‘Mind the Gap’ : The World Bank, Humanitarian Action and Development—A Personal Account

Abstract

At the time of the creation of the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs (UNDHA), now the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), no-one working in the relief and rehabilitation programs of Liberia, Kurdistan or the former Yugoslavia could be heard to question "where is the Bank?" As the premier, wholesaler of development assistance, better known for the controversy over structural adjustment, its absence was taken for granted. Yet, by the time that East Timor's struggle for independence burst into the world scene, a Bank team was in the vanguard of the recovery wave. Today, for better or worse, the Bank has a major role in Afghanistan reconstruction, is looking to reengage with Sudan, and even has a strategy for constructive engagement with Somalia. And one of the authors, at the time of writing, like other Bank staff in recent peace processes, finds himself an observer and resource person at the Cote d'Ivoire peace talks.