World Bank and IMF Annual Meeting Spcial Edition

Special World Bank-International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings Edition

News | Publications | Events & Discussions | Regional News and Projects I Newly Disclosed Documents I Business & Career Opportunities | On the Blogs I Take a Look | Did You Know?

* Bank – IMF Annual Meetings Spotlighted by Global Financial Crisis
* Food, Fuel and Financial Crises Haunt Developing Countries
* Australia Contributes to Global Food Crisis Response Program
* Restoring Confidence in Global Grain Markets
* New Initiative to Empower Adolescent Girls
* Fund to Facilitate South-South Development Knowledge Sharing
* Zoellick Says Financial Crisis Not to Impact Bank Lending
* Bank Prepares Climate Change Report
* Results Demonstrate MIGA’s Niche in Challenging Environment
* Bank Partners with Russia to Improve Education Quality
* Books - Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook
* World Food Day 2908
* Business - A Step toward Reducing Cost of Remittances
* Opening – Winter Internship Program now Open
* Blog – A Return to State Intervention?
* US$50 Billion Lost by Marine Fishing Each Year

NEWS

Bank – IMF Annual Meetings Spotlighted by Global Financial Crisis
The 2008 Annual Meetings of the Bank and the International Monetary Fund took place at a critical time for the global economy, with financial markets experiencing unprecedented turmoil. Developing and transition countries, many of them already hit hard by current high prices for energy and essential foodstuffs, risk very serious setbacks to their efforts to improve the lives of their populations from any prolonged tightening of credit or sustained global slowdown.

The poorest and most vulnerable groups risk the most serious damage. At the opening news conference of the meetings, Bank President Robert B. Zoellick pledged that the Bank will join with the IMF and others to draw on the full range of our resources to help developing countries strengthen their economies, bolster their financial systems, maintain growth, and protect the most vulnerable groups against the impact of the current crises. Read more…

See photo gallery of the event
See transcript of Bank President’s Opening Remarks
See transcript of Development Committee Press Briefing

Food, Fuel and Financial Crises Haunt Developing Countries
Developing nations faced a sudden convergence of food, fuel and financial crises as development and finance ministers gathered for the Bank and IMF Annual Meetings. Countries already suffering food and fuel price inflation may now also see declines in exports, trade and investment as a result of financial turmoil that is becoming increasingly global, said Bank President Robert B. Zoellick.

“While people in the developed world are focused on the financial crisis, many forget that a human crisis is rapidly unfolding in developing countries. It is pushing poor people to the brink of survival,” said Zoellick. A new Bank report says the number of malnourished people globally will grow by 44 million, to 967 million, in 2008, after several countries experienced double-digit food inflation. Read more…

See multimedia gallery on effects of triple crises
See press release on growing number of malnourished

Australia Contributes to Global Food Crisis Response Program
The Bank welcomed the Australian government’s AUD$50 million contribution to a new Multi-Donor Trust Fund created by the Bank to address the danger of high and volatile food prices. The Trust Fund was created to facilitate the involvement of a broad range of development partners to support the Bank’s Global Food Crisis Response Program (GFRP).

The GFRP was approved by Bank’s Board of Directors in May and is a rapid financing facility providing technical advice and access of up to $1.2 billion of financial support to countries affected by the food crisis. The World Bank has committed and is preparing more than US$850 million in projects for agriculture and social protection in 32 countries. Read more…

Restoring Confidence in Global Grain Markets
A new report on malnutrition finds that the high food and fuel prices that prevailed until recently will increase the number of malnourished people in the world by about 44 million to a total of 967 million. Young children who do not receive proper nutrition will suffer the health effects of early malnutrition well into adulthood.

Also, many poor families have been forced to cut back on education costs in order to feed themselves. At a recent roundtable discussion, Bank Chief Economist Justin Yifu Lin said the food crisis highlights the need to restore confidence in global grain markets,” said Lin, “The recent price fluctuations reflect a collapse in market confidence, not just a temporary imbalance in supply and demand.” Read more…

Zoellick Says Financial Crisis Not to Impact Bank Lending
Bank President Robert Zoellick told a press conference that the current global financial crisis will not affect the Bank’s ability to help emerging markets. Loans for middle income countries are made under the IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) lending scheme. Speaking in a press briefing at the Annual Meetings, Zoellick said that with over US$40 billion of capital, the Bank is in a “very good position” to continue lending to developing countries through the IBRD framework. Read more…

New Initiative to Empower Adolescent Girls
The Bank joined governments and the private sector to launch the Adolescent Girls Initiative (AGI) to promote the economic empowerment of adolescent girls in poor and post-conflict countries. The AGI is being piloted in Liberia through a partnership with the Nike Foundation and the governments of Liberia and Denmark. It will be expanded in the coming year to include Afghanistan, Nepal, Rwanda, South Sudan and a sixth country to be identified. The initiative provides funding of US$3 - 5 million per country, and is a new way for the Bank to engage with the private sector. Read more…

Fund to Facilitate South-South Development Knowledge Sharing
The Bank launched a financing facility to provide a simple, low cost way for developing countries to share their knowledge and expertise in overcoming poverty. The South-South Experience Exchange Facility is a new multi donor trust fund that promotes the idea that the development successes in one country can pull people out of poverty in another.

