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Fiscal 2004 Highlights
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- The Global Conference on Poverty Reduction held in Shanghai, China, in May 2004 brought the development community together to consider concrete actions to accelerate progress on the development agenda. One hundred case studies, undertaken for the conference, helped to identify poverty solutions that work and that can be applied around the world. (See chapter 1, box 1.1, and chapter 5.)
- IBRD approved 87 projects for $11 billion in fiscal 2004 in 33 countries. IDA made commitments of $9 billion for 158 operations in 62 countries. (See chapter 5.)
- The 16th Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) was held in Washington, D.C., and Europe in May 2004. The Washington, D.C., conference, on May 3 and 4, featured keynote addresses by Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith and Bank Senior Vice President and Chief Economist François Bourguignon. The theme of the conference was “Lessons of Experience.” The Bank will publish the conference proceedings in fiscal 2005. At the ABCDE Europe conference, on May 10 and 11, some 350 policy makers, academics, journalists, and representatives of youth organizations and civil society organizations discussed the theme “Doha, Monterrey, and Johannesburg: Are We on Track?”
- In April 2004 World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn appeared before the United Nations Security Council in New York and called for a War on AIDS. He cited the devastation that AIDS has caused in developing countries, most notably in Africa, and warned that AIDS is turning the clock back on development and undermining economic and social hope. AIDS in Africa has already claimed 13 million African lives and orphaned 10 million children.
- In April 2004 the Bank joined in partnership with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; the United Nations Children’s Fund; and the Clinton Foundation to make generic drugs available to people infected with HIV/AIDS in more than 100 poor countries. The program will reduce the cost of drugs to about one-third to one-half the cost of the cheapest drugs available commercially; diagnostic tests will cost about one-fifth of the market price. The drugs have been endorsed by the World Health Organization. (See chapter 3.)
- Slovenia “graduated” on March 17, 2004, from being a recipient of Bank financial and technical assistance and expressed its intention to become an IDA donor in the 14th Replenishment. Slovenia: From Yugoslavia to the European Union was published by the Bank in April 2004. Slovenia and nine other World Bank member countries—Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, and the Slovak Republic—joined the European Union in May 2004. The Bank has loaned a total of $10.6 billion to these countries since 1990. (See chapter 2.)
- The first Global Monitoring Report was published in June 2004, produced jointly by Bank and IMF staff in close collaboration with partner agencies. It assesses progress on the policies and actions by developing countries, developed countries, and development agencies to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. (See chapter 4.)
- As part of its results action plan, the Bank developed and began to implement the Statistical Capacity Building Program to help developing countries strengthen statistical systems, institutional capacity, and planning.
- In fiscal 2004 the Bank conducted a review of its activities with middle-income countries and approved an action plan for enhancing services to those countries. Almost 70 percent of the world’s poor people live in middle-income countries, hence the need for a strong Bank role. Action on the plan began in fiscal 2004. (See chapter 1.)
- The Bank worked to simplify and modernize its lending policies and procedures to make it easier for clients to borrow. It also worked with development partners to harmonize processes for the benefit of borrowing countries. (See chapter 4.)
- In cooperation with the United Nations, the Bank produced a Joint Iraq Needs Assessment, which identified Iraq’s reconstruction and development requirements and estimated the financing needed for reconstruction. The two organizations made provisions for trust funds to help donors channel their resources and coordinate support. (See chapter 5.)
- The Bank’s Post-Conflict Fund is now benefiting 36 countries. It provided three grants to Iraq this year for knowledge sharing in the areas of human development, water, and power. Other countries receiving support include Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, Liberia, and Somalia. The Fund has approved a total of more than $61 million for grants for the period 1998–2005. The Africa region is the largest beneficiary of the funds. (See chapter 3.)
- The Bank created a new $25 million trust fund for low-income countries under stress, which will target governance reforms and social services. (See chapter 1.)
- In February 2004 negotiations for the 14th Replenishment of IDA were launched when donor and borrower representatives met in Paris. Commitments to IDA14 will be especially important to developing countries as they strive to reach the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. (See chapter 5.)
- At the global Development Marketplace held in December 2003, 183 finalists from 65 countries presented innovative proposals for solving development problems. Winning projects—groundbreaking ideas in the fight against poverty—ranged from expanding health care outreach and medical supplies in Mozambique to improving landfill management and conserving an endangered plant species in Brazil by recycling coconut husks. Since 1998 the Development Marketplace has awarded more than $24 million in grants to some 370 projects (www.developmentmarketplace.org).
- On the eve of the Cancún trade talks in September 2003, the Bank launched Global Economic Prospects 2004: Realizing the Development Promise of the Doha Agenda. It presents a detailed overview of the world economy and an analysis of global trade issues, particularly those on the agenda for the Doha round of trade negotiations.
- At the Youth, Development, and Peace Conference in Paris in September 2003, President James D. Wolfensohn and Managing Director Mamphela Ramphele met with participants from youth organizations worldwide, many of whom are active in development programs in their countries. Mr. Wolfensohn assured them that the Bank is ready to engage them more substantially in its work. The conference was jointly organized by the Bank, the European Youth Forum, and the World Organization of the Scout Movement. (See chapter 3.)
- World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn’s speech at the Annual Meetings in Dubai in September 2003 pointed to the inequity and imbalance between rich and poor, which he said was both unsustainable and a source of global instability. The speech challenged governments and organizations to scale up their efforts toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals.
- In July 2003 the Bank launched its Infrastructure Action Plan. The plan sets the stage for increased support for infrastructure service delivery through a balanced public sector–private sector approach and the mobilization of financing from multiple sources. (See chapter 3.)
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