 While long understood as being critical for growth, infrastructure is increasingly being recognized as a major contributor to achieving poverty reduction and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Infrastructure services such as water supply and sanitation are explicitly covered in the MDGs, while others, such as energy, roads, and information and communications technology, lead to improvements in MDGs such as health, education, and gender. For example, access to clean water has been shown to reduce the probability of child mortality by 55%, while paved roads have significantly increased girls’ school attendance.
 The World Bank supports activities in a wide array of infrastructure services: energy, transport, water supply and sanitation, urban services, telecoms, and oil, gas and mining. The Bank provides support to clients to improve infrastructure service delivery via policy dialogue and support for reform, institution building, as well as physical investment. The Bank also acts as a catalyst to leverage financial and other assistance from the private sector and other development partners. The World Bank’s activities in infrastructure development are guided by the Infrastructure Action Plan. The Action Plan emphasizes the delivery of infrastructure services along the entire spectrum of public and private involvement. It envisages the financing of projects at regional, national, and sub-national levels.
 This website is intended to serve as a gateway to the World Bank’s infrastructure business. It contains information on the business and strategy of the Infrastructure Network and infrastructure economic and financial themes. It also serves as a repository for infrastructure resources, databases, and news and events. The website also provides links to websites of each of the respective infrastructure sectors.
Infrastructure Contacts |
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