PURPOSE OF WORLD BANK

The World Bank is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge to support governments of member countries in their efforts to invest in schools and health centers, provide water and electricity, fight disease, and protect the environment.

The World Bank is not a "bank" in the common sense. The World Bank is an international organization owned by the 184 countries¾both developed and developing¾that are its members.

Since it was set up in 1944 as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The number of member countries increased sharply in the 1950s and 1960s, when many countries became independent nations. As membership grew and their needs changed, the World Bank expanded and is currently made up of five different agencies.

All support to a borrowing countries is guided by a single strategy (in the case of Afghanistan it is the "Transitional Support Strategy") that the country itself designs with help from the World Bank and many other donors, aid groups, and civil society organizations.