Transition

US Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morganthau, Bretton Woods, July 1944

During the 1980s, the Bank was pushed in many directions: early in the decade, the Bank was brought face to face with macroeconomic and debt rescheduling issues; later in the decade, social and environmental issues assumed center stage, and an increasingly vocal civil society accused the Bank of not observing its own policies in some high­profile projects.

To address concerns about the quality of Bank operations, the Wapenhans Report was released and soon after, steps toward reform were taken, including the creation of an Inspection Panel to investigate claims against the Bank. However, criticism increased, reaching a peak in 1994 at the Annual Meetings in Madrid.