International organizations Essay

Introduction. The World Bank has been at the forefront in eradicating poverty among nations as well as supporting or maintaining sustainable development. It has carried out numerous projects to this regard. Establishment of the projects effectiveness is however an important steps to monitor if the objectives of the plan are actually met. Monitoring the projects should start right after the project commences. Background. The World Bank was formally established in December 27 1945 after the ratification of the Breton words agreement. The main aim of its establishment was to prevent any re-emergence of the economic depression as had occurred in the 1930’s. It is a bank that offers loans to developing countries to fund development projects or programs in trying to attain the goal of reducing poverty. It also offers loans to developed countries who it has prior scrutinized for creditworthiness. The World Bank was to ensure that the markets forces were let to operate without government interferences. It would assist in the reconstruction and development of nations. The interests gained are used to assist the developing countries. Its headquarters are in Washington D. C and its activities are aimed to reducing global poverty, implementing sustainable development and focusing on the achievement of millennium development goals and goals calling for the elimination of poverty. The constituent parts of the World Bank are IBRD and the IDA (International Development Association) which achieve their aims through provision of low or no interest grants to countries with little or no access to international credit markets as a way of empowering them. (McGee et al, 109) The bank operates as a market based non profit organization whereby it uses its high credit rating to make up for low interest rates of loans. The bank’s mission is to aid or assist developing countries and their inhabitants to achieve the MDG’s (Millennium Development Goals) by alleviating poverty, developing an environment for investment, job creation and sustaining growth. Promoting economical growth as well as investing in empowerment to enable them to participate in development. IDA grants are given for environmental concerns . The World Bank works to solve pollution issues, infrastructures, education, health, governance agriculture and rural development. The World Bank follows certain philosophies which are known as the comprehensive development strategies that are comprehensive and long term. Long term strategies will ensure sustainable development compared to short term ones. Development goals and strategies should be ‘owned’ by the country or based on local stakeholder participation in shaping them. (Robb, 2). Plans should aim at the local peoples’ needs and it should incorporate them in it. Failure to incorporate the locals results to negative impact of programs on the people as they feel neglected and do not understand the aim of the programs. The development performance should be evaluated through measurable results on the ground so that adjustments can be made. Strategies ought to be timely, specific, and measurable. (Woods, 3) Case studies. The Cape Action Plan for the Environment (CAPE) is a 20 year national program to ensure that by 2024 the natural environment of Cape Florist Region (CFR) and the adjacent marine environment will be effectively conserved and restored. When appropriately implemented, it is aimed at delivering significant benefits to the people in a way that will be embraced by the locals, endorsed by the government and recognized internationally. The two main objectives were to ensure that institutions relevant cooperated to develop a foundation for mainstream Cape Florist Region and the conservation of CFR enhancement through piloting and adaptation of sustainable models as well as effective management. For the successful implementation of this program, it must involve the local people right from formulation through implementation of the project. The government ought to support it too and foundation for biodiversity economy ought to be put in place. Priority sites include the unleashed protected areas. The program is delicate and it entails a great concentration of threatened plant species in the world. The protected area does not adequately protect biodiversity and this is the reason behind some environmentalist arguing that the progress or methodologies used by the World Bank program are not satisfactory. Approximately 95% of protected land is in the mountain habitats with only 4. 5% of the original extent on lowland. The reserves do not adequately sustain the ecological and evolutionary processes that are essential for the long term persistence of the CFR’s diverse plant population. Functional riparian ecosystems migration corridors and natural fire cycles are some examples of such processes. The government also decreased its funding thus affecting the programs success. Institutional support which entails the government’s support of the program both materially and legally is crucial in the success of such a program. Proper management will call for more funding it its going to be successful. With reduced government funding the staff training, environmental education and program control of alien vegetation are negatively affected. Fewer funds affect the implementation of the conservation measures and the positive effects that would have resulted are not attained. Limited financial resources made it hard to meet the costs of new and protected areas. Lack of commitment by the key agencies to the project worked for the failure of the project. The program causes threat on land transformation where urban population will increase as more people leave the lands for cultivation. It is always argued that change of land use from traditional agricultural use to conservation of land use can be regarded as a retrogressive approach for agriculture development. Trees could be cut in the process and this could lead to destructive effects on the climate causing concerns by the environmentalist. Tree form a very important in carbon control in the atmosphere. They work to reducing the effects of global warming, an international concern that affects global climate. In fact the urban growth in Cape Town is 2% per year. The ecosystem risks facing degradation due to invasive alien species. Approximately 43% of the Cape peninsula is covered in alien vegetation and thus poses a great risk of the estimated 750 species of plants facing extinction. The institution failed in disseminating coordinated information on the CFR biodiversity. Not sharing relevant information by agencies led to ineffective conservation planning. The fragmented legal institutional frameworks saw the natural habitat protection jeopardized. Again with a few qualified human resources the conservation was negatively inclined. Increased funding will see a great improvement in the training exercise. Lack of public involvement in the conservation will result to outright reduction in the conservation procedures. Lack of private involvement in the conservation process worsens the situation. Environmental education program reduce and representation of people in the conservation activities will be reduced and this will lead to ineffective in conservation. (Covey, 87)