WB The World Bank Specialized Agency Topic The World Bank I. Background The World Bank, originally called International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, originated after World War II, 1944, in the need of loaning money towards the rebuilding of different States due to war. In 1956, the bank was able to provide services to private companies and financial institutions with the creation of the IFC. Four years later, in 1960, another big organization called the IDA helped the bank focus its attention on the poorest countries in the world, making one of its goals to eradicate poverty worldwide. The World Bank Headquarters is located in Washington D.C. and it has over 120 offices around the globe. The bank collaborates with governments, multilateral institutions, commercial banks, and private sector investors. The World Bank is part of a bigger institution Called ‘The World Bank Group’ which hosts five organizations: ➢ IBRD: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) “providing loans, guarantees, risk management products, and advisory services to middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries” (Devex 2020). Said countries engage with the IBRD as clients and shareholders. It is essential to understand that clients of IBRD are lower-middle-income countries, meaning that they have a better economic situation and credit than the ones from IDA. The IBRD aims to reduce poverty and bring prosperity to nations looking to escalate the economic chain (IBRD, 2020). ➢ IDA: The International Development Association (IDA) provides assistance to the poorest countries and those with not a great credit with the bank to construct social services in them, such as primary education, basic health services, clean water, agriculture, among many others. The IDA lends money on concessional terms, meaning that they give very low-interest rates and stretch repayments in a 30-40-year period. The IDA is a key in the resolution of crises and emergencies and also a coordinator for donor assistance and grants to countries that cannot relieve their debt (IDA, 2020). ➢ IFC: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) focuses on the private sectors of developing countries functioning as a sister organization to the World Bank. They address the biggest development issues through financial products and services as well as mobilizing third-party resources for projects (IFC, n.d.). ➢ MIGA: The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) promotes cross- border investments in developing countries by giving political risk insurance and credit enhancement to investors and lenders. In simpler words, the MIGA provides guarantees against noncommercial risks to international projects (MIGA, n.d.). ➢ ICSID: The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and as its name states it provides conciliation and arbitration of international investment disputes (ICSID, 2020). However, The World Bank itself is only composed of the first two, which complement each other in the lending of loans and advice to member nations; both of these organizations share the same staff and headquarters. A country must join the International Monetary Fund first, to join the bank; and once it joins its integration to IBRD, IDA, IFC, and MIGA are mandatory. The World Bank is composed of a Board of Governors and a Board of Directors. The Board of Governors is constituted by all the 189 member nations. Each nation has the representation of a Governor and an Alternate Governor, one of which is usually the Minister of Finance. All governors meet annually and act as the ultimate policymakers in matters respecting the inner workings of the bank such as the suspension of a member, the distribution of net income, approve amendments to the Articles of Agreement, arrange cooperation with another organization, among others. The Board of Directors is elected by the Board of Governors and has responsibilities closer to the handling of the finances of the Bank like approving or denying loans, creating new policies, administering the budget, and taking financial decisions. The Board of Directors is constituted of 25 members, 6 of which are directly appointed by the biggest shareholders and the rest being voted for. Each Director elects an Alternate Executive Director, to take his or her place when they are not present. Directors themselves do not count with the power to act and make decisions in the representation of the Bank unless instructed by the rest of the Board. Both Directors and Governors are led by the President of the World Bank Group, which at the time is David Malpass. As well, both boards count with voting powers proportional to the number of shares they hold, however, to ensure equal opportunities for all representatives to