Abstract :
The article examines the evolution of the World Bank’s policies on indigenous peoples, situating these frameworks within the institution’s broader historical transformation from its post-Second World War founding to its contemporary role as an architect of global development norms. It traces the Bank’s origins in the Bretton Woods system, its expansion through structural adjustment lending in the 1980s and 1990s, and the legitimacy crises generated by environmental and social safeguard controversies. These crises, intensified by indigenous resistance to large-scale infrastructure and extractive projects, catalyzed the Bank’s engagement with indigenous rights and protections. The article conceptualizes indigenous peoples as culturally distinct, territorially rooted communities whose livelihoods, governance systems, and identities have been systematically marginalized by neo-liberal development models. Against this backdrop, it critically assesses the rationale, content and implementation of key World Bank policy instruments, notably Operational Directive 4.20 and its successor, the Indigenous Peoples Policy (2005; updated 2017). These frameworks sought to address historical exclusions by mitigating project-related harms, promoting benefit-sharing, and embedding safeguards related to free, prior, and informed consent, cultural heritage, and social inclusion. Empirically, the analysis draws on comparative case studies of World Bank–supported projects across diverse national contexts. These cases demonstrate improvements in risk management and consultation practices, while also revealing persistent shortcomings, including bureaucratic fragmentation, weak accountability, and power asymmetries that privilege state and corporate actors over indigenous communities. Critical perspectives from scholars, non-governmental organizations and indigenous advocates further illuminate patterns of uneven enforcement, procedural compliance and tokenistic participation. The article concludes by proposing reforms aimed at strengthening rights-respecting development, including the creation of an independent participatory oversight mechanism, mandatory culturally grounded impact assessments, and systematic integration of United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples principles into World Bank operations. These recommendations offer broader lessons for multilateral institutions.

Keywords :
Development Policies, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Tribes, World Bank.

–

References :

