27 April 2009: The Joint World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Development Committee met on 26 April in Washington, DC, US, and highlighted that “hard earned progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is now in jeopardy.”

The Committee “welcomed the WBG’s efforts to ensure a timely crisis response while maintaining its focus on long term development challenges, including those posed by climate change and the need to accelerate progress towards the MDGs.” A Civil Society Forum preceded the Bretton Woods Institutions Spring Meetings on 23 April.
During the opening press conference, WBG President Robert Zoellick highlighted these Spring Meetings are the first major global gathering since the G20 and “provide an important opportunity for all 185 members of the World Bank Group to assess the G20 outcomes and make sure that their voices are heard.” In response to questions on the WBG’s response to the current financial crisis, Zoellick highlighted the need to build social safety nets, and use “this crisis as an opportunity to do the infrastructure investments that are important to deal with some of the bottlenecks to future growth.” In this regard, he emphasized the importance of low-carbon development for countries like Mexico, noting they will probably be one of the first recipients of a Climate Investment Fund support to deal with energy efficiency and transportation. [World Bank/ IMF spring meetings]