Claim: The World Bank Group's activities include rural development.

The World Bank Group -LRB- WBG -RRB- is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries . It is the largest and most famous development bank in the world and is an observer at the United Nations Development Group . The bank is based in Washington , D.C. and provided around $ 61 billion in loans and assistance to `` developing '' and transition countries in the 2014 fiscal year . The bank 's stated mission is to achieve the twin goals of ending extreme poverty and building shared prosperity . Total lending as of 2015 for the last 10 years through Development Policy Financing was approximately $ 117 billion . Its five organizations are the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development -LRB- IBRD -RRB- , the International Development Association -LRB- IDA -RRB- , the International Finance Corporation -LRB- IFC -RRB- , the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency -LRB- MIGA -RRB- and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes -LRB- ICSID -RRB- .   The World Bank 's -LRB- the IBRD and IDA 's -RRB- activities are focused on developing countries , in fields such as human development -LRB- e.g. education , health -RRB- , agriculture and rural development -LRB- e.g. irrigation and rural services -RRB- , environmental protection -LRB- e.g. pollution reduction , establishing and enforcing regulations -RRB- , infrastructure -LRB- e.g. roads , urban regeneration , and electricity -RRB- , large industrial construction projects , and governance -LRB- e.g. anti-corruption , legal institutions development -RRB- . The IBRD and IDA provide loans at preferential rates to member countries , as well as grants to the poorest countries . Loans or grants for specific projects are often linked to wider policy changes in the sector or the country 's economy as a whole . For example , a loan to improve coastal environmental management may be linked to development of new environmental institutions at national and local levels and the implementation of new regulations to limit pollution , or not , such as in the World Bank financed constructions of paper mills along the Rio Uruguay in 2006 .   The World Bank has received various criticisms over the years and was tarnished by a scandal with the bank 's then President Paul Wolfowitz and his aide , Shaha Riza , in 2007 .