On this page: Organization | President | Board of Governors | Board of Executive Directors| Board Committees | Development Committee | IDA Deputies| Complaint and Accountability Mechanism: The Inspection Panel
The World Bank Group is comprised of five separate entities: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, est. 1945), the International Finance Corporation (IFC, est. 1956), the International Development Association (IDA, est. 1960), the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID, est. 1966) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA, est. 1988). This webpage outlines key features of the two arms that are now collectively referred to as the World Bank: IBRD and IDA. Find out more about MIGA and the IFC (BIC website).
Organization
Nearly 10,000 staff members perform the work of the IBRD and IDA, both at headquarters in Washington, DC, and in over 109 country offices. The World Bank is the third largest employer in Washington, DC.
The World Bank is owned by 184 member governments. Each member government is a shareholder of the Bank, and the number of shares a country has is based roughly on the size of its economy. This "one-dollar-one-vote" structure affords richer countries greater power in decisions-making processes at the institutions tha poor, borrowing countries.
The United States is the largest single shareholder, with 16.39 percent of votes, followed by Japan (7.87%), Germany (4.49%), the United Kingdom (4.30%) and France (4.30%). The remaining shares are divided among the other member countries. All developing country borrowers have 39% of the voting share combined. The 47 sub-Saharan African nations command less than 6% of the votes.
The World Bank organizes its operations primarily through 27 Vice-Presidential Units. Six regional vice-presidencies control a large-degree of decision making on Bank operations within their own regions: Africa, East Asia & Pacific, Europe & Central Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean, Middle East & North Africa, and South Asia. Other vice presidencies include 7 "Network Vice Presidential Units"-responsible for certain cross-cutting issue areas such as the financial sector or private sector development. The rest 13 cover such areas as external affairs, development economics, legal, and human resources.
Organization Chart of the World Bank (World Bank website)
World Bank organizational chart effective July 2008 (Acrobat pdf, 40 KB)
President
The President of the World Bank is simultaneously the head of all five arms of the World Bank Group. S/He is neither chosen democratically nor is s/he representative of all of the Bank's countries. The selection of the President of the World Bank Group is based on a "gentlemen's agreement" between the world's richest countries: the United States Government chooses the head of the World Bank, while the largest countries of Western Europe name the head of the Interntional Monetary Fund (IMF). Formally the World Bank President is approved by the Board of Directors to a five-year renewable term. President Robert Zoellick was appointed in 2007.
Zoellick began his career in various government positions at the Department of Treasury. In 1992, Zoellick was appointed White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant to then President, George H. W. Bush. Zoellick is said to be one of the main authors of the Bush Administration’s policies regarding China which he describes in a speech to the Asia Society. In addition, Zoellick has played an active role in encouraging the Darfur peace process, visiting Sudan on four occasions as noted in this Times Online article. In 1998, Zoellick signed on to a letter to President Bill Clinton calling for “removing Saddam’s regime from power” as part of the Project for a New American Century (Wikipedia).
Following the 2000 U.S. Presidential election campaign, during which Zoellick worked alongside Condolezza Rice as a foreign policy advisor to George W. Bush, Zoellick was named the U.S. Trade Representative in 2001. During his tenure as Trade Representative, Zoellick completed the negotiations to bring China and Taiwan into the World Trade Organization; developed a strategy to launch new global trade negotiations at the WTO meeting in Doha and to press the negotiations forward in 2004; completed and enacted Free Trade Agreements with Singapore, Chile, Australia, and Morocco; completed FTAs with five nations of Central America and the Dominican Republic, as well as with Bahrain; worked with Congress to enact the Jordan FTA and the Vietnam Trade Agreement; launched Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the Southern African Customs Union, Panama, the Andean countries, and Thailand; and worked with Congress to pass the Trade Act of 2002, which included new Trade Promotion Authority, and to expand the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA). He held this position until 2005 when he became the Deputy Secretary of State.
After less than a year, Zoellick switched to investment banking where he took up the position of managing director and chairman of Goldman Sachs’ International Advisors department. He is currently seen by many as the front runner.
