Devex: Malpass shifts the World Bank from conferences to countries
“David Malpass, who has been the president of the World Bank for seven months, is not a big fan of international development conferences. He has said so on several occasions, including again last week. … ‘What I’ve been doing a lot of is trying to work with specific country programs on the policy changes that they could make and also the programs that the bank can do, the projects in countries that directly reduce poverty,’ Malpass said. ‘I don’t want to dominate, so I wonder if — can we go to each of the countries and see what their thoughts are on what works as far as creating faster growth in your countries,’ Malpass said. … For some observers, the return to ground level is a positive signal. … At the same time, while Malpass is not alone in questioning the return on investment from international conferences with unclear objectives, there is some concern that if the bank’s president focuses too narrowly on individual countries, the institution might lose its influence on issues that transcend borders and require global cooperation…” (Igoe, 11/11).