One year ago, at the time of the Annual Meetings in Marrakech, WBG President Ajay Banga said “I don’t subscribe easily to buzzwords about how to do things”. This was in response to CSO concerns about the use of the ‘cascade approach’ to development – a phrase coined by the WBG seven years ago. In plainer English it means the WBG seeks to leverage private finance in support of development and climate projects. Today, ahead of the 2024 Annual Meetings, which mark the 80th anniversary of the institution, the World Bank Group says it aims “to create a future-ready World Bank Group.” This sounds like yet another buzzword to us.
María José Romero
Policy and Advocacy Manager - Development Finance
- +32 2 894 46 47
- mromero[at]eurodad.org
- @ma_jose_romero
María José is Policy and Advocacy Manager for Eurodad's work on development finance. Her role involves research and analysis, advocacy and monitoring policy developments. She joined Eurodad in 2012 and before that she worked at the secretariat of the Latin American Network on Debt, Development and Rights (LATINDADD), based in Peru, on tax justice and development finance. She also worked at Eurodad as a maternity leave replacement on tax justice. While in Uruguay, her home country, she was for five years Coordinator of the IFIs Latin American Monitor project at the Third World Institute (ITeM), where her main roles were networking and policy monitoring at a regional and global level on IFI-related issues and development finance. María José has a bachelor and a master degree in political science from the University of the Republic of Uruguay. She is currently a PhD candidate in International Development at SOAS University of London, with a research project on the World Bank Group's role in promoting private finance in health and education. Her mother tongue is Spanish and she speaks fluent English.