Introduction
Conceived during World War 2 at Bretton woods, New Hampshire, the World Bank initially helped rebuild Europe after the war. its the first loan of %250 million was to France in 1947 for post-war reconstruction. Reconstruction has remained an importent focus of the Banks work, given the natural disasaters, humanitarian emergencies, and post-conflict rehabilitation needs that affect developing and transition economies.
Today’s Bank , however, has sharpened its focus on poverty reduction as the overeaching goal solely in Washington, D.C. today, it has a multidisciplinary and diverse staff including economists, public policy experts, sectoral experts, and socila scientists 40% of staff are now based in country offices.
The bank itself is bigger, broader, and far more complex.It has become a Group, encomepassing 5 closely associated development instructions – The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), The International Development Association (IDA), The International Finance Corporation (IFC), The Multi-lateral Investment Guarantee(MIGA), and The International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes(ICSID). IBRD and IDA are collectively referred as parent, ‘World Bank’. However, the terms IBRD and World Bank are referred interchangabely.
Transition :
During 1980’s, the bank was pushed in many directions: Early in the decade, the bank was brought face to face with macro-economic and debt re-schedulling issues; later in the decade, social and environmental issues assumed center stage and an increasingly vocal civil society accused the bank of not observing its own policies in some high profile projects.
To address concerns about the quality of bank operations, the Wapehans Report was realised and soon after, steps towards reform were taken, including the creation of an inspection pannel to investigate claims against the bank. However, criticism increased, reaching a peak in 1994 at the annual meetings in Madrid.
What is World Bank?
Founded in 1944, the world bank group is one of the largest sources of development assistance. The bank, which provided USD 17.3 Billion in loans to its client countries in fiscal year 2001, is now working in more than 100 developing economies, bringing a mix of finance and ideas to improve living standards and elemiate the worst forms of poverty. For each of its clients, the bank works with government agencies, NGO’s, and the private sector to formulate assistance strategies. Its country offices world wide deliever the banks programme in countries, liaise with government and civil society, and work to increase understanding of development issues.
The world bank is own by more than 180 member countries whos views abd interests are represented by a board of governers and a Washington based board of directors. Member countries are shareholders who carry ultimate decision-making power in the world bank.
The Bank uses its financial resources, its highly trained staff, and its extensive knowledge based to indivisual help each developing country on to a path of stable, sustainable, and equitable growth. The main focous is on helping the poorest people and the poorest country, but of all its clients the bank emphasizes the need for :
- Investing in people, particullary throughly basic health and education.
- Focusing on social development, inclusion, governence, and institution-building as key elements of poverty reduction.
- Strengthening the ability of the governments to deliver quality services efficiently and transparently.
- Protecting the environment.
- Supporting and encouraging private business development.
- Promoting reforms to create a stable macro-economic environment, conducive to investment and long term planning.
Through its loans, policy advice and technical assistance, the world bank supports a broad range of programmes aimed at reducing poverty and improving living standards in developling world.