Publication: Address to the Board of Governors, September 27, 1971
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1971-09-27
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1971-09-27
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Robert S. McNamara, President of the World Bank Group, remarked that progress has been made in both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of life in the vast majority of developing countries. Development has brought death rates down in those countries, but a corresponding adjustment in the birth rate is not automatic, and to date has been negligible. He focused on the basic problems of development: nutrition, employment, income distribution and trade.
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“McNamara, Robert S.. 1971. Address to the Board of Governors, September 27, 1971. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33157 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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Publication Address to the Board of Governors, Copenhagen, September 21, 1970(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1970-09-21)Robert S. McNamara, President of the World Bank Group, remarked that 1970 marked the beginning of the second quarter-century of the Bank’s existence, and prefaced the opening of second development decade. He sketched out the plans for maintaining the momentum of the Bank group's accelerated activity, stressed the need for fashioning a more comprehensive strategy for development, and welcomed the publication of the Pearson Commission report.Publication Address to the Board of Governors, September 25, 1972(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1972-09-25)Robert S. McNamara, President of the World Bank, reported on the Bank’s operations in fiscal year 1972 and reviewed the progress of the Five-Year Program for 1969–73. He assessed the current state of development in member countries and outlined the program for the five years 1974–78. He explored the central issue of the relationship of social equity to economic growth. Given the shortfall in official development assistance, the debt problem, and the procrastination of the developed countries in dismantling discriminatory trade barriers, the Second Development Decade’s 6 percent growth target is not going to be met by many nations. The most persistent poverty is that of the low-income strata, roughly the poorest 40 percent of the total population in all development countries—who are trapped in conditions of deprivation. He argues that an urgent task is to reorient development policies to directly attack the poverty of the most deprived 40 percent of the population. Governments must achieve this without abandoning their goals of overall economic growth. Greater priority is needed to establish growth targets in terms of essential humans needs: nutrition, housing, health, literacy and employment, even at the cost of some reduction in the pace of advance in certain narrow and highly privileged sectors whose benefits accrue to the few.Publication Address to the U.N. Economic and Social Council(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1970-11-13)Robert S. McNamara, President of the World Bank Group, discussed two issues: the operations of the Bank, both for the past fiscal year and for the period covered by the Five-year Program, and the relationship of the Bank to the rest of the U.N. system. The Five- Year Program was developed with the objective of doubling the Bank Group's operations from 1969-1973, as compared with 1964-1968. Two years into the Program, the interim objectives are being met. Economic progress remains precarious and sterile without corresponding social improvement; the Bank intends to give attention to both.Publication Address to the U. N. Economic and Social Council(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1972-10-18)Robert S. McNamara, President of the World Bank, reviewed the state of development, and the relationship of economic growth to social equity. First, he summarized recent Bank activities, particularly those which bring the Bank into working relationships with other parts of the U.N. system. Second, he assessed the current state of development in the member countries. Third, he analyzed what he believes to be one of the most critical issues of the entire development process: the relationship of social equity to economic growth. He concluded that the international development community has a grave responsibility to the hundreds of millions of individuals throughout the disadvantaged world for whom these issues are not mere abstractions, but day-to-day realities. He believes, collectively, that touching those lives, and rendering them more livable is possible.Publication Address to the Board of Governors, September 29, 1969(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1969-09-29)Robert S. McNamara, President of the World Bank Group, discussed the following topics: past progress and future plans for the expansion of the Bank's operations; increased attention for population planning, educational advance, and agricultural expansion; three urgent, interrelated development problems unemployment, urbanization, and industrialization to which the Bank and all other development institutions must direct additional effort; and an approach to the formulation of a strategy for development.
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