Farid Ahmad yasin

9878448T 4/3/2009 19:51:00

Assignment 1

Introduction

The World Bank is one of the largest sources of development assistance to the
developing countries. It is currently working in more than 100 developing
economies, bringing a mix of finance and ideas to improve living standards and
eliminate the worst forms of poverty.

For each of its clients, the Bank works with government agencies, non-
governmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector to formulate
assistance strategies. Its country offices worldwide deliver the Bank's program in
countries; liaise with government and civil society, and work to increase
understanding of development issues.

Apart from the World Bank there are four regional development banks (RDBs),
whose goals and objectives are very similar to that of the World Bank but these
banks just work for their region. These four regional development banks are as
follows.

1. Asian Development Bank (ADB)

2. African Development Bank (ADB)
3. Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
4. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Objectives

The World Bank and the four regional development banks share almost the same
objective which is to act on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Every
bank chooses to act on these goals in their own way. Some working with the
government sector and some chooses to work more with the private sector like
the NGOs. The MDGs which the banks are working on are as follows.

1. End poverty and hunger

2. Universal education
3. Gender equality
4. Child health
5. Maternal Health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS
7. Environmental sustainability
8. Global partnership

The goals today guide the efforts of virtually the World Bank and the RDBs
working in development and have been commonly accepted as a framework for
measuring development progress.
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As mentioned earlier the objectives of RDBs and World Bank are almost the
same but their priorities are different. The goals are sometime divided into
different parts by the development banks and the bank chooses according to a
country situation regarding which goal to choose first. For example Asian
development bank may choose to act on ending poverty and hunger first while
EBRD chooses to act on environmental sustainability first.

Scope

The World Bank and the RDBs were formed to help the development of
countries, so the scopes of these banks are very vast. Apart from working on the
MDGs with the developing countries, these banks are also working with them on
different projects. These banks are working with the developing countries on
projects like anti corruption, nuclear safety etc.

“Like Asian Development bank is working with the Pakistani government to

improve the infrastructure in Rawalpindi, also working on improving the condition
of national highway and has created an earthquake emergency assistance fund.
These are the projects which are carried out along with the MDGs”
http://www.adb.org/Documents/News/Prm/2006/prm-200601.asp.

Same goes for the World Bank and other RDBs. they are also carrying out
different projects along with the millennium goals. In summary it can be said that
if a project is beneficial for a developing country chances are that it will be funded
by either of these banks. Like the African development bank is doing a lot of
work on the agricultural sector in African countries along with the MDGs.

Resources

According to the World Bank and the RDBs websites every bank needs funds to
survive and the World Bank and the RDBs are like normal banks so these banks
draw their funds from the donor countries. For World Bank the major donor
country is United States of America. For Asian development bank the major
donor is Japan. For African development bank (ADB) the major donors are non-
African countries like United States of America, United Kingdom, France,
Germany and the Netherlands. These are non- African countries but are still
member of the African development bank. For IDB the major donors are Japan,
Canada, Spain and republic of Korea. Same goes for EBRD whose donor
countries originate from Europe.

Activities

The World Bank and all the four RDBs are involved in a number of different
activities in different countries. As discussed earlier that apart from the
Farid Ahmad yasin
9878448T 4/3/2009 19:51:00
millennium goals these banks encourage the developing countries to perform
different tasks to improve their situation.

Some of these activities are fighting corruption in Eastern Europe by the EBRD.
Building dams in Pakistan by the Asian development bank. Fighting aids and
poverty in Africa by the African development bank. Funding projects in Latin
American countries by the inter-American bank to provide housing and
settlement, providing of clean water and other facilities.

The World Bank does the same as well but on a bigger scale. There are many
projects being funded to help the developing countries to over come natural
disasters like the relief funds for Pakistan in 2005 after the massive earthquake.

Comparison

As mentioned earlier every bank is working towards the millennium goals but
they have their own priorities. The EBRD works more towards the sustainability
and environment side while the Asian development bank and the African
development bank works more towards ending poverty and utilities like clean
water and providing education to poor people.

For IDB the activities cover the entire spectrum of economic and social
development in Latin America and the Caribbean, with an emphasis on programs
that benefit low-income populations. The IDB finances both public and private
sector projects in the region.

“The World Bank’s mission is to help developing countries and their people reach
the goals by working with our partners to alleviate poverty. They address global
challenges in ways that advance an inclusive and sustainable globalization—that
overcome poverty, enhance growth with care for the environment, and create
individual opportunity and hope” http://www.worldbank.org/.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that these banks play a very important role in the
advancement of a country. They help in projects which are very beneficial and
provide their support to countries when they need it. They have achieved many
fine achievements in different countries while working with the local government
or the NGOs of that area.
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References

• http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.phpURL_ID=36690&URL_DO=D
O_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

• http://www.adb.org/Documents/News/Prm/2006/prm-200601.asp

• http://www.iadb.org/projects/

• http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/0,,content
MDK:20040565~menuPK:1696892~pagePK:51123644~piPK:329829~the
SitePK:29708,00.html

• http://www.afdb.org/en/home/

• http://www.adb.org/

• http://www.ebrd.com/about/index.htm

• http://www.worldbank.org/
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