Empowering the Poorest? The World Bank and the ‘Voices of the Poor’

Abstract

World Bank intervention in the world’s poorest countries has undergone a dramatic transformation in less than a decade. In the name of the world’s most marginalized and vulnerable people, World Bank regulatory intervention has become more detailed and far-reaching than ever before. Simultaneously, World Bank development policy has been substantially modified to elevate the perceived needs of the poorest. Today, it is hard to find a major World Bank study that does not defer to what it has termed the ‘voices of the poor’. The World Bank has gone to great lengths to seek out the most impoverished and isolated people in poor countries to solicit their views on development. These consultations have most notably been brought together in the World Bank study Voices of the Poor, which synthesizes the experiences of over 60,000 people from 60 countries.¹

Essentially, [the new development consensus] says that in evaluating an economy’s state or progress, we must focus primarily on how the poorest people are faring.

Kaushik Basu, ‘On the Goals of Development’

[The Voices of the Poor study] argues for a reorientation of development priorities, practice and thinking. It reinforces the case for making the well-being of those who are worse off the touchstone for policy and practice.

Deepa Narayan et al., Voices of the Poor: Crying Out for Change