Participating in the World Social Forum for the first time, the IMF and World Bank promised social and leftist activists on Saturday that they are increasingly heeding calls for a more aggressive fight against poverty. The groups' pledge to the gathering in this southern Brazilian city was a significant step forward in establishing a direct exchange between the multilateral lenders who have long been demonised by the activists, who seek a more equitable economic globalisation.
"There has been change. We are much more attentive to the question of growth and to the question of poverty reduction," said Simonetta Nardin, a senior external affairs officer at the International Monetary Fund.
Organisers estimate that more than 100,000 people from 122 countries around the world are attending the fifth annual forum, and it is the first time IMF or World Bank representatives participated in its official debates.
The Forum was originally intended as a counterpoint to this week's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where the world's wealthy nations meet every year.
For many of those gathered in Porto Alegre, the IMF and World Bank are directly responsible for worsening poverty by imposing on developing countries crushing debt and economic reforms that have widened income inequality.
Nardin said the multilateral institution could only be as good as the governments it is responsible to, but added that they too are becoming more responsive to calls for change.
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