The World Bank is pushing through the biggest changes in decades to the social and environmental rules that cover its lending, drawing fire from activists¹ who are accusing it of betraying vulnerable populations across the world’s poorest countries.

世界银行(World Bank)正推动对覆盖其放贷活动的社会和环境规则作出数十年来最大的修改，此举引发活动人士的批评，他们指控世行背叛了全球最贫穷国家的弱势群体。

After four years of consultations² and contentious³ negotiations⁴ among its shareholder⁵ countries, the bank’s governing board yesterday unanimously approved an update of the so-called “safeguards” in place since the 1980s.

经过四年的磋商和股东国家之间的艰巨谈判，世行理事会昨日一致批准对上世纪80年代起实行至今的所谓“保障措施”进行更新的方案。

It is part of a bigger effort by president Jim Yong Kim — who is in the final year of what has been a controversial first term — to make the institution more nimble and address concerns from borrowers about the often burdensome process of securing loans.

此举是世行行长金墉(Jim Yong Kim)整体努力的一部分——他已进入有争议的第一个任期的最后一年——目的是使这家机构更加灵活，并解决借款人对于争取贷款的过程往往太过繁琐的关切。

The World Bank’s place in the global economy is in question as it faces growing competition from new institutions such as the China-backed Asian Infrastructure⁶ Investment Bank.

世行在全球经济中的地位正在成为一个问题，因为它面临着来自新机构的日益激烈的竞争，如中国支持的亚洲基础设施投资银行(AIIB)。

The bank said the old rules were ad hoc and cumbersome⁷. The new standards for the first time include requirements on labour and working conditions on World Bank projects.

世行表示，旧的规则是不规范和繁琐的。新标准首次包括了针对世行项目劳动和工作条件的要求。

Also incorporated are bans on discrimination against people on any basis, requirements for borrowers to estimate the impact of projects on climate change and a nod to human rights in an introductory “vision statement”.

新标准还纳入了禁止以任何依据歧视任何人的规定，并要求借款人评估项目对气候变化的影响，以及在一份序言式的“愿景声明”中提到对人权的尊重。

The biggest change, however, is that the rules are becoming more flexible, giving more power to borrower countries.

然而，最大的变化是这些规则正在变得更加灵活，让借款国拥有更大权力。

They allow for the increased use of local environmental and other regulations as benchmarks for projects.

新标准允许在更大程度上使用当地的环境和其他法规作为项目基准。

They also, critics claim, would allow governments to put off drafting things such as plans for relocating people affected⁸ by dams and other big infrastructure projects until after loans have been approved.

批评者声称，它们还将允许政府推迟起草重要文件（如搬迁受到大坝等大型基础设施项目影响的人们的计划），直至贷款已被批准之后。

Nadia Daar, head of Oxfam International’s Washington office, said the overhaul⁹ would shift much of the bank’s due diligence on projects until after they are approved.

国际乐施会(Oxfam International)华盛顿办事处负责人纳迪亚•达尔(Nadia Daar)表示，此次调整将把世行的很大一部分项目尽职调查工作推迟到项目已被批准之后。

“Frankly¹⁰ it is disappointing. A lot of us are looking to the World Bank to set the highest standards when it comes to all sorts of policies in development and particularly environmental and social standards.”

“坦白说这令人失望。我们当中很多人都寄望世界银行在发展工作中的各种政策，特别是环境和社会标准方面设定最高标准。”

The changes come as the bank continues to face problems with its projects.

这些规则变化出炉之际，世行的一些项目继续面临问题。

Last year, for example, the bank cancelled a $265m road programme in Uganda after activists documented repeated cases of contractors¹¹ sexually abusing children in the area surrounding the project.

去年，该行取消了乌干达一个2.65亿美元的道路项目，此前活动人士记录了项目周边地区一再发生承包商性虐待儿童的案件。

“The reason that we have this rules-based system is  . . .  the carnage and wreckage¹² across the world [that has been left] as a result of World Bank projects,” said Jeff Hall, executive director of the Bank Information Center, a Washington-based lobby group.

“我们之所以有这样的基于规则的制度，原因是……世界各地到处都有世行项目留下的破坏和残骸，”总部位于华盛顿的游说团体“银行信息中心”(Bank Information Center) 执行总监杰夫•霍尔(Jeff Hall)表示。

“The bank hasn’t demonstrated that it is very good at these sorts of things.”

“世行没有展现出它很擅长这些事情。”

Other analysts¹³ say the bank has vastly improved its performance over the years and that, while often high profile, its failures have been relatively¹⁴ rare.

其他分析人士表示，多年来世行已大幅改善了自己的表现，而其失败虽然往往引起轩然大波，但数量相对较少。