Erkan?s live from the World Bank/ IMF meetings- Roundup

last updated: 11 Oct 2009

World Bank reforming to meet new challenges

by Angie Gentile

The World Bank is pursuing an ambitious program of reform to enable the institution to become more efficient and effective while also gaining more legitimacy among the developing countries that it serves, Bank President Robert Zoellick said today.

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, World Bank President ...

Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, World Bank President Robert Zoellick, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn (L-R) talk prior to attending the Opening Plenary of the 2009 IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings at the Istanbul Congress Center October 6, 2009. Reform of the world’s financial architecture took centre stage at the semiannual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and a meeting of Group of Seven finance officials. REUTERS/IMF Staff Photo/Stephen Jaffe/Handout

(From L to R) Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, ...

(From L to R) Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, Chairman of the Board of Governors Nguyen Van Giau, World Bank President Robert Zoellick, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn pose for a group photograph before attending the Opening Plenary of the 2009 IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings at the Istanbul Congress Center October 6, 2009. REUTERS/Stephen Jaffe/

:Istanbul summit?s outcome falls short – Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review

Videoblog: The World Bank and fragile states

by Alastair McKechnie

This is my final video on fragile and conflict-affected states and the impact of the food, fuel, and financial crises. In this video, I talk about the work of the World Bank and other international organizations in conflicted-affected areas.

About 2000 people wanted to participate in a demonstration against IMF and World Bank starting on Taksim Square in Istanbul. The police intervened with tear gas, tinted water and water cannons. Clashes occurred in a number of neighboring districts.

Marwan Muasher recaps the Meetings

by Sameer Vasta

The 2009 Annual Meetings are wrapping up. Before packing up here in Istanbul, I managed to find Marwan Muasher,  World Bank Senior Vice President for External Affairs, and asked him to provide me with his own one-minute recap of the Meetings.

Edith Grace Ssempala recaps the Meetings

by Sameer Vasta

The 2009 Annual Meetings are wrapping up. Before packing up here in Istanbul, I managed to find Edith Grace Ssempala,  World Bank Director for the Civil Society Program, and asked her to provide me with her own one-minute recap of the Meetings.

Global business leaders announce initiatives for women

by Sameer Vasta

Student at Shreeshitalacom Lower Secondary School. Kaski, Nepal. Photo: © Simone D. McCourtie / World Bank

This past Sunday, at an event co-hosted by the Hüsnü M. Özyegin Foundation, global business leaders came together to discuss the impacts of the ongoing economic crisis on women. The event culminated in the announcement of several new partnerships to support women around the world.

Annual Report 2009 distributed at the Annual Meetings

by Can Kevenk

2009 Annual ReportWe started distribution of the World Bank Annual Report 2009 this morning at the Annual Meetings in Istanbul. The free publication, outlining the Bank’s activities in fiscal year 2008, is available for journalists, government officials, civil society organizations, academic and public libraries ? and anyone else interested in learning more about the Bank and what it does.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s Managing Director Dominique ...

International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn speaks at the Opening Plenary of the 2009 IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings at the Istanbul Congress Center October 6, 2009. Reform of the world’s financial architecture took centre stage at the semiannual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and a meeting of Group of Seven finance officials. REUTERS/IMF Staff Photo/Stephen Jaffe

World Bank President Robert Zoellick, Turkey's Prime Minister ...

World Bank President Robert Zoellick, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn (L-R) make their way to the start of the Opening Plenary of the 2009 IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings at the Istanbul Congress Center October 6, 2009. REUTERS/IMF Staff Photo/Stephen Jaffe/Handout

The IMF does more than lend (2)

by ASIM ERDİLEK

Of the two widely cited semiannual studies mentioned above ? in yesterday?s piece ? the 226-page WEO, which has a unique theme for each edition (?Sustaining the Recovery? in the current one), usually garners more attention in the media, mostly because of its economic projections at the global, regional and country levels in its first two chapters, regularly titled ?Global Prospects and Policies? and ?Country and Regional Perspectives.? Since the latest upwardly revised projections have already been covered extensively in the media, I will omit them.

International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Managing Director Dominique ...

International Monetary Fund?s (IMF) Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn addresses the participants of the 2009 Annual Meeting of IMF and World Bank in Istanbul October 6, 2009.

REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Videoblog: Fragile States facing challenges

by Alastair McKechnie

Fragile and conflict-affected states face significant challenges coming out of the food, fuel, and financial crises. In this video, I give more details on some of those challenges and the environment for international financial assistance to affected countries.

Chief Economist says financial crisis has ‘left a scar’

by Alison Schafer

The global financial crisis may be easing, but it is far from over, according to the World Bank?s chief economist.  The World Bank is holding its annual meetings in Istanbul, Turkey, and those meetin

Developing countries will face majority of damage from climate change

by Sameer Vasta

October 4 2009 - World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings. Istanbulm Turkey. Press Briefing World Development Report (WDR). Justin Lin World Bank Chief Economist & Senior VP Development Economics, H.E. Hakon Gulbrandsen, Norwegian State Secretary for International Development; Marianne Fay WDR Co-Director.

This year’s World Bank World Development Report focuses on climate change and its effects on international development. The report emphasizes that developing countries are the most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change, and that a ?climate-smart? world is possible if we act now, act together, and act differently.

Talking about the new ?G?

by Marwan Muasher

Potrait of men and children, Mali. Photo credit: World Bank

The other day Bob Zoellick, the Bank?s President, talked about a new ?G.? The G-186, also known as the World Bank.

Videoblog: H1N1 and the World Bank

by Keith Hansen

In this video, I talk about the current state of Influenza A (H1N1) in Latin America and its what the World Bank is doing to help the region.

older news:

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner speaks to the media in ...

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner speaks to the media in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. Geitner is in Istanbul to attend the IMF/World Bank and G7 meetings.

(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

IMF struggles to shake off harsh image

A new ?Istanbul consensus?? Turkey?s role as host of the IMF, World Bank ? Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review

Man in the News: Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Success at the International Monetary Fund may have given its chief a path to the Elysée. But is he prepared to make the leap?

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director ...
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, IMF, speaks during a news conference in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, Oct. 4 VIA

No sideline agreement for Turkey and IMF in İstanbul

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), put to rest yesterday speculation that an IMF agreement would be signed with Turkey on the sidelines of the İstanbul summit, during a press conference when he answered reporters? questions about the status of the ongoing relations with the fund.

Zoellick foresees slow recovery

World Bank President Robert Zoellick said the global economy will recover slowly from its worst recession since World War II and the Washington-based lender may require a capital increase to meet developing countries? financing needs.

Improving Accountability at the World Bank
Source: Harvard Business School Working Knowledge

As an institution charged with fighting global poverty, the World Bank has found itself on the firing line of late. Critics cite a persistent lack of transparency and failure to include local insights in decision-making that affects the poor directly, among other grievances. But supporters note a number of reforms over the past two decades, including a current review of the Bank?s information disclosure policy, and a series of ?safeguards? on sensitive issues such as environmental impacts and effects on indigenous peoples.


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