The Inter-American Development Bank (www.iadb.org) was established in December 1959 to help accelerate economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean.  Today Bank membership totals 46 nations from the Western Hemisphere as well as Europe and Asia.  In its 38 years of operations, the Bank has become a major catalyst for mobilizing resources for the region.   Its mission is to finance the development of borrowing member countries, to supplement private investment where private capital is not available on reasonable terms and conditions, and to provide technical assistance for the preparation, financing and implementation of development plans and projects.    The Bank has mobilized financing for projects that represent a total investment of $240 billion.  Recently lending has grown rapidly and amounted to $10 billion in 1998.  The Bank’s operations cover the entire spectrum of economic and social development.  Current lending priorities include poverty reduction and social equity, modernization, and the environment.
 

Since the early 1990’s the Bank has significantly increased its lending to education which now averages nearly $400 million per year.  The Bank has supported all levels of education.  Initially lending focused on higher education.  In the 1990’s most lending went to primary education.  Support for secondary education and for training has recently increased.    The Bank’s support for educational technology includes a loan to Mexico for expansion and improvement of Mexico’s telesecundaria, as well as a loan to Barbados expanding the use of computers for schooling.  The Bank is also supporting a pilot project, the International Virtual Education Network (IVEN), designed to developed multi-media based modules for the teaching of science and mathematics in secondary schools in Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.  A description of the Bank’s education projects, as well as the full text of its education strategies and best practice studies, can be found at www.iadb.org/sds/edu.