The staff of the World Bank is a richly diverse group, representing a wide range of ethnic, cultural, racial, educational, and professional backgrounds. The work of IBRD and IDA is performed by approximately 8,800 staff working in Washington, D.C., headquarters and in over 100 Country Offices worldwide. Of these staff:
- 54 percent work in the six regions
- 7 percent work in the "anchor units" of the professional networks and other operational units
- 9 percent work in finance, administrative, and corporate units
- Over 75 percent of staff is affiliated with one or more professional networks.
Decentralization. Increased presence in client countries is helping the Bank better understand, work more closely with, and provide faster service to clients. A total of 68 percent of Country Directors and 30 percent of staff are now based in Country Offices, with 26 percent of staff hired locally by the Country Offices.
Diversity. The staff of the World Bank represents more than 140 nationalities. Staff from Part II countries account for 58 percent of all staff and 36 percent of management and senior technical positions. (See country list.)
For more than a decade the World Bank has worked to improve gender equality and racial equality. Today women account for 52 percent of all staff and for 24 percent of management and senior technical positions. Sub-Saharan African and Caribbean nationals are 15 percent of all staff and 7 percent of management and senior technical positions.
The 31 officers of the World Bank include 11 Part II country nationals, 6 women, and 7 Sub-Saharan African nationals.
THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAM
As the third-largest employer in the Washington, D.C., area, the World Bank Group recognizes the need for individual and corporate responsibility where we live and work. In keeping with the Bank's poverty reduction mission, the Community Outreach Program seeks to improve the lives of our neighbors in the greater metropolitan community. The Bank encourages staff volunteerism, conducts an annual grants program, and partners with area groups to strengthen local communities.
The World Bank's extended family, including family members and retirees, is more than 25,000 people in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Independent analysis shows that the World Bank generates almost $2 billion a year for the local economy. The World Bank was recognized recently in the Washington Business Journal as the 19th most philanthropic business in the Washington, D.C., area in 2002. The Bank applies its global mission locally through the sharing of knowledge, information, and expertise as we help solve many of the local challenges that Bank staff deals with throughout the world, such as education, HIV/AIDs, and affordable health care.
One highlight of Community Outreach Program commitments is our partnerships in education, with Cardozo Senior High and Bell Multicultural Senior High Schools, designed to help meet their educational and technology needs while providing reallife work experience through summer and after-school employment opportunities. Understanding that education is at the heart of poverty reduction, the Bank, in collaboration with major corporate partners, recently launched the Public Education Partnership Fund that will assist in implementing a new strategic plan for the Washington, D.C., public school system.
Today the World Bank Group Community Outreach Program serves the area's most disadvantaged people through a wide array of partnerships, sponsorships, grants, and volunteering efforts. The Community Outreach Program focuses on local poverty alleviation by concentrating its efforts on education, employment and training, health services, and civic and socioeconomic development.
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