Appointments
The World Bank President controls appointments in four general categories: within his own office, at the Vice-Presidential level, at the Country Director level, and to assist with special initiatives.
Turnover of some key staff is common when a new President takes office, as is slight remodeling of the institution. In October 2007, Zoellick announced a revamping of his top management.
The Wolfowitz scandal
Check out BIC's Wolfowitz Watch webpage for details on the rise and fall of former Bank President Paul Wolfowitz.
Board of Governors
Ultimate decision-making authority rests with the Board of Governors, to which each member country appoints a representative. For most countries, the Governor is the Minister of Finance (or national equivalent). The Board of Governors makes key determinations on strategic direction, membership, capital stock, budgets, and distribution of income. The Board of Governors meet once a year at the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings to review and set broad policies and priorities.
Board of Executive Directors
Executive Directors oversee the day-to-day operations of the World Bank, approving all lending operations, policies and strategies, and institutional budgets and audits. They also hold discussions on operations evaluations, development trends, and strategic directions for the Bank. The Executive Directors also formally appoint (although the U.S. Government selects and nominates) the President of the World Bank, who serves as chair of the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors is made up of 24 Executive Directors, representing all member countries of the World Bank. The five largest shareholders are entitled to appoint their own representatives: United States, Germany, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Three "single constituency" Board chairs also have their own seat: the Peoples Republic of China, the Russian Federation, and Saudi Arabia. Sixteen Board chairs are divided among the remaining member governments. All 47 sub-Saharan Africa countries are represented by just two Executive Directors.
The Board operates largely behind closed doors, without public access to its deliberations or details about its decisions. Full Board meetings are held at least twice a week (currently on Tuesday and Thursday) to approve all World Bank Group financing and to monitor the Bank Group's day-to-day work. Smaller Board committees meet almost daily.
Board Committees
Each Executive Director is also a member of a Board committee that focuses on specific administrative or topical issues. Committees include:
- Audit Committee: advises the Board on financial management, corporate governance, and oversight issues;
- Budget Committee: considers budget issues, business processes, administrative policies, and standards;
- Personnel Committee: advises Board on compensation and other significant personnel policies;
- Committee on Development Effectiveness (CODE): advises Board on operations, policy evaluation and development, and development effectiveness;
- Committee on Governance and Executive Directors' Administrative Matters (COGAM): advises Board on issues of governance, including measures to strengthen capacity of Executive Director offices of developing countries
Civil Society groups concerned about the Bank's policies often engage directly with CODE members given their role in making recommendations to the Board on the development of, and public consultations on, operational policies and strategies.
Development Committee
While not a formal governing structure according to the Bank's articles, the Development Committee exercises important influence on the direction of Bank policy. The Development Committee advises the Boards of Governors of the Bank and the International Monetary Fund on development issues and financial resources. Established in 1974, the Committee has 24 members, usually Ministers of Finance or Development, who are appointed by each of the countries, or groups of countries, represented on the Boards of Executive Directors of the Bank and Fund. The Development Committee meets twice per year; in the spring in tandem with the International Monetary and Financial Committee, and in the fall before the Bank-Fund Annual Meetings.
IDA Deputies
The World Bank and other multilateral development banks (MDBs) require assistance from their member governments to finance their operations. Because many of their loans are low-interest or interest-free, and have long grace and repayment periods, the MDBs continually need to have money injected into their coffers. This periodic allocation of funds by donor governments is known as replenishment. World Bank IDA replenishments occurs every three years. The next round begins this year. The fifteenth such replenishment process, it is called IDA-15.
Donor countries appoint Deputies to represent and negotiate their interests during the process. Although not a formal governing structure of the Bank, the Deputies decide on several pertinent issues related to IDA countries, including prescribing policy reforms, benchmarks, and conditions for IDA borrowers during IDA replenishment negotiations.
Complaint and Accountability Mechanism: The Inspection Panel
Established in 1993, The Inspection Panel is a body of three members that is empowered to receive and investigate Requests for Inspection (referred to as "claims") from people they have been or are likely to be harmed by World Bank projects due to violations of Bank policy, procedures and loan agreements.