October 1, 2013
Kim calls for “a social movement to end poverty”
WASHINGTON, October 1, 2013 - With more than a billion people
in the world living on less than $1.25 per day, World Bank Group
President Jim Yong Kim today said that extreme poverty was “the defining
moral issue of our time,” and he described how a new World Bank Group
strategy would realign the global institution to help end poverty by
2030 and boost shared prosperity.
Speaking at George Washington University on the eve of the World Bank
Group/IMF Annual Meetings, Kim said the Bank must be bold and not be
afraid to take “smart risks” to support projects that have the potential
to transform a country or a region.
Kim pledged that he would direct more funding to fragile and
conflict-affected states. He said it his hope to increase the share of
IDA core financing – the Bank’s fund for the poorest – to fragile and
conflict-affected states by about 50 percent in the next three years. He
also said that the IFC, the Bank’s private sector arm, also would
increase funding by 50 percent over three years for low-income and
fragile states. The IFC increase could amount to more than an $800
million increase over three years; the IDA amount could not be
determined until countries made pledges later in the year.
Kim specifically called on the international community to give
greater support to Lebanon, which has allowed more than 760,000 Syrian
refugees to settle since fighting broke out in Syria more than two and a
half years ago. “We need to do much more or we risk catastrophe in
Lebanon,” Kim said.
In his speech, Kim said the new World Bank Group strategy – the first
ever to bring together the entire organization, which includes the
Bank, IFC, and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, or MIGA,
which provides political risk insurance — would work toward a common
purpose.
“For the World Bank Group, our strategy is based on the entire
organization working and pulling together,” said Kim. “Our strategy also
forces us to be selective – first, choosing our priorities and then,
abandoning those activities that are not.”
Kim highlighted three elements of the strategy:
- “First, we will partner with the private sector to use their expertise and capital to fight poverty. This is particularly important to create good jobs for the poor.
- Second, we will increase our commitment to fragile and conflict-affected states, which will require us to be bolder, take more risks, and commit more resources.
- And third, we will be as ambitious as possible on issues that are of global importance, including investing in women and girls and climate change. Our response to climate change, for instance, must be bold enough to match the scope of the problem.”
Kim called for a social movement to end poverty, and he noted that interest in the issue was coalescing around the globe.
“Just six months ago, the board of governors for the World Bank Group
laid a foundation for a social movement by endorsing our two goals and
declaring that we can end extreme poverty by 2030. Now we are seeing
interest from all corners. Political leaders, including President Obama
and UK Prime Minister David Cameron, are calling for an end to poverty.
Faith-based leaders are calling for an end to poverty. The One campaign,
Oxfam, Save the Children, and RESULTS and many other civil society
groups are calling for an end to poverty. And young people – people like
yourselves here at George Washington University -- are calling for an
end to poverty,” said Kim.
Kim described his attendance at the Global Poverty Project’s Global
Citizens Festival in New York’s Central Park on September 28, and he
encouraged listeners to his speech to log on to the Global Poverty
Project website -- www.zeropoverty2030.org -- and sign a petition to end
poverty in a generation.
“This is the defining moral issue of our time. Our goals are clear.
End extreme poverty by 2030. Share prosperity with the bottom 40
percent, and share it with future generations. We have an opportunity to
bend the arc of history and commit ourselves to do something that other
generations have only dreamed of,” Kim said.
