The World Bank, Washington DC

The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries. Not a bank in the common sense, it consists of two unique development institutions owned by 185 member countries -- the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the International Development Association (IDA). It concentrates on building the climate for investment, jobs and sustainable growth, so that economies will grow; and, by investing in, and empowering poor people to participate in development.

Each institution plays a different but collaborative role to advance the vision of an inclusive and sustainable globalization. The IBRD focuses on middle income and creditworthy poor countries, while IDA focuses on the poorest countries in the world. Together they provide low-interest loans, interest-free credits and grants to developing countries for a wide array of purposes that include investments in education, health, public administration, infrastructure, financial and private sector development, agriculture, and environmental and natural resource management.

The World Bank Group now includes the International Development Association, the International Finance Corporation, the Multilateral Guarantee Agency, and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. A third of its multidisciplinary staff is based in country offices.

In 2007, the World Bank provided $23.6 billion for 279 projects in developing countries worldwide, providing financial and/or technical expertise aimed at helping those countries reduce poverty. It has 1,800 projects such as providing micro-credit in Bosnia and Herzegovina, raising AIDS-prevention awareness in Guinea, supporting education of girls in Bangladesh, improving health care delivery in Mexico, helping East Timor rebuild upon independence, and helpng India rebuild Gujarat after its devastating earthquake.

Although reconstruction remains a prime goal, global challenges require a focus on poverty reduction and sustainable growth in the poorest countries; solutions to the special challenges of post-conflict countries and fragile states; development solutions with customized services as well as financing for middle-income countries; regional and global issues that cross national borders -- climate change, infectious diseases, and trade; greater development and opportunity in the Arab world; and, pulling together the best global knowledge to support development.

There are more than 63,000 donor-funded development projects worldwide, each governed by countless demands, guidelines and procedures designed to ensure that aid gets to the poor. Capacity in developing countries improves and strengthens when donors better coordinate their activities and harmonize their procedures; so, the World Bank works with other international institutions and donors, the private sector, civil society and professional and academic associations to improve the coordination of aid policies and practices in countries, at the regional level and at the global level.