Through the first grant from the new facility efforts are underway to repeat India’s dairy revolution in Africa. India’s unique program, popularly known as “Operation Flood”, revolutionized the country’s dairy industry. At the request of the Tanzanian government, the Indian model has now been introduced to Africa, with the South-South trust funding visits to India by some African dairy farmers. Read more…

See multimedia gallery of the launch ceremony

Bank Prepares Climate Change Report
Ten industrialized nations meeting at the Bank in Washington pledged $6.1 billion to two new Climate Investment Funds. The funds scale up energy efficiency, low-carbon technologies such as wind power and solar energy, and pilot new approaches to building climate resilience in countries threatened by climate change, as well as forest investments and renewable energy. Such strong support for efforts to fight climate change “in the middle of financial turmoil” is encouraging, says a Bank official. Climate change was a key topic at the Annual Meetings of the Bank and International Monetary Fund this week. Read more…

Results Demonstrate MIGA’s Niche in Challenging Environment
Fiscal year 2008 was marked by turmoil in the global financial markets. High energy and food prices had devastating effects on the lives of poor people. In this very difficult environment, the Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) ramped up its support for member countries with the largest amount of guarantees (political risk insurance) issued in its history. As governments face the challenge of protecting the most vulnerable of their citizens in a fiscally responsible and sustainable manner, they need to rely on private sector investment and FDI to support economic growth. Read more...

Bank Partners with Russia to Improve Education Quality and Financial Literacy
The Bank and the Russian Federation committed to improve the quality of basic education through the US$32 million Russia Education Aid for Development (READ) Trust Fund, and in support an international program in financial literacy and financial education through the $15 million Russia Financial Literacy program. The READ Trust Fund will support a joint Russia-Bank 5 year program to help low-income countries improve the quality of basic education and learning outcomes.

The Russia Financial Literacy program is initiated by the Ministry of Finance as a follow-up to Russia’s G8 Chairmanship in 2006. This international joint program with the World Bank and OECD on financial literacy and financial education would be supported by $15 million from Russia’s Trust Fund administered by the Bank. Read more…

PUBLICATIONS

Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook
The Bank launched the Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook, the product of a three-year collaborative effort with the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Through case studies and best practices, the Sourcebook addresses the development reality that persistent underinvestment in women and agriculture together with gender disparities in knowledge, technology, access to credit, and land result in less food being grown, less income being earned, higher levels of poverty, and greater food insecurity.

In addition to knowledge for practitioners, the Sourcebook speaks to policy makers with recommendations to increase analytical work on gender in agricultural programs, to strengthen female representation in public and private institutions, and to invest more in developing the capacity of women farmers through education and skills formation. Read more…

See photo gallery of sourcebook launch

FOR A FULL LIST of available publications:
http://publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/

EVENTS AND DISCUSSIONS

World Food Day 2008
October 16 – Global – Rarely has World Food Day assumed greater meaning than at the present time, as rapidly rising food prices risk increasing the number of hungry people. “World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bio-energy” is the theme of this year’s World Food Day on 16 October, the day that FAO was founded in 1945, and now observed annually in some 150 countries.

With the number of undernourished people currently estimated at more than 850 million, high food prices are not only putting at greater risk the hungry but those also on the brink of poverty. WFD activities aim at expanding global awareness in an effort to reduce the effects of increasingly severe climate patterns on agriculture and the impact of biofuels on food production. Read more…

REGIONAL NEWS AND PROJECTS

Summary of proposed projects in all regions:

AFRICA

Public-Private Partnerships to Invest in Infrastructure
In the run up to this year’s International Monetary Fund-World Bank Annual Meetings, the Bank’s Africa Region Vice President called for strong private-public partnerships to help finance infrastructure projects across Africa. “Africa’s infrastructure needs are indeed very daunting,” Obiageli Ezekwesili told attendees of the annual U.S.–Africa Infrastructure Conference, organized by the Corporate Council on Africa, a Washington-based nonprofit that seeks to connect the American business community with its counterparts across Africa.

