World Bank is a term used to describe an international financial institution International financial institutions, or IFIs, refers to financial institutions that have been established by more than one country, and hence are subjects of international law. Their owners or shareholders are generally national governments, although other international institutions and other organisations occasionally figure as shareholders. The that provides leveraged loans^[2] to developing countries Developing country is a term generally used to describe a nation with a low level of material well being. There is no single internationally-recognized definition of developed country, and the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries, with some developing countries having high average standards of living for capital programs Infrastructure is the basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function. The term typically refers to the technical structures that support a society, such as roads, water supply, sewers, power grids, telecommunications, and so forth. The World Bank has a stated goal of reducing poverty Poverty is the lack of basic human needs, such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter, because of the inability to afford them. This is also referred to as absolute poverty or destitution. Relative poverty is the condition of having fewer resources or less income than others within a society or country, or compared.

The World Bank differs from the World Bank Group The World Bank Group is a family of five international organizations that makes leveraged loans, generally to poor countries. The Bank came into formal existence on 27 December 1945 following international ratification of the Bretton Woods agreements, which emerged from the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference (1–22 July 1944). It, in that the World Bank comprises only two institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development is one of five institutions that comprise the World Bank Group. The IBRD is an international organization whose original mission was to finance the reconstruction of nations devastated by World War II. Now, its mission has expanded to fight poverty by means of financing states. Its (IBRD) and the International Development Association The International Development Association , is the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries. It complements the World Bank's other lending arm — the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) — which serves middle-income countries with capital investment and advisory services (IDA), whereas the latter incorporates these two in addition to three more:^[3] International Finance Corporation IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, DC. It shares the primary objective of all World Bank Group institutions: to improve the quality of the lives of people in its developing member countries (IFC), Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency is a member of the World Bank Group. It was established to promote foreign direct investment into developing countries. MIGA was founded in 1988 with a capital base of $1 billion and is headquartered in Washington, DC. MIGA's shareholders are its 175 member countries (MIGA), and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes , an institution of the World Bank group based in Washington, D.C., was established in 1966 pursuant to the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (the ICSID Convention or Washington Convention). As of May 2005, 155 countries (ICSID).

History

The World Bank is one of five institutions created at the Bretton Woods Conference The United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, commonly known as Bretton Woods conference, was a gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations at the Mount Washington Hotel, situated in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire to regulate the international monetary and financial order after the conclusion of World War II in 1944. The International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund is the international organization that oversees the global financial system by following the macroeconomic policies of its member countries, in particular those with an impact on exchange rate and the balance of payments, a related institution, is the second. Delegates from many countries attended the Bretton Woods Conference. The most powerful countries in attendance were the United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language and United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land which dominated negotiations.^[4]

Although both are based in Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790. The City of Washington was originally a separate municipality within the Territory of Columbia until an act of Congress in 1871 effectively merged the City and the, the World Bank is by custom headed by an American, while the IMF is led by a European.

1945–1968

From its conception until 1967 the bank undertook a relatively low level of lending. Fiscal conservatism Fiscal conservatism is a political term used in North America to describe a fiscal policy that advocates avoiding deficit spending. Fiscal conservatives often consider reduction of overall government spending and national debt as well as ensuring balanced budget of paramount importance. Free trade, deregulation of the economy, lower taxes, and and careful screening of loan applications was common. Bank staff attempted to balance the priorities of providing loans for reconstruction and development with the need to instill confidence in the bank.^[5]

Bank president John McCloy selected France to be the first recipient of World Bank aid; two other applications from Poland and Chile were rejected. The loan was for $987 million, half the amount requested and came with strict conditions. Staff from the World Bank monitored the use of the funds, ensuring that the French government would present a balanced budget and give priority of debt repayment to the World Bank over other governments. The United States State Department The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, similar to foreign ministries, foreign offices, ministries of external relations, etc. in other countries. It is administered by the Secretary of State, the office currently held by Hillary told the French government that communist Communism is a social structure in which classes are abolished and property is commonly controlled, as well as a political philosophy and social movement that advocates and aims to create such a society elements within the Cabinet needed to be removed. The French Government complied with this diktat and removed the Communist coalition government A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament. A coalition government might also be created in a time of national difficulty or crisis, for example during wartime, to give a. Within hours the loan to France was approved.^[6]

The Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan was a primary program, 1947–51, of the United States for rebuilding and creating a stronger economic foundation for the countries of Western Europe. The initiative was named for Secretary of State George Marshall and was largely the creation of State Department officials, especially William L. Clayton and George F. Kennan of 1947 caused lending by the bank to change as many European countries received aid that competed with World Bank loans. Emphasis was shifted to non-European countries and until 1968, loans were earmarked In public finance, an earmark is a requirement that all or a portion of a certain source of revenue, such as a particular tax, be devoted to a specific public expenditure. For example, in the United Kingdom a tax on televisions is directly allocated to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for projects that would enable a borrower country to repay loans (such projects as ports, highway systems, and power plants).

