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As a human right, the child’s right to life entails a claim on both domestic and international resources, imposing duties on states and international actors. The lending decisions of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) can greatly influence, directly or indirectly, the realization of the child’s right of survival. Yet, international financial institution (IFI) loans come with conditions that can interfere with the ability of the recipient state to fulfill its human rights obligations to the child. In order to explore the human rights impact and responsibility of IFIs, this study attempts to initiate an investigation of the effects of IFI lending on child mortality rates. The study uses an unbalanced panel of observations from 161 developing countries, covering the years 1996–2013. Testing the effects of several different types of lending, the author finds that World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) lending subjects children to conditions that increase their risk of death. International Development Association (IDA) lending, on the other hand, benefits child survival, but the coefficients are small. IMF concessional lending is statistically insignificant in reducing child mortality until the year in which the program expires (seven year lag), at which time child mortality increases. IMF non-concessional lending has no effect on child mortality, although in the medium term, five years after the IMF loan, it reduces mortality.
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