First Annual Conference of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank

The Conference held in The Hague on May 28-29, 2000 was the World Bank's first pan-European meeting with parliamentarians. Some fifty parliamentarians from 26 countries in Europe and the developing world attended. This was an opportunity for the World Bank and parliamentarians to engage in an in-depth dialogue both on development policy issues and on possibilities for further engagement and networking. We had three broad aims:

1. To inform parliamentarians about the Bank's role in poverty reduction and convey its readiness
   to share its knowledge resources;
   
2. To exchange views on the role of parliamentarians in international development;
   
3. To engage parliamentarians in reflection on future development challenges.

At the parliamentarians' request at the end of the meeting, we decided to pursue this dialogue on a
regular basis, to meet at least once a year and to create a network.

There are at least three reasons why the World Bank wants to engage in a new dialogue with an international group of parliamentarians.

The first reason is the growing place of democracy, and role of parliaments in development policy. In
1975, there were only around forty democracies, mainly in the industrialized West. Today, there are
virtually four times that number, and they straddle the old dividing lines between industrialized and developing countries, rich and poor countries, North and South, East and West.

The second reason is the new global economy: issues facing parliamentarians on their home ground
are now no longer only national, but also global.

Another reason is that while the world has moved forward, the World Bank has also changed: we have learned that reducing poverty is not just a matter of raising GDP levels in poor countries and promoting macroeconomic stability. Successful poverty reduction hinges on a broad spectrum of policy changes and on wide participation ,engaging all of a country’s stakeholders. Clearly, parliamentarians around the world must play a role in this process.

Finally we want to create a forum for discussion in Europe, because both European countries and the
European Union are playing an increasingly powerful role in development financing and development
policy:

• They provide close to 60% of the world's development aid;
• They provide 45% of the resources which the world's donors provide to the World Bank for
  financing for the world's poorest countries (IDA 12);
• They play a leading role in aid coordination and are at the cutting edge of new thinking about
  participation and consultation in development;
• They oversee the world's most significant bilateral aid budgets and also preside over the EU's
  massive multilateral contribution to development.