1968–1980

From 1968 to 1980 the bank concentrated on meeting the basic needs of people in the developing world.^{[citation needed]} The size and number of loans to borrowers was greatly increased as loan targets expanded from infrastructure into social services and other sectors.^{[citation needed]}

These changes can be attributed to Robert McNamara Robert Strange McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968. Following that he served as President of the World Bank from 1968 until 1981. McNamara was responsible for the institution of systems analysis in public policy, which who was appointed to the presidency in 1968 by Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, served as the 36th President of the United States from 1963 to 1969 after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States from 1961 to 1963. He served in all four federal elected offices of the United States: Representative, Senator, Vice President and President.^[7] McNamara imported a technocratic managerial style to the Bank that he had used as United States Secretary of Defense The United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), concerned with the armed services and military matters. This position roughly corresponds to Minister of defense in other countries. The role of the Secretary of Defense is to be the principal defense policy advisor to the President and is responsible for and President of the Ford Motor Company The Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury brands, Ford also owns Volvo Cars in Sweden, and a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK. Ford'.^[8] McNamara shifted bank policy toward measures such as building schools and hospitals, improving literacy Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read and write. It is a concept claimed and defined by a range of different theoretical fields. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization defines literacy as the "ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and and agricultural reform. McNamara created a new system of gathering information from potential borrower nations that enabled the bank to process loan applications much faster. To finance more loans, McNamara told bank treasurer Eugene Rotberg to seek out new sources of capital outside of the northern banks that had been the primary sources of bank funding. Rotberg used the global bond market to increase the capital available to the bank.^[9] One consequence of the period of poverty alleviation lending was the rapid rise of third world debt Developing countries' debt is external debt incurred by the governments of Third World countries, generally in quantities beyond the governments' political ability to repay. "Unpayable debt" is a term used to describe external debt when the interest on the debt exceeds what the country's politicians think they can collect from taxpayers,. From 1976 to 1980 developing world debt rose at an average annual rate of 20%.^[10][11]

1980–1989

In 1980 A.W. Clausen He was born in Hamilton, Illinois to a family of German ancestry and graduated from Carthage College in 1944 with a BA, again in 1970 with a LLD, from the University of Minnesota in 1949 with a LLB and from Harvard University’s Advanced Management Program in 1966 replaced McNamara after being nominated by US President Jimmy Carter James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office. Before he became President, Carter served two terms as a Georgia State Senator and one as Governor of Georgia,. Clausen replaced a large number of bank staffers from the McNamara era and instituted a new ideological focus in the bank. The replacement of Chief Economist Hollis B. Chenery by Anne Krueger Anne Osborn Krueger is an economist and was the former World Bank Chief Economist from 1982 to 1986 in 1982 marked a notable policy shift at the bank. Krueger was known for her criticism of development funding as well as third world governments as rent-seeking In economics, rent seeking occurs when an individual, organization or firm seeks to earn income by capturing economic rent through manipulation or exploitation of the economic or political environment, rather than by earning profits through economic transactions and the production of added wealth states.

Lending to service third world debt marked the period of 1980–1989. Structural adjustment Structural adjustment is a term used to describe the policy changes implemented by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank (the Bretton Woods Institutions) in developing countries. These policy changes are conditions (Conditionalities) for getting new loans from the IMF or World Bank, or for obtaining lower interest rates on existing policies aimed at streamlining the economies of developing nations (at the expense of health and social services) were also a large part of World Bank policy during this period. UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II. In 1953, UNICEF became a permanent part of the United Nations System and its name was shortened from the original United Nations reported in the late 1980s that the structural adjustment programs of the World Bank were responsible for the "reduced health, nutritional and educational levels for tens of millions of children in Asia, Latin America, and Africa".^[12]

1989–present

From 1989 World Bank policy changed in response to criticism from many groups. Environmental groups and NGOs were incorporated in the lending of the bank in order to mitigate the effects of the past that prompted such harsh criticism.^[13] Bank projects "include" green concerns.