• Adeola, F. O. (2001). Environmental injustice and human rights abuse: The state, multinational corporations, and repression of minority groups in the world system. Human Ecology Review, 8(1), 39–59.
• Agrawal, A. (2002). Indigenous knowledge and the politics of classification. International Social Science Journal, 54(173), 287–297.
• Alacevich, M. (2009). The political economy of the World Bank: The early years. World Bank Publications.
• Alfred, T., & Corntassel, J. (2005). Being Indigenous: Resurgences against contemporary colonialism. Government and Opposition, 40(4), 597–614.
• Anaya, S. J. (2009). International human rights and Indigenous peoples. Aspen Publishers.
• Bretton Woods Project. (2024). World Bank’s lack of meaningful consultation leaves Chiquitano Indigenous peoples in Bolivia with no recourse.
• Brölmann, C. M., & Zieck, M. Y. A. (1993). Indigenous peoples. In C. Brölmann, R. Lefeber, & M. Zieck (Eds.), Peoples and minorities in international law (pp. 187–220). Martinus Nijhoff.
• Bruchac, M. M. (2014). Indigenous knowledge and traditional knowledge. In C. Smith (Ed.), Encyclopedia of global archaeology (pp. 3814–3824). Springer.
• Buckley, R. M., & Kalarickal, J. (Eds.). (2006). Thirty years of World Bank shelter lending: What have we learned? World Bank Publications.
• Burger, J., & Strong, M. F. (1990). The Gaia atlas of first peoples: A future for the Indigenous world. Anchor Books.
• Buse, K., & Walt, G. (2000). Global public–private partnerships: Part I. A new development in health? Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 78(4), 549–561.
• Davis, S. H. (2021). The World Bank and Indigenous peoples. In A. Pipitone & R. Saner (Eds.), Social development in the World Bank (pp. 191–204). Springer.
• Davis, S. H., & Wali, A. (1993). Indigenous views of land and the environment (World Bank Discussion Paper No. 188). World Bank.
• de Moerloose, S. (2020). Indigenous peoples’ free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and the World Bank safeguards: Between norm emergence and concept appropriation. Verfassung und Recht in Übersee / Law and Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America, 53(3), 223–244.
• Del Castillo, G. (2008). Rebuilding war-torn states: The challenge of post-conflict economic reconstruction. Oxford University Press.
• Ehrentraut, S. (2011). Decentralization and the promise of Indigenous peoples’ empowerment: The case of the World Bank in Cambodia. The Pacific Review, 24(1), 89–113.
• Errico, S. (2006). The World Bank and Indigenous peoples: The operational policy on Indigenous peoples (OP 4.10) between Indigenous peoples’ rights to traditional lands and to free, prior, and informed consent. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 13(4), 367–390.
• Forest Peoples Programme. (2000). Indigenous peoples, forests and the World Bank: Policies and practice. Forest Peoples Programme.
• Ghazi, B. (2021). The IMF, the World Bank Group and the question of human rights (Vol. 4). Brill.
• Gray, A. (1997). Indigenous culture and development: The question of identity, equity, and cooperation. IWGIA Document, (85), 287–305.
• Griffiths, T. (2000). World Bank projects and Indigenous peoples in Ecuador and Bolivia. Forest Peoples Programme & Bank Information Center.
• Griffiths, T. (2005). Indigenous peoples and the World Bank: Experiences with participation. Forest Peoples Programme.
• Griffiths, T., & Bosu Mullick, S. (2004). World Bank plans for forestry project in Jharkhand State (India) continue to cause controversy. Forest Peoples Programme.
• Griffiths, T., & Colchester, M. (2000, August). Report on a workshop on Indigenous peoples, forests and the World Bank: Policies and practice. Forest Peoples Programme & Bank Information Center.
• Hallegatte, S., Rentschler, J., & Rozenberg, J. (2019). Lifelines: The resilient infrastructure opportunity. World Bank Publications.
• Head, J. W. (2006). Protecting and supporting Indigenous peoples in Latin America: Evaluating the recent World Bank and IDB policy initiatives. Michigan State University College of Law Journal of International Law, 14, 383–426.
• Horowitz, L. S., Keeling, A., Lévesque, F., Rodon, T., Schott, S., & Thériault, S. (2024). Indigenous peoples’ relationships to large-scale mining in postcolonial contexts: Toward multidisciplinary comparative perspectives. In Mining and Indigenous livelihoods (pp. 109–136). Routledge.
• Indian Law Resource Center. (2005). The World Bank.
• Ingram, G. K. (2003). Implementation of Operational Directive 4.20 on Indigenous peoples: An independent desk review. World Bank.
• Inspection Panel. (2016). Emerging lessons series no. 2: Indigenous peoples. World Bank.
• International Labour Organization. (1989). Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169). ILO.
• Kapur, D., Lewis, J. P., & Webb, R. C. (2011). The World Bank: Its first half century (Vol. 1). Brookings Institution Press.
• Kharas, H., & Bhattacharya, A. (2023). The trillion-dollar bank: Making IBRD fit for purpose in the 21st century (Working Paper No. 181). Brookings Institution.
• Larsen, P. B., & Chanthavisouk, C. (2024). Free, prior, and informed consent, local officials, and changing biodiversity governance in Hin Nam No, Laos. Conservation Biology, 38(6), e14388.
• MacKay, F. (2004). Indigenous peoples’ rights to free, prior and informed consent and the World Bank’s Extractive Industries Review. Sustainable Development Law & Policy, 4(2), 43–65.
• MacKay, F. (2005). The draft World Bank Operational Policy 4.10 on Indigenous peoples: Progress or more of the same? Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law, 22(1), 65–98.
• Mahanty, S., & McDermott, C. L. (2013). How does free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) impact social equity? Lessons from mining and forestry and their implications for REDD+. Land Use Policy, 35, 406–416.
