制卧台贸易上兰 金融英语阅读 Supplementary Reading James D.Wolfensohn and the World Bank On January 3,2005,World Bank President James D.Wolfensohn informed the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors that he would not seek a third term as head of the institution.Under Wolfensohn's leadership,the World Bank has evolved in many significant aspects,and this is a brief summary of some of those developments during his two terms,which conclude May 31,2005 Wolfensohn at the Bank,1995-2005 Over the past ten years,as President of the World Bank Group,Jim Wolfensohn has brought about major change in the way the world's largest development organization operates,firmly refocusing it on its main goal of fighting global poverty. He has led the modernization of the 60-year old institution through rapid decentralization of Bank activities to over 100 country offices,and through the adoption of cutting-edge business practices and technology.At the same time,there have been new and significant policy directions,most notably major efforts on debt relief,anti-corruption,the environment,the private sector,post-conflict reconstruction, HIV/AIDS,inclusion,disabilities and a broad range of social issues. The effectiveness of today's Bank in delivering results for poor countries has been recognized by both developing and developed countries.In September,2004,the Economist magazine stated that the World Bank today "does more to fight poverty than any other public body."Over the past ten years,a fundamental shift has taken place in terms of the Bank's support for poverty-reduction programs.These are now designed by developing countries themselves-comprehensive,home-grown plans structured in a way that enables both donors and recipients of aid to achieve better results on the ground.There has also been a greatly increased focus in the Bank's lending for improvements in policies and institutions,meaning that aid is used more selectively,and increasingly is focused on countries with strong records for good policy-making-such as Uganda and Vietnam. Other significant changes over the past decade include: Ten years ago,debt relief was not on the World Bank's agenda,nor considered a priority by the international community.Today,largely due to Wolfensohn's drive for an initiative for the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC),27 countries are receiving debt relief on the order of $54 billion. Ten years ago,corruption was rarely mentioned in international development circles.In 1996 Wolfensohn gave a groundbreaking "cancer of corruption"speech to the World Bank/IMF annual meeting,citing corruption as a major burden for the poor in developing countries.Corruption is now widely recognized as a major impediment to development that must be tackled 第1页共2页金融英语阅读 Supplementary Reading James D. Wolfensohn and the World Bank On January 3, 2005, World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn informed the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors that he would not seek a third term as head of the institution. Under Wolfensohn's leadership, the World Bank has evolved in many significant aspects, and this is a brief summary of some of those developments during his two terms, which conclude May 31, 2005. Wolfensohn at the Bank, 1995-2005 Over the past ten years, as President of the World Bank Group, Jim Wolfensohn has brought about major change in the way the world's largest development organization operates, firmly refocusing it on its main goal of fighting global poverty. He has led the modernization of the 60-year old institution through rapid decentralization of Bank activities to over 100 country offices, and through the adoption of cutting-edge business practices and technology. At the same time, there have been new and significant policy directions, most notably major efforts on debt relief, anti-corruption, the environment, the private sector, post-conflict reconstruction, HIV/AIDS, inclusion, disabilities and a broad range of social issues. The effectiveness of today's Bank in delivering results for poor countries has been recognized by both developing and developed countries. In September, 2004, the Economist magazine stated that the World Bank today "does more to fight poverty than any other public body." Over the past ten years, a fundamental shift has taken place in terms of the Bank's support for poverty-reduction programs. These are now designed by developing countries themselves—comprehensive, home-grown plans structured in a way that enables both donors and recipients of aid to achieve better results on the ground. There has also been a greatly increased focus in the Bank's lending for improvements in policies and institutions, meaning that aid is used more selectively, and increasingly is focused on countries with strong records for good policy-making—such as Uganda and Vietnam. Other significant changes over the past decade include: • Ten years ago, debt relief was not on the World Bank's agenda, nor considered a priority by the international community. Today, largely due to Wolfensohn's drive for an initiative for the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), 27 countries are receiving debt relief on the order of $54 billion. • Ten years ago, corruption was rarely mentioned in international development circles. In 1996 Wolfensohn gave a groundbreaking "cancer of corruption" speech to the World Bank/IMF annual meeting, citing corruption as a major burden for the poor in developing countries. Corruption is now widely recognized as a major impediment to development that must be tackled 第 1 页 共 2 页