Visiting the World Bank

While a security badge is required to enter World Bank headquarters in Washington DC, guests are welcome to visit InfoShop, the Public Information Center (PIC) and retail bookstore. Groups of 20 or more can arrange for in-person briefings by contacting the World Bank Speakers Bureau. The Bank also has a network of PICs around the world, which are open to the public during regular business hours.

Millennium Development Goals

The World Bank's current focus is on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals that all 192 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015. They include reducing extreme poverty, reducing child mortality rates, fighting disease epidemics such as AIDS, and developing a global partnership (MDGs), lending primarily to "middle-income countries" at interest rates which reflect a small mark-up over its own (AAA-rated) borrowings from capital markets; while the IDA provides low or no interest loans A loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower and grants Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often (but not always) a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal or an application is to low income countries with little or no access to international credit markets. The IBRD is a market-based nonprofit organization A non-profit organization is an organization that does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals. Examples of NPOs include charities (i.e. charitable organizations), trade unions, and public arts organizations. Most governments and government agencies meet this definition, but in, using its high credit rating to make up for the relatively low interest rate on its loans, while the IDA is funded primarily by periodic "replenishments" (grants) voted to the institution by its more affluent member countries. The Bank's mission is to aid developing countries and their inhabitants to achieve development and the reduction of poverty, including achievement of the MDGs, by helping countries develop an environment for investment, jobs and sustainable growth, thus promoting economic growth through investment and enabling the poor to share the fruits of economic growth.

Key Factors

The World Bank sees the five key factors necessary for economic growth and the creation of an enabling business environment as:

1. Build capacity: Strengthening governments and educating government officials.
2. Infrastructure creation: implementation of legal and judicial systems for the encouragement of business, the protection of individual and property rights and the honoring of contracts.
3. Development of Financial Systems: the establishment of strong systems capable of supporting endeavors from micro credit to the financing of larger corporate ventures.
4. Combating corruption: Support for countries' efforts at eradicating corruption.
5. Research, Consultancy and Training: the World Bank provides platform for research on development issues, consultancy and conduct training programs (web based, on line, tele-/video conferencing and class room based) open for those who are interested from academia, students, government and non-governmental organization (NGO) officers etc.

The Bank obtains funding for its operations primarily through the IBRD's sale of AAA-rated bonds in the world's financial markets. The IBRD's income is generated from its lending activities, with its borrowings leveraging its own paid-in capital, plus the investment of its "float". The IDA obtains the majority of its funds from forty donor countries who replenish the bank's funds every three years, and from loan repayments, which then become available for re-lending.

Criteria

Many achievements have brought the MDG targets for 2015 within reach in some cases. For the goals to be realized, six criteria must be met: stronger and more inclusive growth in Africa and 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.

1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger: From 1990 through 2004, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty fell from almost a third to less than a fifth. Although results vary widely within regions and countries, the trend indicates that the world as a whole can meet the goal of halving the percentage of people living in poverty. Africa's poverty, however, is expected to rise, and most of the 36 countries where 90% of the world's undernourished children live are in Africa. Less than a quarter of countries are on track for achieving the goal of halving under-nutrition.
2. Achieve Universal Primary Education: The number of children in school in developing countries increased from 80% in 1991 to 88% in 2005. Still, about 72 million children of primary school age, 57% of them girls, were not being educated as of 2005.
3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women: The tide is turning slowly for women in the labor market, yet far more women than men- worldwide more than 60% - are contributing but unpaid family workers. The World Bank Group Gender Action Plan was created to advance women's economic empowerment and promote shared growth.
4. Reduce Child Mortality: There is some improvement in survival rates globally; accelerated improvements are needed most urgently in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. An estimated 10 million-plus children under five died in 2005; most of their deaths were from preventable causes.
5. Improve Maternal Health: Almost all of the half million women who die during pregnancy or childbirth every year live in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. There are numerous causes of maternal death that require a variety of health care interventions to be made widely accessible.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Other Diseases: Annual numbers of new HIV infections and AIDS deaths have fallen, but the number of people living with HIV continues to grow. In the eight worst-hit southern African countries, prevalence is above 15 percent. Treatment has increased globally, but still meets only 30 percent of needs (with wide variations across countries). AIDS remains the leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa (1.6 million deaths in 2007). There are 300 to 500 million cases of malaria each year, leading to more than 1 million deaths. Nearly all the cases and more than 95 percent of the deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa.
7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability: Deforestation remains a critical problem, particularly in regions of biological diversity, which continues to decline. Greenhouse gas emissions are increasing faster than energy technology advancement.
8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development: Donor countries have renewed their commitment. Donors have to fulfill their pledges to match the current rate of core program development. Emphasis is being placed on the Bank Group's collaboration with multilateral and local partners to quicken progress toward the MDGs' realization.

