The World Bank is a vital source of financial and assistance to develop countries around the world. It is not the institution in common sense but is made up of two institutions own by 185 member countries. The International Bank for reconstruction and development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). Each institution plays a different but supportive role in the mission of global poverty reduction in the improvement of living standards. The World Bank Provide low interest loans, interest-free credit and grants to developing countries for education, health, infrastructure commutations and may offer other purposes.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) aims to reduce poverty in middle-income and creditworthy poorer countries by promoting sustainable development through loans, guarantees, risk management products, and analytical and advisory services. Established in 1944 as the original institution of the World Bank Group, IBRD is structured like a cooperative that is owned and operated for the benefit of its 185 member countries. IBRD raises most of its funds on the world's financial markets and has become one of the most established borrowers since issuing its first bond in The income that IBRD has generated over the years has allowed it to fund development activities and to ensure its financial strength, which enables it to borrow at low cost and offer clients good borrowing terms.

The International Development Association (IDA) is the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries. Established in 1960, IDA aims to reduce poverty by providing interest-free credits and grants for programs that boost economic growth, reduce inequalities and improve people’s living conditions. IDA lends money (known as credits) on confessional terms. This means that IDA credits have no interest charge and repayments are stretched over 35 to 40 years, including a 10-year grace period. IDA also provides grants to countries at risk of debt distress. Since its inception, IDA credits and grants have totalled US $182 billion, averaging $10 billion a year in recent years and directing the largest share, about 50 percent, to Africa.

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According to the World Bank, in virtually all successful assistance projects the country itself was the driving factor. The Bank therefore strives to help governments lead and implement their own development strategies and thus take a stronger hand in their own future development. The strategy was initiated by the former president of the bank, James Wolfensohn. Since 1999, it has followed a set of philosophies known as the Comprehensive Development Framework. These philosophies state that: Development strategies should be comprehensive and shaped by a long-term vision Development goals and strategies should be “owned” by the country, based on local stakeholder participation in shaping them Countries receiving assistance should lead the management and coordination of aid programs through stakeholder partnerships Development performance should be evaluated through measurable results on the ground in order to adjust the strategy to outcomes and a changing world

For the poorest developing countries in the world the Bank’s assistance plans are based on Poverty Reduction Strategies; by combining a cross- section of local groups with an extensive analysis of the country’s financial and economical situation the World Bank develops a strategy pertaining uniquely to the country in question. The government then identifies the country’s priorities and targets for the reduction of poverty, and the World Bank aligns its aid efforts correspondingly. The Bank supports certain kinds of poor people's organisations such as the Self-Employed Women's Union and Shack/Slum Dwellers International. Forty-five countries pledged $25.1 billion in "aid for the world's poorest countries", aid that goes to the World Bank International Development Association (IDA) which distributes the gifts to eighty poorer countries. While wealthier nations sometimes fund their own aid projects, including those for diseases recently, and although IDA is the recipient of criticism, Robert B. Zoellick, the president of the World Bank, said when the gifts were announced on December 15, 2007, that IDA money "is the core funding that the poorest developing countries rely on".

Some critics of the World Bank believe that the institution was not started in order to reduce poverty but rather to support United States' business interests, and argue that the bank has actually increased poverty and been detrimental to the environment, public health, and cultural diversity. Some critics also claim that the World Bank has consistently pushed a "neo-liberal" agenda, imposing policies on developing countries which have been damaging, destructive and anti-developmental. Some intellectuals in developing countries have argued that the World Bank is deeply implicated in contemporary modes of donor and NGO driven imperialism and that its intellectual output functions to blame the poor for their condition. It has also been suggested that the World Bank is an instrument for the promotion of U.S. or Western interests in certain regions of the world. Consequently, seven South American nations have established the Bank of the South in order to minimize U.S. influence in the region. Criticisms of the structure of the World Bank refer to the fact that the President of the Bank is always an American, nominated by the President of the United States (though subject to the approval of the other member countries). There have been accusations that the decision-making structure is undemocratic, as the U.S. effectively has a veto on some constitutional decisions with just over 16% of the shares in the bank moreover, decisions can only be passed with votes from countries whose shares total more than 85% of the bank's shares. A further criticism concerns internal governance and the manner in which the World Bank is alleged to lack transparency to external publics.