WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), in cooperation with over 300 organizations and advocates from 30 countries, launched the global ‘Raise the MIC’ campaign last year urging the World Bank to reconsider the way it classifies middle-income countries (MICs). The World Bank currently designates MICs as those with an income of at least $2.86/day, barely above the International Poverty Line of $1.25/day. Advocates are concerned that the Bank’s MIC designations—which are frequently used by other global funders and government bodies—translate into inadequate foreign aid for countries suffering from poverty, creating a lack of access to lifesaving HIV/AIDS drugs and other essential medications. AHF maintains that the bank’s MIC designation should never be used to disqualify poor countries from international aid for medications, life-saving services and reduced drug prices.
As part of the ‘Raise the MIC’ campaign, advocates will host a DEMONSTRATION in front of the World Bank in Washington, DC on Friday, April 15.
| WHAT: |
WORLD BANK PROTEST: Advocates to press World Bank to update flawed Middle Income Country (MIC) designations. |
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| WHEN: |
Friday, April 15, 2016 |
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12 – 1 PM ET |
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| WHERE: |
World Bank Headquarters |
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| 1818 H St. NW | |||
| Washington, DC 20006 | |||
| WHO: | |||
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• Jessica Reinhart, Associate Director of Community Outreach |
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• Raymond Thomas, Mobilizer |
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• Guy Anthony, Mobilizer and Other speakers TBD |
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| B-ROLL: | 30-50 advocates with placards, whistles & banners, 3ft world globe balloons | ||
| CONTACTS: |
Jessica Reinhart, Associate Director of Community Outreach for AHF | Cell: +1 (201) 725-1328 |
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John Hassell, AHF Regional Director, Greater Washington, DC Region | +1 (202) 774-4854 |
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Activists will call on the World Bank to set the lower limit of the MIC category at—or above—$3,650 of Gross National Income per capita, equivalent to about $10 per day. Also participating in the protest are advocates from the Bank Information Center (BIC), a non-governmental organization that promotes social and economic justice through greater accountability for public institutions. BIC representatives will encourage the World Bank to adopt policies that incorporate the human rights of women, girls, and sexual or gender minorities into its poverty reduction projects. In order to properly address issues such as violence against the LGBTI community in poor countries, BIC joins ‘Raise the MIC’ activists in advocating for appropriate MIC designations and adequate international aid.
“Seventy-five percent of the world’s poor reside in countries classified as middle-income, including the majority of people living with HIV/AIDS,” said John Hassell, AHF’s Regional Director in Washington, D.C. “The current MIC designation covers countries whose average citizen lives just above the poverty line and whose basic necessities are barely met. We urge the World Bank to revise its methodology so that it more closely aligns with the economic realities of people in the developing world.”
Country classifications are not only used by the World Bank, but a host of other large foreign aid organizations as well. As a result of their MIC designation, countries with weak economies face reductions in foreign aid, fewer concessionary development loans and higher prices for essential medicines—including lifesaving antiretroviral therapies for HIV/AIDS. For example, Mexico, Vietnam, and Ukraine pay as much as ten times the cost of commonly prescribed HIV drugs compared to countries classified as low-income, despite high levels of income inequality and greater disease burden. In Swaziland, nearly 1 in 3 adults is HIV-positive; however, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has stopped providing condoms to the country due to its MIC designation.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 605,000 individuals in 36 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare.
