|
IN THE NEWS - April 27, 2002:
World Bank
This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English
Program IN THE NEWS.
The World Bank is not a normal bank. It is not
a place where individuals borrow money. The Bank does loan money but
not in the exact same way as a local bank.
The World Bank is one of the largest suppliers
of development assistance. Its main goal is to improve living conditions
for poor people throughout the world. Last year, it provided more than
seventeen-thousand-million dollars in loans to developing countries
to help end poverty.
The money went to efforts like debt reduction
for some of the poorest countries in the world. That program was designed
to increase debt assistance and provide it faster than in the past.
As a result, twenty-three countries received debt assistance last year
as compared to seven countries the year before.
The World Bank does more than just provide loans,
however. It believes that continued poverty reduction comes from investing
in the people of a country -- especially through education and health
programs.
World Bank President James Wolfensohn announced
one such program earlier this week at the organization's yearly spring
meeting in Washington. The "Education for All" plan is aimed
at getting all children between the ages of five and eleven into early
education. The World Bank plans to establish the program soon in ten
countries. Bank leaders will choose countries that have strong education
reform plans but no money to establish them.
The World Bank uses engineers, economists, public policy experts and
social scientists to create these kinds of programs. These professionals
also provide developing countries with the necessary technical help
to carry out the programs. Ten thousand people work for the World Bank.
Eight thousand are based in Washington. The rest are spread around the
world.
The World Bank is owned by more than one-hundred-eighty
member countries. They hold shares in the Bank. A Board of Governors
and Board of Directors represent the positions and interests of the
members.
The World Bank began as a much smaller group.
It was established at an international conference in the United States
in Nineteen-Forty-Four.
The Bank says it has helped to make great progress
in developing nations especially in the past twenty or so years. Bank
officials say life expectancy in developing nations has increased and
baby and child deaths have decreased. They also say more adults now
can read than in the past.
However, the World Bank has critics around the
world. Protesters have held large demonstrations at recent World Bank
meetings. Opponents say Bank programs make industrial nations richer
and developing nations poorer. Others say the organization's activities
result in environmental damage.
This VOA Special English program, IN THE NEWS,
was written by Caty Weaver. This is Steve Ember.
万千英语族关于VOA Special English听力材料的特别说明：
- 本站收集整理、转载VOA Special English之音频及文本仅出于方便英语爱好者学习英语，练习听力之目的，不代表本站赞同VOA之任何观点。
- 新闻一般都有其倾向性，VOA做为境外站点，其新闻报导的倾向性必然带有其自身的目的，本站作为公益性英语学习站点，在收集资料时力求不损害国家和民族之利益，对于明显与主流媒体观点不一致的资料已经进行了删减，但是由于我们自身的局限性，可能对于个别篇章把握尺度不够严格，若您在使用这些听力资料时发现个别材料不合适，请与我们联系处理。更多信息，请点击关于我们链接获得。
- 本站VOA Special English音频资料为rm格式，需要安装RealPlayer 或 RealOne方可使用，关于RealPlayer下载、安装使用等问题，请访问其官方站点http://www.real.com/products/player。若您需要mp3格式文件，请下载RM格式文件后自行转换。
|
| 