World Bank Spring Meeting Safeguarding global cooperation in turbulent times

    Press release 25 April 2025 | Today in Washington D.C. the first World Bank meeting since US President Donald Trump began his second term in office will draw to a close. Germany was represented at the spring meeting by Development Minister Svenja Schulze as Germany’s World Bank Governor and by the Parliamentary State Secretary to the Minister Niels Annen. At the meeting it became clear that the Bank is well-equipped for the future – but also that it is up to the member states to defend the progress that has been achieved, in order to jointly master global challenges like poverty, climate change or pandemics.

    Development Minister Svenja Schulze said, “Multilateral cooperation and strong institutions make the world safer, stronger and more prosperous. The international community can only shape a good future by working together based on scientific facts, fair rules and dependability. The Bank is one of the institutions at the heart of the multilateral system. It offers its shareholders an unbeatable business model: with each euro from Germany’s core contribution the World Bank has been able to organise up to 50 euros worth of development investments – a more efficient use of tax money is hard to imagine. The Spring Meetings have shown that the reform course on which the World Bank has embarked enjoys broad support overall. The course is right and important. Now the World Bank needs to stick to its path.”

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    This year’s World Bank Spring Meetings took place against the backdrop of the policies being pursued by the new US administration under President Trump and the impacts of those policies on the multilateral system. The continued implementation by the World Bank of the reform course that it has embarked upon is crucial here. Over the last two years, at the initiative of Development Minister Schulze and other shareholders, the World Bank has undertaken the most radical reform in the history of its existence. With their new vision of “A world free of poverty on a livable planet” the World Bank and its shareholders have recognised that the only way to succeed in reducing poverty is if humankind also manages to protect our planet. In keeping with that vision, the World Bank is now supporting global public goods, for example by fostering peace and security, investing in efforts to avert future pandemics, and working to protect the climate and the environment. Hence, 44 per cent of all World Bank funds are now being channelled into climate finance.

    The theme for this year’s Spring Meetings was how creating jobs can reduce poverty and create prosperity for all. Over the next ten years around 1.2 billion young people worldwide will enter the labour market. However, according to World Bank estimates, only about 420 million new jobs will be created. The Bank is therefore warning of an impending global employment crisis. To resolve this problem, it will be crucial that the private sector is more involved in finding a solution – and that these efforts are accompanied by public investments in health, education, social protection and infrastructure.

    In addition to taking part in the Development Assistance Committee, the central development policy meeting of the Spring Meetings, Minister Schulze also participated in numerous other events, for instance on support for Ukraine or on dealing with climate-related damage. Her itinerary also included several bilateral meetings, including meetings with the World Bank President Ajay Banga, with UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, with her new British colleague Jennifer Chapman and with Syria’s Minister of Finance Mohammed Yisr Burnieh.

    You can read Development Minister Schulze’s written statement for the Development Assistance Committee here.


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