World Bank President

Dispatch From Sweden: Development Talks, Gender Equality, and the Nobels

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- I made a three-day trip to Sweden this week, meeting senior government officials in finance and development; addressing the Bank's Nordic-Baltic Governors and the Bank's Advisory Council on Gender and Development; and attending the Nobel Prize ceremony.

In this video, I reflect on the visit, the impact of the Nordic countries on global development, and the importance of promoting gender equality in the World Bank Group's work.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti | World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim’s trip to Haiti on Nov. 6 and 7 included holding meetings with the country’s senior political leadership, attending the opening of a hospital, delivering a speech at a poverty conference, and visiting several Bank Group projects.

And it also was a journey back to a country where he had helped provide health care starting in 1988 through Partners in Health, a Boston-based NGO that he co-founded. In a short video below, Dr. Kim gives his assessment of the visit and explains why he feels hopeful about Haiti’s future.

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World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim laid out his vision October 12 for transforming the institution into a “solutions bank” that uses evidence and experience to solve problems and listens more closely to the people coping with economic and social challenges in their daily life.

“… It is time to move from dreaming of a world free of poverty to achieving it,” Dr. Kim said at the opening plenary session of the 2012 Annual Meetings in Tokyo. The meeting was attended by representatives from the Bank’s 188 member countries and Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito.

“It is time to bend the arc of history. With global solidarity underpinned by a relentless drive for results, we can, we must, and we will build shared prosperity and end poverty,” Dr. Kim said.

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Le président du Groupe de la Banque mondiale a présenté sa vision de l’institution, qu’il veut transformer en « banque de solutions » qui exploite données et expérience pour résoudre les problèmes et prête une oreille plus attentive aux individus confrontés au quotidien à des difficultés économiques et sociales.

« … Le moment est venu de transformer le rêve d’un monde sans pauvreté en réalité », a affirmé M. Kim lors de la séance plénière d’ouverture des Assemblées annuelles 2012, le 12 octobre à Tokyo, devant un parterre de représentants des 188 pays membres de la Banque mondiale et en présence du prince héritier Naruhito.
« Le moment est venu d’infléchir l’arc de l’Histoire. En nous appuyant sur la solidarité internationale et sur une volonté farouche de résultats, nous pouvons, nous devons et nous allons éliminer la pauvreté et construire une prospérité partagée », a déclaré Jim Yong Kim.

As the 2012 Annual Meetings opened Thursday, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim held a press briefing and fielded questions on a range of topics including the role of emerging economies, food prices, climate change, and more.

Read a full transcript of Dr. Kim's press conference, view photos and watch a video report below.

Follow the Annual Meetings on World Bank Live and on hashtag #wblive.

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At the World Bank Group, we want to help create a social movement to end poverty and to enhance shared prosperity. But how do you do that? More broadly, how do you start any social movement?

It's not easy. The world is littered with failed attempts. The roadblocks are numerous - including skeptics casting doubt, saying the task is impossible and that others have tried and failed. Why spend time on a futile endeavor? Even if Albert Camus thought he was happy, Sisyphus never did get the boulder to the top of the mountain.

But in nearly three decades of working to fight poverty, I have come to conclude that optimism in the face of seemingly intractable problems is a choice. If your cause is just and you are working in an institution with the means to truly make a difference in the lives of the poor, optimism of the spirit is a moral responsibility.