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| Fiscal 2003 Highlights |
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- IBRD lending totaled $11.2 billion this year, with robust lending of $5.7 billion to Latin America underlying the lending program. IDA commitments of $7.3 billion are the third highest on record, with the largest share, $3.7 billion, going to Africa. (See also Operational Summary, Fiscal 2003.)
- At the Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) held in May in Bangalore, India, with the theme of “Accelerating Development,” more than 300 researchers, academics, development practitioners, and students from across India, South Asia, and around the world exchanged ideas for speeding poverty reduction based on research and practical development experience. This year marked the first time the conference has been held in a developing country. (See
www.econ.worldbank.org/abcde.)
- In April, the Bank and three partner organizations launched an innovative financing program supporting the eradication of poliomyelitis worldwide by 2005. The Investment Partnership for Polio—comprising the Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary International, and the United Nations Foundation—will “buy down” an IDA credit supporting polio eradication, and convert it to a grant, once the government successfully achieves the objectives outlined in the project. (See
www.worldbank.org/hnp.)
- The Bank’s involvement in the Education for All (EFA) and the EFA Fast-Track Initiative (FTI) continued, along with strong efforts to support early childhood development, basic education, girls’ education, and addressing the needs of children with disabilities, orphans, and vulnerable children. In March 2003, the FTI donors made additional pledges of more than $200 million in support of universal primary completion for 2003–05. At the same time, new analytical work urged countries to recognize the crucial role of tertiary education in creating dynamic knowledge societies that are key to economic survival. (See Thematic Perspectives - Investing in People)
- The Bank’s Development Marketplace (DM) promotes innovative development ideas, providing seed funding that links entrepreneurs with innovative approaches to poverty reduction to partners with resources. In fiscal 2003, the DM held nine decentralized Country Innovation Day (CID) competitions throughout the world and awarded a total of $2.5 million in grant money, $1.5 million of which was mobilized by the Bank’s coordinating Country Offices. The nine CIDs were held in Brazil, Burkina Faso, Central Asia, Egypt, Ethiopia/Sudan, Guatemala, and, Peru, Ukraine/Belarus/Moldova, and Vietnam. They identified innovative project ideas ranging from organic fertilizer made from coffee waste in Guatemala to a motorcycle-based fire engine for the old cities of Vietnam.
Since 1998, the Development Marketplace has awarded over $16 million to public and private organizations, including civil society organizations (CSOs), universities, and private sector companies, for over 230 groundbreaking projects in more than 50 countries. (See
www.developmentmarketplace.org.)
- In December 2002, the Bank sponsored the first Urban Research Symposium, where 280 attendees including Bank staff, researchers, representatives of public and private organizations, and members of research networks from around the world reviewed recent research relevant to urban poverty in developing and transition countries. The event marked the Bank’s renewed commitment to urban poverty research and highlighted the richness and diversity of research being conducted worldwide. Material from the symposium, and announcements regarding the 2003 symposium, can be accessed at the symposium Web site:
www.worldbank.org/urban/symposium2003.
- The Johannesburg Summit 2002—the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). This 10-year follow-up to the Rio Earth Summit took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, from August 26 to September 4, 2002. The Summit brought together tens of thousands of participants, including heads of state and government, national delegates, and leaders from CSOs and businesses to focus the world’s attention on improving people’s lives through environmentally and socially responsible growth strategies in a world with a growing population and ever-increasing demands for food, water, shelter, sanitation, energy, health services, and economic security. (See
www.worldbank.org/sustainabledevelopment.)
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