participate in the sessions, the committee in UDEMUN 2021 will provide an only and equal vote to all participants. In the present day, the World Bank has been able to supervise and aid in a wide range of topics, all having to do with fighting for poverty, supporting economic growth, and sustainable gaining in people’s lives. It is important to understand that the World Bank distinguishes itself as an institution aimed at reducing poverty, promoting development, and increasing prosperity, unlike others like the International Monetary Fund that stabilizes the international monetary system and supervises international currencies, meaning that the World Bank does take action and interest to solve modern- day problems through economics. Its concern has been so big, that ever since the establishment of the Millennium Development Goals, it has closely cooperated with the United Nations as both a resource to fund resolutions and an observer member. Its 2030 agenda tries to lower the number of people living under 1.90 dollars a day to only 3% of the population and to bring economic growth to the 40% lowest population in each country. (World Bank, n.d.) II. Forum Appointed Members: ➢ Arnaud Fernand Buissé (Appointed by France) ➢ Jennifer D. Nordquist (Appointed by the United States) ➢ Juergen Zattler (Appointed by Germany) ➢ Junhong Chang (Appointed by China) ➢ Masanori Yoshida (Appointed by Japan) ➢ Richard Montgomery (Appointed by the United Kingdom) Elected Members: ➢ Abraham Weintraub (From Brazil) ➢ Adrian Fernandez (From Uruguay) ➢ Anne Kabagambe (From Uganda) ➢ Geir H. Haarde (From Iceland) ➢ Guenther Schoenleitner (From Austria) ➢ Hesham Alogeel (From Saudi Arabia) ➢ Jean-Claude Tchatchouang (From Cameroon) ➢ Jorge Alejandro Chavez Presa (From Mexico) ➢ Koen Davidse (From the Netherlands) ➢ Kulaya Tantitemit (From Thailand) ➢ Kunil Hwang (From the Republic of Korea) ➢ Larai Shuaibu (From Nigeria) ➢ Louise Levonian (From Canada) ➢ Merza Hasan (From Kuwait) ➢ Mohammad Shafiul Alam * (From Bangladesh) ➢ Patrizio Pagano (From Italy) ➢ Roman Marshavin (From the Russian Federation) ➢ Shahid Ashraf Tarar (From Pakistan) ➢ Werner Gruber (From Switzerland) Mohammad Shafiul Alam was elected to participate in the forum as Alternate Executive Director because the Executive Director position seems to be vacant by India at the time of writing of this background guide. III. Committee Dynamics a. Special Committee Format and Parliamentary Procedure This year, UDEMUN 2021 presents the World Bank as a Special Committee, meaning that it will not follow the parliamentary Procedure of General Assemblies. The committee also will not follow the usual Crisis nor court Procedure, but rather an innovative and different order of events during sessions. Executive Directors should know that the new procedure presents no new motions or points than the classic Model UN procedure, however, these motions and points will be used in a different order and at different times. All steps of the procedure will be explained by the chair and be part of the situation Directors discover on the day of the simulation. First Person speaking is also allowed for participants as they represent Executive Directors, and not their countries of origin. Participants will not know the topic presented to them before the event, still, they can be sure it will relate to one of the Development Topics the World Bank tackles and its functions; these being: ➢ Climate Change ➢ Agriculture and Food ➢ Economic Growth and Planning ➢ Education ➢ Financial Inclusion ➢ Fragility, Conflict, and Violence ➢ Poverty ➢ Social Inclusion ➢ Urban and Rural Development ➢ Trade ➢ Health ➢ Jobs & Development b. Executive Directors Through sessions, participants will not represent a Delegation, but rather Executive Directors of the Board of Directors of the World Bank. The reason why participants will be Executive Directors instead of governors or a nation member is that participants will have to carry out different functions exclusive to this board. As mentioned before, each of the directors will count on an only and equal vote and for practicality matters, they’ll be referred to by their last names (example: Director Haarde, Director Hasan, Director Gruber). Another important thing to note is that directors, although assigned a real person, they do not need to develop a character profile or extensive research on their personal lives as that will be irrelevant during the debate. As mentioned in the History of the committee, 6 of the members of the board are appointed by the biggest shareholders of the bank, while the other 19 are voted upon by the Governors; the following link will provide the official registry of votes the Directors received so that participants get an idea of which countries economic