There are pressing needs in many areas, such as transportation and telecoms, but "nowhere is the deficit more prevalent than in the power sector," she said, noting that the 47 countries in sub-Saharan Africa with a total population of 600 million people had a combined power generation capacity no more than that of Argentina alone, a country of 30 million people. Read more…

Building African Markets to Counter the Global Financial Crisis
A seminar yesterday between African bankers and international investment analysts, held under the auspices of the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings, discussed how the current global financial crisis might affect Africa and what countries can do to protect themselves. Sub-Saharan Africa already has seen some effect as a result of the crisis. Stock markets in Africa’s larger economies are mirroring those of developed markets, and international bond issues that were growing have slowed. The small size of African markets also means that even limited withdrawals could have significant impact and, although major capital withdrawal from foreign investors is unlikely, as the current crisis deepens, it could have an effect. Read more…

Finance Ministers Keep Close Eye on Current Financial Crisis
African Ministers of Finance have urged developed countries to maintain pledged levels of aid to African countries despite the volatility of the international financial markets. At a press conference in Washington, ministers from three countries said their governments were still studying the possible implications of the financial markets meltdown in order to prepare to take steps to mitigate any potential fallout. They urged donors to offer flexible programs in support of Africa’s development efforts. The African Development Bank is expected to organize a seminar in November to explain how the crisis could affect Africa. Read more…

Bank and African Union Mobilize the African Diaspora
It is estimated that over four million voluntary immigrants of African origin reside in the West. This “voluntary” Diaspora is distinct from the vastly larger “involuntary” Diaspora that populates North America, Europe, the Caribbean, and Brazil. In recent years, the Africa Union has provided the impetus and framework for the study and analysis of the African Diaspora, its interaction with Africa, and the consequences of that interaction.

The continental body views the step as necessary to help Africa achieve the Millennium Development Goals, a set of eight goals identified by the United Nations to help alleviate poverty by the year 2015. In response, the Bank launched its African Diaspora program in September 2007 and has been using its convening power and information and technology resources to help Africa engage its Diaspora. The Bank is also keen to engage with other development partners to help further Diaspora efforts on the continent. Read more…

Bringing India’s Dairy Revolution to Africa
During a period of 25 years (1970-1996), a unique program, popularly known as Operation Flood, transformed a chronically milk-deficient India into the largest producer of milk and milk products in the world. Under a new multi-donor trust fund, practitioners from the small town of Anand in the state of Gujarat are visiting Tanzania and Uganda to demonstrate first-hand how to replicate India's "white revolution." Seven donors have already pledged support to the fund, and others have expressed strong interest. Read more…

Zambia National Response to HIV/AIDS
One of Africa’s best performing health projects, the Zambia National Response to HIV/AIDS, successfully concluded its work in August after meeting all of its development targets. The US$42 million project, financed by a grant from the Bank’s International Development Agency, began work in 2002 to help Zambia fight its worst enemies, HIV and AIDS. The project design was based on a new approach to addressing HIV/AIDS: supporting and strengthening community-based responses to the epidemic, nationwide. The strategy proved to be highly successful. It included government commitment and ownership through the Ministry of Health, and high levels of public participation. Read more…

For more regional information: http://www.worldbank.org/afr

EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Mission Confirms Progress on Lao Government's Reform Agenda
A joint review mission of the Poverty Reduction Support Operation (PRSO) concluded with a meeting of senior Government and donor representatives on Thursday in Vientiane. The PRSO is supporting the implementation of the sixth National Socio Economic Development Plan through reforms around two pillars, investment and business, and public finance management and service delivery.

Development Partners are supporting Government development policies by providing funds directly into the government budget following the achievement of agreed actions. The implementation of the PRSO has so far been very successful in promoting close collaboration between government ministries, as well as increased donor coordination as envisaged by the Vientiane Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Read more…

Approved
INDONESIA - School Operational Assistance Knowledge Improvement for Transparency and Accountability (BOS-KITA) - US$600 million to improve access to quality education for all children of ages 7 to 15 strengthening school based management and community participation, improving existing fiduciary arrangements for greater transparency and accountability of the program, and consequently, bringing about better utilization of the funds. Read more…

Press release

For more regional information: http://www.worldbank.org/eap

EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

Countries Not Immune to Financial Crisis
Bank officials warned that countries in the region are not immune to the turbulence of the ongoing global financial crisis, with most countries in the region likely to experience slower economic growth. “In this fast moving worldwide crisis, the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia are feeling the effects along with the rest of the world,” said Shigeo Katsu, Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia, during the Bank/IMF Annual Meetings.

