The 2013 Annual Meeting of the World Bank Group (WBG) and
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) took place in Washington, D.C. from
October 11th-13th. This annual meeting brings together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, private sector executives and academics to discuss issues of global concern including the economic world outlook, poverty eradication and development. Soroptimist International member Sylvia Winterling was in
attendance to report back to us about the event.

Sylvia attended a session entitled ‘Tackling Gender-Based Violence
After 2015: The How and Why It Matters’, panelists unanimously agreed that the
goal of decreasing gender-based violence, which is included in the Millennium
Development Goals (signed by 189 countries and set to expire by December 2015),
will not be met. Ensuing debates focused on whether this goal should be
revised. There was discussion about whether or not ending gender-based violence should be a stand alone goal in the Post 2015 agenda; some argued that it would be more effective to incorporate it into other
goals such as ‘Ending Poverty’ or ‘Cultural Traditions’.

The next session was entitled ‘What Will It Take to
Achieve Both Healthy Children and Healthy Economies?’ President of the World
Bank Group; Dr. Jim Yong Kim reviewed initiatives that the World Bank is
conducting in the poorest countries with the highest rate of infant
mortality.  These initiatives included
improving the access to primary healthcare programmes such as pregnancy
check-ups, nutritional and safe motherhood classes, as well as healthcare systems
that provide support for those in the most underprivileged regions. The World Bank announced that it is allocating $700 million to
these initiatives before December 2015 and is prioritizing efforts that have
the highest impact. Furthermore, the World Bank declared its intention to
invest in the education of mothers and to continually measure and report on the
outcomes of this investment.

In commemoration of the International Day of the Girl, the winner
of this year’s International Children’s Peace Prize and the Amnesty
International Ambassador of Conscience Award; sixteen year old Malala Yousafzai spoke eloquently on the importance of girls’ education from both a personal and
a political standpoint. See her speak below at the event: