The World Bank (WB)

    The World Bank (WB) is a large international financial institution that provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries to enhance socioeconomic development and reduce poverty. It was conceived at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Its headquarter is based in Washington D.C.

    The World Bank’s primary aim is to fight poverty by offering development assistance to middle- and low-income countries. The institution comprises two development institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).

    The World Bank’s assistance covers areas like poverty alleviation, health, education, agriculture, infrastructure, and so on. However, the WB differs from the World Bank Group, in that the WB comprises only two institutions while the World Bank Group incorporates those two along with three other institutions namely, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

    Nepal and the World Bank

    Nepal joined the World Bank on 6th September 1961 and the institution has been a major development partner of Nepal since. Poverty alleviation is the main objective underlying the World Bank’s activities in Nepal. It provided the first development credit of 1.78 million US dollars to Nepal in the telecommunication sector.

    Furthermore, the WB’s areas of assistance to Nepal include poverty alleviation, education, health, forest management, irrigation, power generation, rural development, policy advice, infrastructure development, macroeconomic reform, private sector development, decentralization, and donor coordination.

    Some of the World Bank’s activities in Nepal include chairing the meeting of the Nepal Development Forum, engaging NGOs and civil societies in bank-funded projects, supporting the agricultural perspective plans through lending and policy advice, financing irrigation projects in Terai, reviving community forestry, education reform, helping set up dry ports, etc.

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