22 U.S.C. § 262g–2 — Establishment of guidelines for international financial institutions

The Secretary of the Treasury shall consult with representatives of other member countries of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Development Association, the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Fund, and the African Development Bank (if the United States becomes a member of that Bank), for the purpose of establishing guidelines within each of those institutions which specify that, in a manner consistent with the purposes and charters of those institutions, a specified proportion of the annual lending by each institution shall be designed to benefit needy people, primarily by financing sound, efficient, productive, self-sustaining projects designed to benefit needy people in developing countries, thus helping poor people improve their conditions of life.

The Congress finds that projects to construct basic infrastructure, to expand productive capacity (including private enterprise), and to address social problems can all meet the objectives of this section if they are designed and implemented properly. For the purposes of this title, “needy people” means those people living in “absolute” or “relative” poverty as determined under the standards employed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association.