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World
Bank-Civil Society Initiative (WB-CSI)
| The World
Development Report (WDR) is the World Bank's flagship publication.
Produced annually by a World Bank staff team, on a topic chosen by
the Bank's President and the Chief Economist, the report is published
in nine languages. Approximately 150,000 copies are produced at a
cost of $3 million (not including promotion) and distributed free
of charge to a number of different audiences, including universities
in developing countries. Thus, as the principal publication of a preeminent
agenda-setter in development policy, the WDR carries significant weight
in setting the terms of the development debate. While there is no
direct link between the WDR and World Bank policy design, some analysts
think that the relative similarity of many Bank-supported structural
and sectoral policies bears witness to the strong influence of the
Bank’s economic thinking as it has typically been supported by
successive WDRs. |
The
World Bank’s World Development Report 2004: Making Services
Work for Poor People, took as its theme the provision of essential
services such as health, education and water, and the problem of how to
make these accessible and affordable for the greatest number of people.
Of InterAction’s more than 165 members, 118 work either in education,
public health, or both. Thus the theme of the World Development Report
2004 was of particular interest to InterAction members.
In
September 2002 and April 2003, prior to the publication of the World
Development Report 2004, InterAction co-organized with the World
Bank two consultations, one on the initial report outline and one on an
interim draft text. Links to proceedings of those two consultations are
found below.
September 26, 2002 consultation:
April 10, 2003 consultation:
The
Bank published the World Development Report 2004 in September
2003 at its Annual Meetings in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. A transcript
of the launch event, including a Q & A period with reporters,
is available from the World Bank website.
The Bank’s page
on the WDR 2004 can be found at: econ.worldbank.org/wdr/wdr2004/
For a critique of
the Bank’s approach to the provision of essential services, as well
as an extensive library of publications on the topic, see the Citizens’
Network on Essential Services.
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