• Morris, S., Parks, B., & Gardner, A. (2020). Chinese and World Bank lending terms: A systematic comparison across 157 countries and 15 years (CGD Policy Paper No. 170). Center for Global Development.
• Murphy, M. (2019). Indigenous peoples and the struggle for self-determination: A relational strategy. Canadian Journal of Human Rights, 8(1), 67–96.
• Owen, J. R., Kemp, D., Lechner, A. M., Harris, J., Zhang, R., & Lèbre, É. (2023). Energy transition minerals and their intersection with land-connected peoples. Nature Sustainability, 6(2), 203–211.
• Paradies, Y. (2016). Colonisation, racism and Indigenous health. Journal of Population Research, 33(1), 83–96.
• Rodríguez-Garavito, C. (2011). Ethnicity.gov: Global governance, Indigenous peoples, and the right to prior consultation in social minefields. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 18(1), 263–305.
• Rowkith, S., & Bhagwan, R. (2020). Honoring tribal spirituality in India: An exploratory study of beliefs, rituals, and healing practices. Religions, 11(11), 549.
• Salman, S. M. A. (2006). The World Bank’s new policy on Indigenous peoples, 2005. In The World Bank Legal Review (Vol. 2, pp. 525–551). Brill Nijhoff.
• Sarfaty, G. A. (2005). The World Bank and the internalization of Indigenous rights norms. Yale Law Journal, 114(7), 1791–1818.
• Stavenhagen, R. (2012). The emergence of Indigenous peoples. Springer.
• United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2024). Indigenous peoples at the United Nations. United Nations.
• United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. (2024). Who are Indigenous peoples? United Nations.
• United Nations. (2007). United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (GA Res. 61/295). United Nations.
• United Nations. (2024). Protecting the rights of Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact. United Nations.
• United Nations. (n.d.). The World Bank. United Nations Academic Impact.
• Uquillas, J. E., & Van Nieuwkoop, M. (2003). Social capital as a factor in Indigenous peoples’ development in Ecuador (Sustainable Development Working Paper No. 15). World Bank.
• Vita, V., Tan, R., & Panjshiri, N. (2017). The World Bank Inspection Panel and international human rights law (Final report). NYU School of Law, International Institutions Clinic.
• World Bank Group. (2022). Nepal: World Bank and RRN sign $4.5 million grant to strengthen the role of forest-dependent Indigenous peoples and local communities in climate action. World Bank Group.
• World Bank Group. (2023). How is India addressing its water needs? World Bank Group.
• World Bank Group. (2023). India: Helping people build resilience to climate change. World Bank Group.
• World Bank Group. (2023). Indigenous Latin America. World Bank Group.
• World Bank Group. (2023). The World Bank supports Colombia’s sustainable and inclusive development. World Bank Group.
• World Bank Group. (2024). Cambodia Sustainable Livelihood for Indigenous Communities Project (CSLICP). World Bank Group.
• World Bank Group. (2024). Cambodia: Health Equity and Quality Improvement Project: Indigenous peoples planning framework. World Bank Group.
• World Bank Group. (2024). Cambodia: Higher Education Improvement Project: Equity assessment and equity plan. World Bank Group.
• World Bank Group. (2024). China: Rural Health Project: Indigenous peoples planning framework. World Bank Group.
• World Bank Group. (2024). India: Citizen-centric service delivery project: Tribal development plan. World Bank Group.
• World Bank Group. (2024). Kenya: Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project: Vulnerable and marginalized groups framework. World Bank Group.
• World Bank Group. (2024). Meghalaya Community-Led Landscapes Management Project. World Bank Group.
• World Bank Group. (2024). Mexico: Indigenous Communities Development Project: Indigenous peoples plan. World Bank Group.
• World Bank Group. (2024). Suriname: Competitiveness and Sector Diversification Project: Indigenous and Tribal Peoples planning framework. World Bank Group.
• World Bank Group. (2024). Vietnam: Forest Sector Development Project: Indigenous peoples development plan. World Bank Group.
• World Bank. (1998). Indigenous knowledge for development. World Bank.
• World Bank. (2003). Implementation of Operational Directive 4.20 on Indigenous peoples: An independent desk review. Australian Indigenous Law Reporter, 8(1), 113–134.
• World Bank. (2005). Operational Policy 4.10: Indigenous peoples (Operational manual, revised April 2013). World Bank.
• World Bank. (2006). International Finance Corporation sustainability policy. World Bank.
• World Bank. (2006). World Development Report 2007: Development and the next generation. World Bank.
• World Bank. (2013). The World Bank Annual Report 2013. World Bank.
• World Bank. (2024). International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
• World Bank. (2024). International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
• World Bank. (2024). International Development Association (IDA).
• World Bank. (2024). International Finance Corporation (IFC).
• World Bank. (2024). Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).
• World Bank. (2025). Indigenous Peoples overview. World Bank.
• World Bank. (2025). Indigenous Peoples policy framework. World Bank.
• World Commission on Dams. (2000). Dams and development: A new framework for decision-making (Final report). Earthscan.
• Yap, M. L. M., & Watene, K. (2019). The sustainable development goals and Indigenous peoples: Another missed opportunity? Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 20(4), 451–467.

–

---

---

WEB – PAGE COUNTER