The World Bank

Term Paper Title	The World Bank
# of Words	3638
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	14.55

The World Bank

Intro

     Over the past generation, more progress has been made in reducing poverty and raising living standards than during any other period in history.  In developing countries, life expectances have increased from 55 to 64 years, Income per person has doubled and Infant Mortality has been reduced by 50 percent.

     Despite the successes, massive development challenges remain.  Three billion people live on less than 2 dollars a day and 1.3 billion live on less than one dollar a day.  Over 40,000 people die each day from preventable disease.  130 million never have the opportunity to go to school and 1.3 billion do not have clean drinking water.  By allowing poverty to increase in developing countries this can adversely affect wealthier nations as markets and investments opportunities shrink, the environment is damaged and people migrate in search of work and income.

     The World Bank is helping countries to strengthen and sustain the fundamental conditions they need to attract and retain private investment.  With World Bank support financial and nonfinancial governments are reforming their overall economies and strengthening banking systems.  They are investing in human resources, infrastructure,  and environment protection which enhances the attractiveness and productivity of private investment.

The World Bank Group

The World Bank Group comprises five organizations: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The term World Bank refers to only IBRD and IDA.The World Bank is the largest provider of development assistance to developing countries and countries in transition, committing about $20 billion in new loans each year. Its main focus is to help people in developing countries raise their standards of living through finance for agriculture, schools, health programs, transportation and other essential needs.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) are the private sector affiliates of the World Bank Group. IFC supports private enterprise in the developing world through loan and equity financing. MIGA facilitates the flow of private foreign direct investment to its developing member countries by providing investment insurance to foreign private investors in theses countries against political risks such as expropriation, breach of contract and war. It also provides investment marketing services and legal advice to host governments on means to attract foreign investment. The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes provides facilities for the conciliation and arbitration of disputes between governments of ICSID member countries and investors. It does not itself engage in conciliation and arbitration.

IBRD

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) was established in July 1944 at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA. The World Bank opened for business on June 25, 1946. In 1947 it gave its first loan to France for $250 million to finance post-war construction. Today, the World Bank has a lending portfolio of $144 billion.
It�s main purpose is to provide loans and development assistance to middle-income countries and credit- worthy poorer countries.  Voting power is linked to members� capital subscriptions, which in turn are based on each country�s relative economic strength.  The IBRD obtains most of its funds through the sale of bonds in international capital markets.

IDA

The International Development Association, IDA, is the World Bank Group's concessional lending window. It provides long-term loans at zero interest to the poorest of the developing countries. The overarching goals of IDA len...

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