The Strengths and Weaknesses of the World Bank as an Agent of Development - Essay Example

 The Strengths and Weaknesses of the World Bank as an Agent of Development The World Bank comprises of five different international organizations whose role is to provide financial help as well as suggestions to its member countries so that there is complete transfer of economic development within those states and poverty is reduced or minimized as a result. The World Bank was created on 27 December 1945. World Bank started its operations on 25 June 1946 and its first loan was approved on 9 May 1947 for the postwar rehabilitation and reconstruction ventures as concerns to France. It was at the time the largest loans to have been issued by the World Bank. The activities of the World Bank emphasize more on its role towards the developing nations, ones which are doing their best to catch on to the bandwagon of the developed nations. The fields that the World Bank focuses upon in these developed nations include human development which can take into concern the subjects related with education and health. The main purpose of World Bank’s creation was to facilitate the activities in the line of the postwar reconstruction. The earliest of loans were thus dedicated in all essence towards the causes of Japan and European nations. The tilt of the World Bank in the beginning was thus more on giving away its funding to the nations which were in the middle of some turbulent times. This did not differentiate upon the basis of country’s economic dependency and the respective amounts that it could deliver back to the World Bank in case of economic upheaval. Rather the weight was more on the aspects that were linked with the economic resources’ scarcity within the particular country. One of the issues that the World Bank has been persistently focusing its concentration upon is the fact related with the issues that come in line with the endangerment of a particular country’s livelihood. These include the different support programs with respect to HIV and AIDS to name a few. There is particular accent towards the matters related with the reduction of risks in line with the different projects by means of a better system of appraisal as well as different mechanisms are in place to supervise the projects in a better manner. Thus there is a multidimensional approach towards the overall development process. This overall development is in the form of different legal reforms, programs dedicated whole heartedly towards education and the uplift through short term activities in the same field, environmental safety programs and concerns including the awareness measures and events, anti-corruption drives and activities and lastly the several kinds of social development taking place all over the world. Next is the discussion on the role of the World Bank towards the underdeveloped nations and more precisely pinpointing attention towards the Latin American region. The main focus would be on the discussion of Peru in relation with World Bank’s different policies and measures. Peru’s population has had a tough time of late and efforts have been made by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to improve its condition when one speaks of its water and sanitation services. Estimates suggest that nearly 40 percent of the population of Peru lives below the poverty level which is nothing but a shame. Water is one major worry for the people of Peru. There is an abysmal situation within the related ranks of the Peruvian population. They do not have access to clean drinking water and a number of water borne diseases are on the rise with the passage of time. Water sector reforms were introduced by the World Bank and the IDB in the early 1990s which basically aimed to put a stop to the cholera epidemic which was rampant within Peru and had claimed around 3000 lives. The same also spread in a terrible and swift manner across the different Latin American nations. Thus it would not be wrong to state that the water services in Peru were a complete shambles and much needed to be done in this sector courtesy the World Bank. In March 1999, the World Bank stopped payment for US $22.5 million which was in the name of aid to Peru’s program concerning the judicial reforms. These reforms were in protest over the law which limited the powers that hold by courtesy the National Magistrates’ Council. In September 1999, the Congress within the United States passed a fresh legislation which wanted to store a meager sum of the CNM’s powers. The same however failed to materialize in the wake of the requirements that the World Bank had asked for and thus the loan was refused by the government. This was done so that there would not be any tussle between the World Bank and the Congress. As far as the youth initiatives of the World Bank are concerned within Peruvian territories, the World Bank has started a similar kind of measure in Peru for the last four years now. It is held by inviting a select set of young people, usually 12-15 in number and then they are allowed to learn and educate their own selves with the working methodologies of the World Bank and how different activities like active participation of the member nations in the World Bank and similar aspects are looked upon. These young people are usually the ones who play an active part in their respective communities and are known for their participation at all levels. This program is known as the Nuevas Voces or in English as “New Voices”. These young enthusiasts receive hands-on experience and get to know more about the activities of the World Bank and apprise their own selves of the measures and steps that are