The World Bank is a joint effort of 180 member countries to provide development assistance to more than 100 developing �client� countries. In the countries where it operates, the World Bank uses a combination of strategic poverty-reduction measures and LOANS to promote health, education, social development, environment protection, institutional development, and governmental self-reliance. The bank operates in five overarching programs.
� The International Development Association provides interest-free loans to the poorest of countries in the greatest economic and development stress.
� The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development provides loans and development assistance to middle-income countries and credit-worthy poorer countries.
� The International Finance Corporation promotes private- sector INVESTMENT within the client country. It tries to serve as an impartial broker to reassure both foreign investors and local partners. It advises businesses entering new countries, and it guides governments trying to create a more hospitable business environment.
� The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency promotes direct FOREIGN INVESTMENT in a country by providing what it calls �political risk INSURANCE� or guarantees to investors and lenders.
� The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) provides a forum for settling investment disputes between foreign investors and the host countries.
A BOARD OF DIRECTORS representing the 180 member countries governs the World Bank. Its president is, by tradition, a national from the United States, which is the bank�s largest contributor. The World Bank has been criticized for being too bureaucratic and slow about acting in the cases of regional emergencies. It has also been accused (to a lesser degree than the INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND) of meddling in a country�s internal affairs and of allowing countries to become too heavily indebted. In recent years, the World Bank has slightly reduced its emphasis on big project loans, providing greater assistance for small-scale local ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT efforts. The idea for a World Bank was proposed at the 1944 BRETTON WOODS meeting.
Mack Tennyson