The World Bank and human rights 2015, para. 41

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Ironically, given the widespread perception that the Bank is dominated by Western interests and values, the argument is often heard that the Bank needs to avoid human rights discourse because it may be perceived as imposing Western values on non-Western countries. Thus, the authors of a report on gender and human rights-based approaches in development felt the need to address such concerns in a separate annex. While the debate over cultural relativism is a very vibrant one in both political and scholarly circles, the justifiable issue of concern is not the basic universality of the standards, which has long been reaffirmed, but the degree of cultural appropriateness shown in their application. For the Bank to invoke a relativist justification to refuse all engagement with the universal standards is contrary to international law. Particular interpretations of human rights will always be contested, but so too will definitions of poverty, the rule of law, corruption and a great many other notions which lie at the heart of its work. Avoidance is no substitute for sophisticated and nuanced engagement.
Legal status
Non-negotiated soft law
Body
Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
Document type
Special Procedures' report
Means of adoption
N.A.
Topic(s)
  • Equality & Inclusion
  • Gender
  • Governance & Rule of Law
Person(s) affected
  • N.A.
Year
2015
Paragraph type
Other
Paragraph number
41