The World Bank is a United Nations international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programs. The World Bank is a component of the World Bank Group, and a member of the United Nations Development Group.
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), commonly referred to as the World Bank, is an international financial institution whose purposes include assisting the development of its member nation’s territories, promoting and supplementing private foreign investment and promoting long-range balance growth in international trade.
The World Bank was created in 1944 at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, along with three other institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The World Bank and the IMF are both based in Washington, D.C., and work closely with each other.
The organization of the bank consists of the Board of Governors, the Board of Executive Directors and the Advisory Committee, the Loan Committee and the president and other staff members. All the powers of the bank are vested in the Board of Governors which the supreme policy is making body of the bank.
The President of the Bank is the president of the entire World Bank Group. The president, currently Jim Yong Kim, is responsible for chairing the meetings of the Boards of Directors and for overall management of the Bank.
The World Bank’s official goal is the reduction of poverty. According to its Articles of Agreement, all its decisions must be guided by a commitment to the promotion of foreign investment and international trade and to the facilitation of capital investment.
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has 188 member countries, while the International Development Association (IDA) has 172 members. Each member state of IBRD should be also a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and only members of IBRD are allowed to join other institutions within the Bank (such as IDA).
The World Bank or the World Bank Group is also a sitting observer in the United Nations Development Group.
For the goals to be realized, six criteria must be met: stronger and more inclusive growth in fragile states, more effort in health and education, integration of the development and environment agendas, more and better aid, movement on trade negotiations, and stronger and more focused support from multilateral institutions like the World Bank.
- Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
- Achieve Universal Primary Education
- Promote Gender Equality
- Reduce Child Mortality
- Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Other Diseases
- Ensure Environmental Sustainability