Leadership

The President of the Bank, currently Robert B. Zoellick Robert Bruce Zoellick is the eleventh president of the World Bank, a position he has held since July 1, 2007. He was previously a managing director of Goldman Sachs, United States Deputy Secretary of State (resigning on July 7, 2006) and U.S. Trade Representative, from February 7, 2001 until February 22, 2005, is responsible for chairing the meetings of the Boards of Directors and for overall management of the Bank. Traditionally, the Bank President has always been a US citizen nominated by the United States, the largest shareholder in the bank. The nominee is subject to confirmation by the Board of Governors, to serve for a five-year, renewable term.^[14]

The Executive Directors, representing the Bank's member countries, make up the Board of Directors, usually meeting twice a week to oversee activities such as the approval of loans and guarantees, new policies, the administrative budget, country assistance strategies and borrowing and financing decisions.

The Vice Presidents of the Bank are its principal managers, in charge of regions, sectors, networks and functions. There are 24 Vice-Presidents, three Senior Vice Presidents and two Executive Vice Presidents.

Members

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development is one of five institutions that comprise the World Bank Group. The IBRD is an international organization whose original mission was to finance the reconstruction of nations devastated by World War II. Now, its mission has expanded to fight poverty by means of financing states. Its (IBRD) has 186 member countries, while the International Development Association The International Development Association , is the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries. It complements the World Bank's other lending arm — the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) — which serves middle-income countries with capital investment and advisory services (IDA) has 168 members.^[15] Each member state of IBRD should be also a member of the International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund is the international organization that oversees the global financial system by following the macroeconomic policies of its member countries, in particular those with an impact on exchange rate and the balance of payments (IMF) and only members of IBRD are allowed to join other institutions within the Bank (such as IDA).^[16]

Voting power

In 2010, voting powers at the World Bank were revised to increase the voice of developing countries, notably China. The countries with most voting power are now the United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language (15.85%), Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is (6.84%), China b. ^ Simple characterizations of the political structure since the 1980s are no longer possible (4.42%), Germany A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, has been known and documented before AD 100. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. During the 16th century, northern Germany became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. As a modern nation-state, (4.00%), the United Kingdom (3.75%), and France (3.75%). Under the changes, known as 'Voice Reform - Phase 2', other countries that saw significant gains included Brazil, India, South Korea and Mexico. Most developed countries' voting power was reduced. Russia's voting power was unchanged. ^[17][18]

Poverty reduction strategies

For the poorest developing countries in the world, the bank's assistance plans are based on poverty reduction strategies; by combining a cross-section of local groups with an extensive analysis of the country's financial and economic situation the World Bank develops a strategy pertaining uniquely to the country in question. The government then identifies the country's priorities and targets for the reduction of poverty, and the World Bank aligns its aid efforts correspondingly.

Forty-five countries pledged US$25.1 billion in "aid for the world's poorest countries", aid that goes to the World Bank International Development Association (IDA) which distributes the gifts to eighty poorer countries. While wealthier nations sometimes fund their own aid projects, including those for diseases, and although IDA is the recipient of criticism, Robert B. Zoellick, the president of the World Bank, said when the gifts were announced on December 15, 2007, that IDA money "is the core funding that the poorest developing countries rely on".^[19]

Clean Technology Fund management

The World Bank has been assigned temporary management responsibility of the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), focused on making renewable energy cost-competitive with coal-fired power as quickly as possible, but this may not continue after UN's Copenhagen climate change conference in December, 2009, because of the Bank's continued investment in coal-fired power plants.^[20]

Clean Air Initiative

Clean Air Initiative (CAI) ^[21] is a World Bank initiative to advance innovative ways to improve air quality in cities through partnerships in selected regions of the world by sharing knowledge and experiences. It includes electric vehicles.

