Chixoy Power Project

1. Why was the building of the dam first proposed in 1919 and by whom?

International Financial Institutions were created to help prevent national economic crises as well as repair broken economies that were damaged by war (International). Created in 1944 as a result of WWII, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund seemed to have righteous purposes and would strengthen the global economy. However, many of the projects both institutions have funded to date have created further problems in the economies of developing countries. Specifically, the construction of the Chixoy dam, funded by the World Bank, left the nation of Guatemala with tragedy and loss rather than economic growth.

World Bank is a private institution which provide development assistance as the world’s largest source of fund for its client countries. The main focus is helping the poorest countries and its client countries to develop by investing in human resources, particularly through basic education and health, infrastructure, environment protection and also maintain global financial stability. Despite of its good investment, it was criticized for carry out environmentally unfriendly projects and other error on the target of the fund. These two concepts are at the vital over the pros and cons of World Bank and many arguments from both positive and negative sides are still debated (Bretton Woods Project,2005). This essay will discuss the positive and negative impacts from the World Bank’s aid, as information provided before pull up the conclusion that World Bank does either harm or good.

It was extremely difficult to find a lot of resources upon which the World Bank or the IMF had a project that created problems for a nation that received its assistance. I, however, found some sources that talked about the involvements of the IMF and WB into Africa, and these sources hint on Ghana, which will be hinted upon throughout the paper.

The World Bank concentrated on two major tasks: reconstruction and development of industrial countries, especially post-war European nations (Driscoll). During its first two decades, according to Polak, “43 percent of its lending went to industrial countries in Europe” (2). These countries included Britain, French, as well as Germany that needed a great amount of funds to rebuild their economy. In addition to these European nations, many other loans were lent to Japan, New Zealand, as well as Australia. Evidently, the World Bank was very reluctant to lend their loans to developing countries during the early period.

Scholars believe that except for the World Bank, the original and primary objective of these institutions was not promoting growth in the developing world. Nevertheless, since the change in their roles from the 1970s onward, they have increasingly been judged by their impact on the poor.

The World Bank is an international organization that strives to work with countries to end poverty and increase global economic growth. Created in 1944 they have locations in five countries, each managed by their host country and are headquarter in Washington, DC. With over 10,000 employees the World Bank supplies countries with the tools needed to progress and sustain.

The World Bank is the largest public development institution in the world, lending around US $25 billion a year to developing countries. (The World Bank and IMF) The World Bank is designed to provide financial and long-term loans to support the underdeveloped countries to build big, financially intensive infrastructure projects. The main purposes of the Bank are to assist in the reconstruction and development of territories of members by facilitating the investment of capital for productive purposes. As with any loan, there are conditions upon the borrower that must be met. The World Bank promotes the long-range balanced growth of international trade and the maintenance of equilibrium in balances of payments by encouraging international

The Articles of Agreement of the Bretton Woods Conference clearly stated that the role of the World Bank was the reconstruction and development of the member countries including the restoration of economies damaged and deranged by the World War 2. Jean-Francois Rischard-former vice president, World Bank explained the working of the World Bank in the 1950’s, the World Bank borrowed money to lend them to the reconstruction of countries like Japan and Europe. The World Bank financed Toyota in Japan and the French railways and so forth. Post the reconstruction of war ravaged

World Bank’s influence is expanding due to the enormity of the challenges it is facing. Challenges of the modern world in most cases cannot be handled by single state or institution (W.Scharpf, 1994). Issues of climate change or poverty will not be limited by

World Bank helps in establishing structural and social reforms in developing and under developed countries. Global poverty reduction is also one of the main agenda of the World Bank, because only when nations prosper, International Business can have a very positive role to play. The World Bank helps poor countries, by sanctioning long term loans, provide consultancy services on matters related to micro economic and macroeconomic policies, financial plans, provides assistance in frame working the country’s financial institutions and helps in regulating social and economic policies.

The World Bank Group has set two goals for the world to achieve by 2030: To end extreme poverty by decreasing the percentage of people living on less than $1.90 a day to no more than 3% and to promote shared prosperity by fostering the income growth of the bottom 40% for every country, which the organization is trying to achieve via low-interest loans, zero to low-interest credits, and grants to developing countries (“What We Do,” n.d.). The World Bank’s moto is “Working for a World Free of Poverty” with the caveat of “do no harm”’; however, what is left in their wake in many cases is heartbreak and devastation. My task with this paper is to address a project of the World Bank in Nigeria that created problems for the nation, and especially the people therein, that received its assistance.

Before zeroing in on the World Bank Cambodia Sub-project, a quick review of the World Bank Group (WBG), vis-a-vis its structure, mission’s statement, and criticisms would critical in analysing the project.

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to countries of the world for capital programs. The World Bank Group has set two goals for the world to achieve by 2030: End extreme poverty by decreasing the percentage of people living on less than $1.90 a day to no more than 3%. Promote shared prosperity by fostering the income growth of the bottom 40% for every country. The World Bank is a vital

efore zeroing in on the World Bank Cambodia Sub-project, a quick review of the World Bank Group (WBG), vis-a-vis its structure, mission’s statement, and criticisms would critical in analysing the project.