World Bank Group

The Social Development Global Practice. The Global Practice works with governments, communities, civil society and the private sector to help promote a state that is inclusive, responsive and accountable to citizens. The Global Practice also develops solutions towards achieving the SDGs. Social Development focuses on the need to 'put people first' in development processes, recognizing that poverty is more than low income – it is also about vulnerability, exclusion, unaccountable institutions, lack of voice and agency, exposure to violence, and human rights. In the absence of services, participative planning and responsive institutions, global trends such as urbanization and country contexts of repeated cycles of violence and/or environmental fragility will result in increased poverty, social exclusion, vulnerability and more violence. The SDGP is also responsible for ensuring that Bank-financed client projects are compliant with the new Environmental and Social Framework (ESF); and this includes the obligation for ensuring non-discrimination on any grounds, including on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI).

Social inclusion is central to The World Bank Group. The Bank’s twin goals are about income growth of the extreme poor and of the economic bottom 40% (shared prosperity), but the extent to which this will happen depends on whether or not specific groups can participate in and benefit from economic growth. Social inclusion matters because some groups are over-represented among the extreme poor. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people are often excluded on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity from DFSP | 2
markets, services, and spaces. As such, efforts to overcome poverty must not just get economic policies right, they must also promote social development, which empowers people by creating more inclusive, cohesive, accountable and resilient institutions and societies.