The World Bank

The World Bank Group is a multilateral organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., whose members include most of the world’s countries. Five institutions make up the World Bank Group to collectively serve as a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries.

We have set two goals that will shape our work through 2030:

Ending extreme poverty by decreasing the percentage of people living on less than $1.25 a day to no more than 3 percent.

Promoting shared prosperity by fostering income growth of the bottom 40 percent for every country.

We are tackling these challenges through financing, customizing development solutions, leveraging knowledge, research and technology, and by bringing people together to solve complex problems.

The five institutions that make up the World Bank Group work together to foster development in poor and middle-income countries and to confront such global challenges as climate change.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) or World Bank, tackles poverty in middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries.

The International Development Association (IDA), also part of the World Bank, provides interest-free loans, technical assistance, and policy advice to governments in the world’s poorest countries.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. IFC finances investment, mobilizes capital in international financial markets, and provides advisory services to businesses and governments.

The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) promotes foreign direct investment into developing countries. MIGA fulfills this mandate by offering political risk insurance and credit enhancement to investors and lenders.

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) provides international facilities for conciliation and arbitration of investment disputes.