Country assistance strategies

As a guideline to the World Bank's operations in any particular country, a Country Assistance Strategy is produced, in cooperation with the local government and any interested stakeholders and may rely on analytical work performed by the Bank or other parties.

Criticism

The World Bank has long been criticized by non-governmental organizations, such as the indigenous rights group Survival International, and academics, including its former Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz who is equally critical of the International Monetary Fund, the US Treasury Department, US and other developed country trade negotiators.^[22] Critics argue that the so-called free market reform policies which the Bank advocates are often harmful to economic development if implemented badly, too quickly ("shock therapy"), in the wrong sequence or in weak, uncompetitive economies.^[22][23]

In Masters of Illusion: The World Bank and the Poverty of Nations (1996), Catherine Caufield argued that the assumptions and structure of the World Bank harms southern nations. Caufield criticized its formulaic recipes of "development". To the World Bank, different nations and regions are indistinguishable and ready to receive the "uniform remedy of development". She argued that to attain even modest success, Western practices are adopted and traditional economic structures and values abandoned. A second assumption is that poor countries cannot modernize without money and advice from abroad.

A number of intellectuals in developing countries have argued that the World Bank is deeply implicated in contemporary modes of donor and NGO imperialism, and that its intellectual contributions function to blame the poor for their condition.^[24]

One of the strongest criticisms of the World Bank has been the way in which it is governed. While the World Bank represents 186 countries, it is run by a small number of economically powerful countries. These countries choose the leadership and senior management of the World Bank, and so their interests dominate the bank.^[25]

The World Bank has dual roles that are contradictory: that of a political organization and that of a practical organization. As a political organization, the World Bank must meet the demands of donor and borrowing governments, private capital markets, and other international organizations. As an action-oriented organization, it must be neutral, specializing in development aid, technical assistance, and loans. The World Bank's obligations to donor countries and private capital markets have caused it to adopt policies which dictate that poverty is best alleviated by the implementation of "market" policies.^[26]

In the 1990s, the World Bank and the IMF forged the Washington Consensus, policies which included deregulation and liberalization of markets, privatization and the downscaling of government. Though the Washington Consensus was conceived as a policy that would best promote development, it was criticized for ignoring equity, employment and how reforms like privatization were carried out. Many now agree^{[citation needed]} that the Washington Consensus placed too much emphasis on the growth of GDP, and not enough on the permanence of growth or on whether growth contributed to better living standards.^[27]

Some analysis shows that the World Bank has increased poverty and been detrimental to the environment, public health and cultural diversity.^[28] Some critics also claim that the World Bank has consistently pushed a neoliberal agenda, imposing policies on developing countries which have been damaging, destructive and anti-developmental.^[29][30]

It has also been suggested that the World Bank is an instrument for the promotion of US or Western interests in certain regions of the world. Even South American nations have established the Bank of the South in order to reduce US influence in the region.^[31] Criticism of the bank, that the President is always a citizen of the United States, nominated by the President of the United States (though subject to the "approval" of the other member countries). There have been accusations that the decision-making structure is undemocratic as the US has a veto on some constitutional decisions with just over 16% of the shares in the bank;^[32] Decisions can only be passed with votes from countries whose shares total more than 85% of the bank's shares.^[33] A further criticism concerns internal management and the manner in which the World Bank is said to lack accountability.^[34]

Criticism of the World Bank often takes the form of protesting as seen in recent events such as the World Bank Oslo 2002 Protests,^[35] the October Rebellion,^[36] and the Battle of Seattle.^[37] Such demonstrations have occurred all over the world, even amongst the Brazilian Kayapo people.^[38]

In 2008, a World Bank report which found that biofuels had driven food prices up 75% was not published. Officials confided that they believed it was suppressed to avoid embarrassing the then-President of the United States, George W. Bush.^[39]

The World Bank has also been criticized for not publishing reports related to the Palestinian economic situation in the West Bank and Gaza. Economists in the region have often written damning reports of the Israeli occupation and its effects on the economy, but these reports remain internal and are not published.

Although controversial and far from proven, there is criticism that World Bank and IMF are used as a means to fulfill business (interests of large corporations to enter the natural resource markets of the country and obtain the legal guarantees that it can stay there) or political needs of the main IMF donors (mostly USA), that were previously historically obtained by more direct activity - war, economic blockade, espionage. See for example Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.

