World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings 2008
9 April 2008 (Updated 22 April)
The weekend of 12-13 April saw the  Spring Meetings of the World Bank and
the International Monetary Fund. The Washington D.C. meetings
were an opportunity for the Bank and the IMF to discuss progress in their
work to alleviate poverty. Read the
UK's objectives for the 2008 Spring Meetings.
A critical year for world poverty
This year is a decisive point in the fight against global
poverty - halfway to 2015, the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). As the World Bank and IMF's Global Monitoring Report (published on
8 April) makes clear, more action is needed now if the MDGs are to be met on
time.
While good progress is being made on reducing extreme poverty, the targets on
cutting child and maternal mortality are less likely to be realised by 2015. In
addition, the outlook is poor for the goals on education, sanitation and
nutrition. At the current rate, Sub-Saharan Africa could fail to meet all of the
goals.
As well as addressing the status of the the MDGs at the halfway point, a focal
point of the weekend's meetings was the urgent need to respond to rising food
prices, which threaten to undermine progress in the fight against world poverty.
The meetings also addressed issues including strengthening agriculture in
developing countries, adapting to climate change, and promoting economic growth.
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Time for action
 Last
July, in recognition of the need for a renewed global effort to achieve the MDGs,
Prime Minister Gordon Brown launched the Call to
Action. This aims to accelerate action towards 2015 by building momentum
across governments, businesses, faith groups, non-governmental organisations,
professional organisations and cities.
2008 has been declared the Year of Action on the MDGs - in the words of UN
Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, "the year of the bottom billion".
Throughout the year, a number of events and meetings will take
place at which Call to Action supporters will seek to push for an action
plan on the MDGs. A high-level UN meeting on September 25 will bring together
heads of governments and other stakeholders to commit to getting the world back
on track.
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Adapting to new challenges
 As one of the world's most effective development organisations,
the World Bank has a critical role to play in delivering the MDGs.
DFID is a steadfast supporter of the Bank, and is one of its main partners. From
improving health in Malawi and education in China, to providing
budget support to Mozambique, the Bank and DFID co-finance a range of
programmes to reduce poverty.
In recent years, joint work and policy discussions between DFID and the Bank have dealt with
pressing challenges such as water and sanitation, and climate change. Adapting
to new challenges is vital if the MDGs are to be met on time.
Read about some of the projects that DFID has co-funded with the World Bank:
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Building stronger economies
DFID's work with the IMF focuses on building
stronger economies in some of the
world's poorest countries. Although these countries have made progress over
recent years, their economies must grow further, and continue to grow into the
future, to achieve the MDGs.
Lately, DFID has worked to encourage the IMF to align its support with the
national poverty reduction strategies of the countries it helps. Efforts are
also underway to improve the IMF's support to countries that have emerged from
conflict, and to strengthen its effectiveness in helping low-income countries to
cope with economic shocks.
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