The book 'Breaking the Banks', launched February 26, 2001, provides useful insights into the Asian Development Bank. Although the focus is on the Mekong region, this review has been included in BACK DOOR so that comparisons can be made with the Asian Development Bank's involvement in East Timor.
To find out more about the Asian Development Bank in East Timor see these articles:
The La'o Hamutuk Bulletin Volume 1, no. 4 31 December 2000
The Impact of the Asian Development Bank and Australia's role in the Mekong region
A new book and campaign kit from Oxfam Community Aid Abroad
Around the world concern is rising about the growing power of international financial institutions, and their impact on the world's poorest people.
Oxfam Community Aid Abroad has produced a new book and campaign kit
looking at one of the most powerful, yet least known, institutions in the
Asia-Pacific: the Asian Development Bank (ADB). They are ideal for teachers
and students interested in the
region, including Australia's role and that of globalisation. Check
out http://www.caa.org.au/ campaigns
or contact 1800 088 110 or your local state office to find out more.
NEW BOOK: 'BREAKING THE BANKS'
The book examines the ADB's role in the Mekong region, and how it threatens the rights and livelihoods of millions. It also exposes the lines of accountability leading back home to Australia, one of the Bank's largest funders.
The book draws on the stories of women and men in rural Laos and Cambodia to show the real human impact of rapid social and economic change being driven by institutions like the ADB. It identifies competition for natural resources - rivers, forests and land - as the most important site of struggle between poor rural communities and the new global forces.
'Breaking the banks' is a metaphor for the annual cycles of the Mekong
river - massive rises and falls generated by the annual monsoon rains.
Millions of people live their entire lives on the Mekong's banks, tending
their gardens and fishing. The floods are a
vital link in the chain of life along the river's 4,800 length, depositing
fertile silt and triggering fish migrations and spawnings. The ADB's activities
threaten subsistence communities reliant on this complex system.
As an ADB funder, Australia bears some responsibility for the Bank's impact in our region. This book is a wake-up call for Australia to look a the impact of its tax dollars in the international arena.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * HOW TO ORDER 'BREAKING THE BANKS' * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To order 'Breaking the banks', go to our website at http://www.caa.org.au/campaigns/adb, call our national office on 1800 088 110 or contact your local Oxfam Community Aid Abroad office.
* * * * 'BREAKING THE BANKS' IS ONE PART OF OUR COMPLETE CAMPAIGN KIT * * * *
VIDEO: 'THE DAM TRUTH
$20.00
Success stories of Mekong villages working to protect their resources,
and the threat posed by ADB-style development. With discussion starter
for high school up.
SLIDE KIT
$47.00
Ideal for schools and community education, kit comes with an overhead
transparency map of the Mekong region, detailed notes for each slide and
an issues overview.
TOTAL package
$95.00
You get the book, slide kit, video with discussion starters,
two briefing papers plus campaign stickers and posters. Price incl. postage/handling
in Australia.
NB: Trade enquiries to bushbooks@ozemail.com.au.
The Australian Mekong Resource Centre has a working paper based on proceedings of the June 2000 'Accounting for Development' conference co-hosted with Oxfam Community Aid Abroad. Call (02) 9351 7796 or visit http://www.usyd.edu.au/geography/mekong/