Despite their widespread criticism, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have brought benefits to the Global South. The end of World War II saw the world in great need of reconstruction. In July 1944, the Bretton Woods Conference was held for twenty-two days in the presence of 44 allied nations and with the aim of developing a plan to regulate the international monetary and financial order. At this conference the foundations were laid for the establishment of the World Bank (originally the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and the International Monetary Fund.World Bank GroupThe World Bank Group today is made up of five organizations closely linked to the mission to reduce poverty in the world; however, it began as a single institution with the mission of helping to rebuild Europe after the end of World War II. This original institution, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, made its first loan to France for $250 million in 1947 for post-war reconstruction. (The World Bank Group, 2013) In its early days (before 1968) the World Bank was not concerned with ending poverty, but was primarily concerned with rebuilding the old colonial infrastructure for its main clients, which were the banks of New York and London and Western Banks. suppliers of capital goods. The bank was and is led by American, run by Wall Street and headquartered in Washington; in the 1950s no one would have expected the bank to be involved in the fight against poverty, this would have been considered an irrational commitment. (Goldman, 2005, p. 31) However, decades of evolution have shifted banking attention towards the problems of disease, hunger and poverty in the 21st century. During this same period the Organization for European Economic Cooperation was administering Marshall Plan funds to Western Europe. States on a much larger scale. (Organization for European Cooperation and