This week, observers are paying close attention to the World Bank as it holds its annual autumn meetings with the International Monetary Fund in Marrakech. The nearly 80-year-old institution hopes to reach an agreement on a major plan for reform—which would include scaling up its operations and prioritizing climate change goals.
For critics, reform is long overdue. This edition of Flash Points considers, among other things, the bank’s funding model, governance culture, and track record on poverty alleviation, to examine the challenges that the institution is facing and how to fix it.
The World Bank Is Still Failing the Poor
Poverty alleviation in the economically weakest parts of the world will require giving the poor a real seat at the table—which the World Bank has never done, FP’s Howard W. French writes.
Niger Is a Warning for the World Bank
International finance needs a new playbook for crisis as the bank convenes for its annual meetings, Anastasia Moran writes.
The World Bank Must Do More With Less
The organization will have to tackle a growing range of issues with a shrinking capital base, Zainab Usman writes.
The World Bank Won’t Succeed Until the West Pulls Its Weight
The development bank doesn’t have enough money to achieve its goals—unless it gets more creative with its balance sheet, Devesh Kapur writes.
A New Multilateralism
Gordon Brown considers how the United States can rejuvenate the global institutions it created.
