Governments from around the world assembled for the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings from 14 to 15 April. The agenda included ways to improve how aid is delivered globally.

Oxfam's report Paying for People, launched at the Spring Meetings, calls for rich countries to deliver more long-term aid to solve the chronic shortage of health workers and teachers in poor countries. Oxfam estimates that $13.7 billion must be invested yearly to fund the urgently needed additional 2.1 million teachers and 4.2 million health workers, half of whom are required in Africa. The report calls for 25 per cent of bilateral aid to go directly to support health and education budgets of poor-country governments for a minimum of six years.

A positive story arose at the Meetings: the French government will provide an additional $300 million to the Fast Track Initiative (FTI), which enables donors to support developing countries' education plans. Additionally, at their meeting in Washington on 13 April, G7 Finance Ministers agreed to the cancellation of Liberia's debt. Three-quarters of Liberians live on less than a $1 a day, and it is vital that its democratically elected government is not shackled with the country's massive debt. However, under the current terms, Liberia will not be eligible for debt relief until 2009.

Despite these positive initiatives, and the final communiqué's call for rich countries to provide more aid, this year's agenda was overshadowed by calls for the resignation of the World Bank President, Paul Wolfowitz, after allegations of corruption. The World Bank's staff have stated that they are unable to carry out their jobs, and that the institution is in a state of paralysis. Oxfam believes the World Bank's ability to act as a leading development institution has already been so damaged that Mr Wolfowitz's continued presidency of the World Bank is untenable. The next president must be elected in a transparent, merit-based process, rather than by one country, the USA.