Knowledge production

The World Bank has been criticised for the manner in which it engages in "the production, accumulation, circulation and functioning" of knowledge. The Bank's production of knowledge has become integral to the funding and justification of large capital projects. The Bank relies on "a growing network of translocal scientists, technocrats, NGOs, and empowered citizens to help generate data and construct discursive strategies".^[40] Its capacity to produce authoritative knowledge is a response to intense scrutiny of Bank projects resulting from the successes of growing anti-Bank and alternative-development movements.^[41] "Development has relied exclusively on one knowledge system, namely, the modern Western one. The dominance of this knowledge system has dictated the marginalization and disqualification of non-Western knowledge systems".^[42] It has been remarked that in these alternative knowledge systems, researchers and activists might find alternative rationales to guide interventionist action away from Western (Bank-produced) ways of thinking. Knowledge production has become an asset to the Bank, and "it is generated and used in highly strategic ways"^[41] to provide justifications for development.

Structural adjustment

The effect of structural adjustment policies on poor countries has been one of the most significant criticisms of the World Bank. The 1979 energy crisis plunged many countries into economic crises.^[43] The World Bank responded with structural adjustment loans which distributed aid to struggling countries while enforcing policy changes in order to reduce inflation and fiscal imbalance. Some of these policies included encouraging production, investment and labour-intensive manufacturing, changing real exchange rates and altering the distribution of government resources.^[44] Structural adjustment policies were most effective in countries with an institutional framework that allowed these policies to be implemented easily.^[44] For some countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, economic growth regressed and inflation worsened.^[44] The alleviation of poverty was not a goal of structural adjustment loans, and the circumstances of the poor often worsened, due to a reduction in social spending and an increase in the price of food, as subsidies were lifted.^[44]

By the late 1980s, international organizations began to admit that structural adjustment policies were worsening life for the world's poor. The World Bank changed structural adjustment loans, allowing for social spending to be maintained, and encouraging a slower change to policies such as transfer of subsidies and price rises.^[45] In 1999, the World Bank and the IMF introduced the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper approach to replace structural adjustment loans.^[46] The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper approach has been interpreted as an extension of structural adjustment policies as it continues to reinforce and legitimize global inequities.^[47] Neither approach has addressed the inherent flaws within the global economy that contribute to economic and social inequities within developing countries.^[48] By reinforcing the relationship between lending and client states, many believe that the World Bank has usurped indebted countries' power to determine their own economic policy.^[49]

Water privatization

Sociologist Michael Goldman has argued that "Industry analysts predict that private water will soon be a capitalized market as precious, and as war-provoking, as oil".^[50] Goldman says "These days, an indebted country cannot borrow capital from the World Bank or IMF without a domestic water privatization policy as a precondition".^[50] The Bank is utilizing "the 'Washington Consensus' model of "development" to promote water privatization. Following this model, the World Bank is forcing many countries to commodify their water resources, rather than using their expertise in the public sector to acknowledge water as a universal human right and an essential public service".^[50] The push for water privatization development plays upon "the shocking tragedy that much of the world lacks affordable clean water". This image creates "new opportunities in development, though it may have little to do with ultimately quenching" the needs of impoverished countries. "The problem of water scarcity for the world's poor has been analyzed by the World Bank as one in which the public sector has failed to deliver, and has therefore prevented development from "taking off", and the economy from modernizing. If the state cannot deliver something as basic as water and sanitation, the argument goes, it is a strong indication of a general failure of public-sector capacity".^[50] However, "with the sale or lease of a public good comes more than simply a privatized service; alongside it comes a wide set of postcolonial institutional forces that intervene in state-citizen relations and North-South dynamics".^[51] One notable example is the privatation of water forced upon Bolivians by the World Bank which led to multiple protests including the 2000 Cochabamba protests.

Sovereign immunity

Despite claiming goals of "good governance and anti-corruption″^[52] the World Bank requires sovereign immunity from countries it deals with.^{[53][54][55][56][57]} Sovereign immunity waives a holder from all legal liability for their actions. It is proposed that this immunity from responsibility is a "shield which [The World Bank] wants resort to, for escaping accountability and security by the people."^[53] As the United States has veto power, it can prevent the World Bank from taking action against its interests.^[53]

Environmental strategy

The World Bank's ongoing work to develop a strategy on climate change and environmental threats has been criticized for (i) lacking of a proper overall vision and purpose, (ii) having a limited focus on its own role in global and regional governance, and (iii) having limited recognition of specific regional issues, e.g. issues of rights to food and land, and sustainable land use. Critics have also commented that only 1% of the World Bank's lending goes to the environmental sector, narrowly defined.^[58]

