Despite the fact that dozens of countries outlaw homosexuality and at least half of them use the death sentence, the World Bank has halted lending to Uganda.
The World Bank has halted all new loans to Uganda, claiming that the country’s anti-homosexuality law, which was approved in March, “fundamentally contradicts” the Bank’s values.
According to Uganda’s Anti Homosexuality Act 2023 (pdf), LGBTQ people can be arrested and imprisoned for up to 20 years, depending on the nature of their offense. Cases of “aggravated homosexuality” may result in the death penalty.
The passing of the draconian law has already forced the United States to reconsider its $1 billion aid package to Uganda. The World Bank, which has disbursed $5.4 billion in loans to Uganda until the end of 2022, was also under pressure to reconsider its partnership with the country.
In May, a World Bank team in Kampala published a fresh poverty assessment study that made no mention of the new law. However, on August 8, the Bank said that it will begin rejecting new loans to Uganda. “We believe that our vision of ending poverty on a livable planet can only succeed if it includes everyone, regardless of race, gender, or sexuality,” the Bank said in a statement.
Uganda is one of 62 countries that have passed legislation criminalizing homosexuality in some way. More than half of these countries have at least a 10-year prison sentence for homosexual activities. In Nigeria and Brunei, the potential prison terms are 21 and 30 years, respectively.
At least six additional nations, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Brunei, Mauritania, and Nigeria, have the death sentence as a penalty for homosexuality. Furthermore, Iran, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen have threatened to flog people before killing them in accordance with their own laws.
However, the World Bank’s links with many of these other countries remain intact. The Bank, for example, refers to Saudi Arabia as a “key development partner,” despite the fact that the state has murdered many homosexuals. Brunei passed a law in 2019 that allows people to be stoned to death for both adultery and homosexual sex. Nonetheless, the World Bank stated the following year, while naming a new country director for Brunei, that it was ready to assist the country in addressing development difficulties and upgrading business regulations.
Following the World Bank’s announcement that it will no longer lend to Uganda, the country’s president, Yoweri Museveni, stated on X that Uganda “will develop with or without loans.”
