World Bank Halts New Loan Funding to Uganda over Failure to Retrieve Their Decision on Anti-Gay law

World Bank has halted new loans to Uganda after adopting Anti-Homosexuality law citing violation of LGBTQ rights.

According to the World Bank, the recent passage of the anti-homosexuality law has resulted in human rights violations, which has frozen any future funding for projects in Uganda.

According to a statement from the Bank, more assistance will not be released until Ugandan authorities have proper policies to safeguard minorities, including LGBTQ+ and other commonly categorized groups.

"The World Bank Group's values are fundamentally at odds with Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act. We think that for us to achieve our goal of eradicating poverty in a habitable world, everyone must be included, regardless of colour, gender, or sexual orientation. This law undercuts those initiatives. Our work is centred on inclusion and discrimination anywhere in the world, “the Bank stated on Tuesday.

The Anti-Homosexuality Act, which stipulates that "aggravated homosexuality" is punishable by a death sentence, was signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni in May, 2023.

Rights organizations and Western governments like the US, which threatened sanctions, denounced it.

The US has historically produced the president of the World Bank and is one of its largest shareholders.

Even before this law, same-sex relations had been illegal in Uganda under the old penal code.

But critics charged the new law seals any possible protections for minorities who may now not be able to rent property as the new law promises punishments to those who conceal homosexuals.