World Bank Discontinues Loans to Uganda Over Anti-Gay Act

The World Bank Group has suspended all new loans to Uganda. This is in response to Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act. Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni signed the law back in May 29.

The move was considered harsh and got a lot of backlash from different international world bodies like the UN.

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The new law against homosexuality in Uganda contains death penalty provision for aggravated homosexuality. This lead to organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and the Council for Global Equity advocating for the World Bank to suspend loans to Uganda. Nearly a dozen Members of Congress wrote a letter to Ajay Banga, president of World Bank to reiterate this demand.

Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act fundamentally contradicts the World Bank Group values. We believe our vision is to eradicate poverty on a livable planet can only succeed if it includes everyone irrespective of race, gender or sexuality. This law undermines those efforts. Inclusion and non-discrimination sit, at the heart of our work around the world.

World Bank statement

Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act contradicts the @WorldBank’s values. After reviewing our portfolio in the context of the new legislation, no new public financing will be presented to our Board of Executive Directors.

Read the full statement: https://t.co/ZuoOyT80OI

— World Bank Group (@WorldBankGroup) August 8, 2023

The World Bank statement continues to note that, “no new public financing to Uganda will be presented to our Board of Executive Directors until the efficacy of the additional measures has been tested.”

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Former World Bank president, Jim Yong Kim, in 2014, postponed a $90 million loan to the Ugandan government. This was in response to Museveni signing a version of the Anti-Homosexuality Act. The act did not contain a death penalty provision by then.

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The LGBTQI+ community is yet to be fully embraced in Africa by most countries. A few years back, Kenya banned a Nickelodeon show, The Loud House, due to promoting homo-sexuality. The cartoon show featured two fathers as the parent of one of the cartoon characters.