debate, the bill included nearly the full amount President Clinton requested for the joint IMF/World Bank "debt relief" program, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.

The following commentary was submitted to newspapers in the wake of the failure of the World Bank Board and the Chinese government to come to terms on a controversial project to resettle landless peasants in an area near Tibet.

All over the world women have made imagination into power and have organized thousands of actions, activities, and mobilizations to question the actual disorder of the world, to confront political leaders with their responsibilities towards women, and to propose alternatives. And it's only a beginning!

The momentum of Seattle, which was palpable by noon on November 30, when thousands of activists were putting themselves on the line for global justice, inspired many that day to start looking toward April in Washington.

The protests on April 16th were of two types: the non-violent direct action, in which thousands and thousands of people blockaded intersections very early in the morning in an effort to prevent delegates from reaching their meeting at IMF headquarters, and a more conventional rally at the "Ellipse" behind the White House, followed by a short march towards the IMF.

The 50 Years Is Enough Network made it a priority to ensure that a number of activists came to Washington from the countries that suffer most under the World Bank and IMF.

Any time is a good time to challenge the powers that keep those most affected by globalization out of the process of determining their country's economic future. Like, say, 5:45 a.m. on a drizzly Saturday.

In April, the All Workers Conference of Mauritius, Indian Ocean [east of Madagascar] added its voice to the international protest movement against the IMF andWorld Bank. The All Workers Conference, a platform of trade union federations, women, youth and ecology protection associations, organised two major events.

The movement for global economic justice demonstrated several important things in Washington.  Most important was that the demonstrations at the WTO meetings in Seattle were not a one-time event, an isolated volcano of activist spirit.  Any doubts that the United States has definitively joined the international movement opposing corporate-driven rules that leave people with no control over their economies were dispelled. 

A 1994 World Bank loan to the Czech Republic’s mostly state owned utility company, CEZ, is an unfortunate example of this lending philosophy. While the loan should have demonstrated the World Bank’s potential for contributing positively to sustainable development, it has instead served as a clear illustration of the manner in which the World Bank’s good intentions sometimes lead to disaster.

The three months since the Mobilization for Global Justice have been unusually full of developments concerning the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. In this column – which may become a regular feature of Economic Justice News if events continue at this pace – we list some of those developments. Much of this news has been drawn from the 50 Years Is Enough e-mail "listserv"; if you would like to subscribe to it, please send a request to subscribe50years@yahoo.com