ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

**World Bank Group**
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The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that provide loans, mainly to poor countries. The group was formally established on 27 December 1945 following the international ratification of the Bretton Woods Agreements, which arose after the UN Monetary and Financial Conference (July 22, 1944).

**Member Organizations**
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The World Bank Group consists of five member organizations:

1. **International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)**
2. **International Development Association (IDA)**
3. **International Financial Corporation (IFC)**
4. **Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)**
5. **International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, ICSID**

**Activities and Focus Areas**
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The activities of the World Bank Group are focused on developing countries, in areas such as:

* Human development (education, health)
* Agriculture and rural development
* Environmental protection (degradation, establishment and implementation of regulations)
* Infrastructure (roads, urban renovation, electricity)
* Governance (anticorruption, legal institutions for development)

The group provides loans or subsidies to member states on preferential terms, often linked to wider changes in policy or economic sector. For example, a loan to improve coastal environmental management can be linked to the development of new environmental institutions at national and local level and the implementation of new regulations to limit pollution.

**Private Sector Investment and Insurance**
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The activities of IFC and MIGA include private sector investment and insurance.

**Capacity Building and Training**
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The World Bank Institute is a branch for developing the World Bank's capacity, providing training and other capacity building programmes for member states.

**Membership and Participation**
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All 193 members of the UN and Kosovo are at least part of the IBM (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development), most of them members or members of the other four organizations: IDA, IFC, MIGA, and ICSID. The GCG members by number of organizations in which they participate shall be:

* Only in the Ministry of Interior: San Marino
* MVR and another organization: Suriname, Tonga, Brunei
* MVR and two other organizations: Antigua and Barbuda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Namibia, Bhutan, Myanmar, Qatar, Marshall Islands, Kiribati
* MVR and three other organizations: Canada, Mexico, Belize, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, Ecuador, Dominica, Saint Vincent and Grenade

**History**
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The World Bank Group was created at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The group's activities were initially focused on providing loans to countries devastated by World War II. Over time, the group has expanded its focus areas to include private sector investment and insurance, as well as capacity building and training for member states.

**Notable Events**
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* 1976-1980: The debt of developing countries increased with a medium annual rate of 20%.
* 1980: The Administrative Court of the World Bank was established to resolve disputes between the group and its affiliates.
* 2008: The global financial crisis led to a significant increase in borrowing by developing countries, which has been met with concerns about debt sustainability.

**Countries Withdrawn from Membership**
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Venezuela and Ecuador have withdrawn from the World Bank.