Referring to Murdered Activist, World Bank President Says Such Incidents Are Unavoidable in Hydro Projects

Montreal, QC -- (ReleaseWire) -- 04/28/2016 -- In the video record of a talk in New York on April 6, in which there was discussion about Berta Caceres, the Honduran activist who had opposed a hydro project and was murdered in March, the president of the World Bank, Dr. Jim Kim, said "You cannot do the kind of work we are trying to do and not have some of these incidents happen."

Social Justice Connection has posted a two-minutes video with his remarks on its Youtube channel, "SJC-CJS Montreal" with excerpts from the talk, called The Principle of Mercy, at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City in April 2016. The full talk is available on the Youtube channel of the Union Theological Seminary.

In his talk, Kim discusses climate change, the need for energy generation in economic development and aspects of human rights, including the absence of a human rights-based approach at the World Bank. His comments on Honduras and Berta Caceres came one hour into the talk, as part of a response to comments from a participant about Caceres, Honduras and the opposition of indigenous people to dams in their territory.

Kim said "I think our commitment is to hear the voices of the Berta Cacereses of the world. We have to hear those voices." One minute later, after some comments about the displacement of people and controversy, he says, "You cannot do the kind of work we are trying to do and not have some of these incidents happen. We just have to be honest when it happens, admit it, and then try to fix it as best we can."

Caceres was shot and killed in her home on March 3. More than a hundred indigenous activists have been killed in Honduras in recent years.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/referring-to-murdered-activist-world-bank-president-says-such-incidents-are-unavoidable-in-hydro-projects-685010.htm