taken by the international organization in the wake of various problems and catastrophes. On the part of World Bank, they have a clearer idea as to how World Bank can better make use of its several programs by incorporating the input of the youth and thus bring to the notice of one and all the issues of importance in the relevant sectors. Thus these students form as strategic allies for the Peruvian link of the World Bank. As concerns to the issues of human rights and the like within Peru, one finds that the World Bank has been doing its bit in the related sector as well. For this, one must closely examine what the World Bank did in the year 1999 alone. It basically focused its attention towards the deteriorating standards of human rights within the country and thus asked for adequate funding in the relevant sector. For this reason, it was able to donate around US $500,000 to the Office of the People’s Defender so that it could show help and support for the different activities that were being carried out within the nation. This was backed up by a critical advice on the falling standards of human rights to the authorities at the helm of affairs within the Peruvian government and the latter was asked to show some positive figures in a very quick fashion. In terms of education standards which are falling way below the mark, the experts within Peru suggest that this is indeed a problem that stems from the rural basis more than anything else. In other words, this problem takes its roots from the poor people of Peru. Even different studies that have been done in the similar regard have found that Peru falls short on this count when the poor people living within the rural areas are involved, which suggests that this indeed is a grave threat for the coming times. When we pinpoint the same to the absenteeism basis of the students within the school going children, one discerns that the absenteeism rates soar as high as 70 to 80 percent and thus makes one and all realize of the gravity of the problem related with imparting education. It is more so because the rural areas are remote and need to be covered by the students on feet and they do not have the necessary resources like transport and money to tackle their problems. The more the remote interiors of the country are, the more severe the intensity of the issue is. Furthermore, the better paid staff is more often than not found absent from their duties and this is one aspect that needs to be tackled by the education ministry of the country, as the World Bank points out whilst discussing the educational aspects of Peru in specific. Similar is the case within the health care sector. The better paid doctors do not like to be present on their jobs. The reason for this is that they have more parallel routes towards earning and thus prefer private jobs to the public sector one. Thus private practices are quite widespread not only within the educational sector, but also in the health and legal fields as well. The demand for their services is of immense since the learned men are hard to come by and when they are found, the need is to address their wants in a manner which would best satisfy their thirst of earning more and more and that too in a quick manner. The authorities at the helm within the World Bank need to pull up their socks so that a lot of good is done for the cause of these underdeveloped and poor countries. Rather than enacting policies to suit the likes and whims of the developed, rich nations, the focus has to shift from a broader perspective down towards a narrow pathway where only the most needy gets the fastest loan approval and help at the hands of the World Bank, IMF and the United States as well. All said and done, the reforms need to be put in proper place and the policies have to be changed so as to suit the likes of the sufferers rather than the ones who make the poor nations suffer. It is with committed and dedicated efforts on the part of everyone that we can see progress within the related ranks and a sense of understanding, empathy and care for each and every member nation of the World Bank in the coming times. The past might not have been great and there were a lot of critics to the basic functioning of the World Bank but we can surely see a ray of hope as far as the future of the World Bank is concerned. Thus, the underdeveloped and poor nations should keep their hopes high. BIBLIOGRAPHY Adams, Patricia. The World Bank Is Not Financially Sound. USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education) Vol. 124, 1995 Author Unknown. The World Bank in Latin America: A Summary of Activities. World Bank, 1960 Buira, Ariel. Challenges to the World Bank and IMF: Developing Country Perspectives (Anthem Studies in Political Economy & Globalization). Anthem Press, 2003 Danaher, Kevin. 50 Years Is Enough: The Case against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. South End Press, 1994 Friedrichs, David O. The World Bank and Crimes of Globalization: A Case Study. Social Justice, 2002 Lewis, Clifford M. Privatizing the World Bank. The National Interest, 1995 Marshall, Katherine. The World Bank: From Reconstruction to Development to Equity. Routledge, 2007 Miller-Adams, Michelle. The World Bank: New Agendas in a Changing World. Routledge, 1999 Rudolph, James D. Peru: The Evolution of a Crisis. Praeger, 1992 Thomas, Vinod. The Measurement of Spatial Differences in Poverty: The Case of Peru. World Bank, 1978 Versi, Anver. Is the World Bank deaf? African Business, 1994 Wu, Kin Bing. Peruvian Education at a Crossroads: Challenges and Opportunities for the 21st Century (World Bank Country Study). World Bank Publications, 2001 Read More