Katsu added that a prolonged slowdown in Western Europe would reduce demand for exports from countries in the region, particularly those that trade heavily with the 15 original member countries of the European Union. Also, a downturn in Western Europe, as well as Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine, would hit low income economies by slowing migrants’ remittances. Read more…

For more regional information: http://www.worldbank.org/eca

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

VP Says Region is Part of the Climate Change Solution
Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean will suffer greater than average effects of global warming, with devastating consequences for the environment and economy, and as a result are actively working to halt global warming and mitigate its effects, Pamela Cox, the Bank’s Vice President for the region told the World Conservation Congress. Given the region’s central role in the global ecosystem, repercussions from these effects will be felt worldwide unless significant action is taken soon to reduce global warming and mitigate its effects, according to a preview presentation of the flagship report from the chief economist of the region. Read more…

Bank Ready to Help Latin America Cope With Crisis
In a coordinated move with regional financial institutions the Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), announced that Latin American and Caribbean countries facing the impact of the global financial crisis will be able to use additional funding from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) --the lending facility for middle-income countries-- and the IFC to sustain jobs, social gains and inject liquidity.

This is especially relevant to Latin America as the region has accounted for 35-40 percent of IBRD lending. Countries that are tightly linked to the U.S. economy, such as Mexico and Central American countries, are already feeling the impact through decreases in remittances, exports and tourism. Those countries more linked to other regions, such as Argentina, Peru and Brazil, will see a somewhat mitigated and delayed impact as long as China’s growth remains robust. Read more…

For more regional information: http://www.worldbank.org/lac

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

Support for Regional Focus on Sustainable Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction
During fiscal year 2008, the Bank enhanced its support to MENA’s growth and development priorities. During fiscal year 2008, ending June 30, the Bank committed US$1.77 billion in loans and grants to countries across the region. The recipients are using these funds in more than 29 projects designed to build the climate for investment and empower the poor while mitigating the risks associated with global challenges. Read more…

For more regional information: http://www.worldbank.org/mena

SOUTH ASIA

A Culture of Seismic-Resistant Construction Takes Root in Pakistan
The 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit north Pakistan in 2005 destroyed and damaged around 600,000 rural houses, leaving more than 73,000 dead and over 3 million people without shelter in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and North West Frontier Province. In the city of Muzaffarabad, over 10,000 died and around 50 percent of the buildings were destroyed. The scale of the destruction and a difficult mountainous terrain made reconstruction a daunting task. The government formed the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority and, and with the financial and technical support of the Bank, launched an ambitious US$1.5 billion owner-driven rural housing rebuilding program. Under the program, homeowners were provided with a range of seismically-resistant and culturally-acceptable structural design options and grants in four installments to finance the reconstruction. Read more…

For more regional information: http://www.worldbank.org/sar

BUSINESS AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

A Step toward Reducing Cost of Remittances
Remittances from migrant workers are important sources of family income and a key factor for growth in developing economies, representing a large portion of the GDP of many receiving countries. Given the current economic crisis, the smooth flow of remittances could become even more critical. As a step toward helping reduce the cost of remittances, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Bank have launched the first global database of remittance prices that is expected to benefit low-income migrant workers and households in developing countries. Read more…

Opening – Winter Internship Program Application Period Now Open
The application period for the Winter Internship Program 2008 opened on September 1. The Program is open to students who are nationals of the Bank's member countries and attracts a large number of highly qualified candidates. The goal of this Internship Program is to offer successful candidates an opportunity to improve their skills as well as the experience of working in an international environment. Interns generally find the experience to be rewarding and interesting. To be eligible for the Internship Program, candidates must possess an undergraduate degree and already be enrolled in a full-time graduate study program. Read more…

For a full list of open positions and scholarships
http://www.worldbank.org/jobs

ON THE BLOGS

A Return to State Intervention?
In a very recent post on the AfriCan blog, Shanta reports that: “At a recent videoconference with journalists, I was asked the question in the title of this post several times. Does the fact that private banks in the United States are going bankrupt mean that the free market system is a failure? Does the fact that the United States government is bailing out these banks and in some cases “nationalizing” them mean that state intervention is back? In a word, “No.” First, any financial system needs some form of government intervention, a point lucidly made by Bob Shiller. The problem with some aspects of the financial system in the U.S. is not that there was no government intervention, but that it was flawed. The solution is to improve government regulation of the system. This however takes time. Meanwhile, there is a danger of the system collapsing, which is why the government is bailing out various institutions.” Join the conversation…

DID YOU KNOW?

US$50 Billion Lost by Marine Fishing Each Year
Economic losses in marine fisheries resulting from poor management, inefficiencies, and overfishing add up to US$50 billion per year, according to a new World Bank-FAO report. Taken over the last three decades these losses total over $US2 trillion. Titled “The Sunken Billions: The Economic Justification for Fisheries Reform,” the report also argues that well-managed marine fisheries could turn most of these losses into sustainable economic benefits for millions of fishers and coastal communities. Strengthened fishing rights can provide fishers and fishing communities with incentives to operate in an economically efficient and socially responsible manner. Phasing out subsidies that enhance redundant fishing capacity and harvesting effort will improve efficiency. Greater transparency in allocation of fish resources and greater public accountability for fisheries management and health of fish stocks will help eco-labeling initiatives to certify sustainable fisheries. Read more…

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