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The 2025 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are taken place from April 21 to 26, in Washington, D.C. The Civil Society Policy Forum (CSPF) is taking place from April 22 to 25.
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The session will present a trade union study examining the implementation of the IMF's 2019 social spending strategy, exposing tensions between fiscal consolidation and social commitment. Panelists will explore alternative approaches prioritizing workers' rights, reducing inequality, and examining trade unions' and civil society’s critical role in safeguarding essential social spending.
Organizers: International Trade Union Confederation/Global Unions; Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), Global Social Justice, MENAFem, Human Rights Watch, ARI, Gender Action, Akina Mama wa Afrika, Phenix Center for Economic Studies, SEATINI-U, ISER, ActionAid, Bretton Woods Project, Arab Watch Coalition, ANND.
Date: Tuesday, April 22 / Time: 11 am - 12:30 pm (DC Time) / Watch here
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Platform work is transforming labor markets globally. As international bodies debate new standards, this panel explores how to regulate platform work, guarantee decent conditions, and ensure tech firms contribute to social security. It also examines how development finance, taxation, and labor standards can align for a more just digital economy.
Co-organizers: Human Rights Watch, Arab Reform Initiative, International Trade Union Confederation / Global Unions, Global Social Justice, MENA Fem Movement For Economic, Development, and Ecological Justice, Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), The Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER).
Date: Friday, April 25 / 11:15 am - 12:45 pm (DC Time) / Watch here
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The IMF and World Bank have prioritised tackling inequality. The World Bank has set a new goal to reduce the number of highly unequal countries. These are important steps, but greater action is required to halt runaway inequality.
Eastern and Southern Africa is the region of the world with the highest proportion of countries - two-thirds - identified as having “high inequality” in the new World Bank inequality indicator. This means the World Bank will in future, be putting reducing inequality at the forefront of its engagement. New analysis by ACT Sweden, DFI, Felm, NCA, Oxfam and Save the Children Norway - using the Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index - reveals that inequality is both high and rising in Southern and Eastern Africa.
The report emphasises that inequality is not inevitable; it is the result of policy choices. Every country has the potential to reduce it, and the provision of services, especially education, health and social protection, is decisive. Both the IMF and the World Bank need to step up their efforts to support countries in implementing policies that can sharply reduce inequality. If left unaddressed, inequality in Eastern and Southern Africa will fuel social unrest, hinder poverty eradication efforts, and undermine economic growth.
Date: Friday, April 25 / 1 - 2:30 pm (DC Time) / Watch here
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As Lebanon and Syria undergo reform and reconstruction, governance, financing, and economic policies must ensure transparency, accountability, and social justice. This session examines governance gaps, IMF and World Bank interventions, and needed reforms to foster stability, inclusive growth, and social protection while prioritizing livelihoods, equality, and community resilience.
Organizers: ARI, TIMEP; Human Rights Watch; Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors; ANND; AWC; MENAFem; Phenix Center for Economic and Informatics Studies; Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in MENA.
Date: Friday, April 25 / Time: 3 pm - 4:30 pm (DC Time) / Read more / Watch here
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As the IMF and World Bank gather for their 2025 Spring Meetings under the theme “Jobs – the Path to Prosperity”, global unions are raising the alarm over the return to austerity policies that undermine prosperity and decent work. Read more
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The Nordic-Baltic civil society constituency working for human rights, the eradication of
poverty, climate justice as well as fair distribution of power and resources, shared their comments on the Nordic-Baltic Constituency’s work within the IMF and they take the opportunity to raise some issues of concern ahead of the 2025 spring meetings. Read more
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