From article:
Oxfam’s concerns beg the question: If involuntary resettlement is so challenging, should development finance institutions pursue it at all? That needs to be answered at the project level, according to Scott Morris, senior fellow at the Center for Global Development.
“It really depends on a fair weighting of the costs and benefits of any [multilateral development bank] project,” Morris told Devex.
It is possible to imagine an “extreme case,” in which a large infrastructure project would require the involuntary resettlement of 10 individuals, but with the potential to produce economic gains for thousands, Morris said. “That’s not to say, even at those extremes, that you should be indifferent to the 10.”
And that, according to Morris, is where the multilateral development banks tend to struggle. In attending to the potential for their projects to benefit thousands, they too frequently fail the 10.
“They simply have not managed the process of engagement and compensation adequately,” Morris said.
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