Environmentalists are urging the Bank to stop worldwide support for the development of coal plants and other large emitters of greenhouse gas and operations that are proven to pollute or damage the environment. For instance, protesters in South Africa and abroad have criticized the 2010 decision of the World Bank's approval for a $3.75 billion loan to build the world's 4th largest coal-fired power plant in South Africa. The plant will greatly increase the demand for coal mining and corresponding harmful environmental effects of coal.^[59]

References

1. ^ "Board of Directors". Web.worldbank.org. http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/ORGANIZATION/BODEXT/0,,pagePK:64020055~theSitePK:278036,00.html. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
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18. ^ China given more influence in World Bank, RTHK, 26 April 2010
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22. ^ ^{a b} See Joseph Stiglitz, The Roaring Nineties, Globalization and Its Discontents, and Making Globalization Work.
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29. ^ Uvin, P. (2002) On High Moral Ground: The Incorporation of Human Rights by the Development Enterprise. In: PRAXIS The Fletcher Journal of Development Studies, Volume XVII pp1-11. Medford MA: Tufts University. Online at: http://fletcher.tufts.edu/praxis/archives/xvii/Uvin.pdf
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32. ^ Wade, Robert (2002). "U.S. hegemony and the World Bank: the fight over people and ideas". Review of International Political Economy 9 (2): 215–243. doi:10.1080/09692290110126092.
33. ^ Monbiot, G. (2004) The Age of Consent. London: Harper Perennial.
34. ^ Stone, Diane and Wright, Christopher eds. (2006) The World Bank and Governance: A Decade of Reform and Reaction, Routledge.
35. ^ Gibbs, Walter (2002-06-25). New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/25/world/world-briefing-europe-norway-protests-as-world-bank-meets.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/F/Foreign%20Aid.
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39. ^ Aditya Chakrabortty. (2008). Secret report: biofuel caused food crisis. The Guardian.
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41. ^ ^{a b} Goldman, Michael. Imprerial Nature: The World Bank and Struggles for Social Justice in the Age of Globalization. New York: Yale University Press, 2005 pp.179
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45. ^ de Vries, Barend A. "The World Bank's Focus on Poverty." The World Bank: Lending on a Global Scale Eds. Jo Marie Griesgraber and Bernhard G. Gunter. London and Chicago: Pluto Press, 1996, pp.70.
46. ^ Tan, Celine. "The poverty of amnesia: PRSPs in the legacy of structural adjustment." The World Bank and Governance: A Decade of Reform and Reaction. Eds. Diane Stone and Christopher Wright London and New York: Routledge, 2007, pp. 147.
47. ^ Tan, Celine. "The poverty of amnesia: PRSPs in the legacy of structural adjustment." The World Bank and Governance: A Decade of Reform and Reaction. Eds. Diane Stone and Christopher Wright London and New York: Routledge, 2007, pp. 152.
48. ^ Tan, Celine. "The poverty of amnesia: PRSPs in the legacy of structural adjustment." The World Bank and Governance: A Decade of Reform and Reaction Eds. Diane Stone and Christopher Wright London and New York: Routledge, 2007, pp. 152.
49. ^ Chossudovsky M. The Globalization of Poverty: Impacts of IMF and World Bank Reforms. Penang: Third World Network, 1997 in Tan, 152
50. ^ ^{a b c d} Goldman, Michael. Imperial Nature: The World Bank and Struggles for Social Justice in the Age of Globalization. New York: Yale University Press, 2005 pp.232.
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53. ^ ^{a b c} "The World Bank and the Question of Immunity". IFI Watch Bangladesh. September 4, 2004. http://www.unnayan.org/Other/IFI_Watch_Bangladesh_Vol_1%20No_1.pdf.
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55. ^ Adam Isaac Hasson. "EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION AND SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY ON TRIAL:NORIEGA, PINOCHET, AND MILOSEVIC—TRENDS IN POLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW". http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/law/lwsch/journals/bciclr/25_1/05_TXT.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
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58. ^ Vedeld, Trond: Can the World Bank Save the World? The NIBR International Blog 23.02.2010
59. ^ Word Bank approves coal plant is South Africa April 9, 2010 Democracy Now!

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