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Image: IDB

Since its inception IDB has been committed to promoting both economic and social development in equal measures

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countries has continued to receive considerable attention in

the bank’s financing activities since its inception.

To tackle grass-root poverty and its adverse socio-

economic impact, the IDB has focused on education as the

basic tool to enable the people of its member countries to

come out of the shackles of poverty. In this regard IDB has

continued to place a strong emphasis on poverty reduc-

tion (the main strategic thrust of its Vision 2020) through

focusing its education financing in member countries on:

• basic education (especially bilingual programmes)

to attain a universal quality

• tertiary education to upgrade the teaching of science

and technology

• vocational training and technical education to enhance

youth employability

• informal education and functional literacy through the

Vocational Literacy Programme for skills acquisition

and productive engagement.

IDB recognizes that without proper education the people of

its member countries, whether belonging to Muslim commu-

nities or others, will not be able to protect their religious and

cultural heritage or to participate effectively and meaning-

fully in the growth and development of their communities

and countries. Among its many activities aiming at such

purposes, IDB places strong emphasis on progressive devel-

opment of Muslim communities in non-member countries

and cooperation between Muslim and other communities.

As the IDB member countries are spread across four conti-

nents, their populations demonstrate the greatest possible

diversity of cultures. IDB is fully conscious of the need to

foster the social progress of its countries where cultural

harmony and coexistence are a by-product of its interven-

tions and programmes. In this regard, the prime driver is

the investment in people through providing increased

opportunities for education and the building of schools,

universities and vocational and technical education centres.

In addition, IDB believes that through schooling, it is of

paramount importance that children are imbued with the

right moral and ethical values to make a real difference in

the societies that they are part of and thus promote harmo-

nious communities where cultural differences are valued

and lead to sustainable development through their diversity

and creativity. In many ways IDB’s projects and operations

play an important role in strengthening solidarity among

the people of its member countries. This is evident from its

interventions which result in whole populations, not just a

section of society, benefiting from the projects financed by

IDB. This in itself is a strong enabler of cultural harmony

and rapprochement.

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