Against the backdrop of a global economic crisis, the IMFC has underscored the Fund’s central role in responding to its membership’s needs and restoring prosperity and financial stability. The Fund has acted with alacrity—by overhauling its lending framework; mobilizing strong support and firm pledges toward a tripling of its resources; and continuing to strengthen the quality of its surveillance. The work program is heavy, reflecting the responsibilities assigned to the Fund by the international community and the needs of our membership.

The global economy is going through a period of unprecedented financial instability. The Fund has been asked by the IMFC to play a leading role in helping the membership both to deal with the immediate crisis and work towards a new strengthened global architecture. These tasks are well within our mandate. Addressing these challenges—and doing so within a compressed timeframe—will require strict prioritization on three key areas: (i) providing policy advice and timely financial support that meets members’ needs; (ii) understanding what went wrong; (iii) and assembling the building blocks of a new international financial architecture.

This interim work program statement reflects the imperative of accelerating the process of reform that has been underway in the Fund for some time.

The framework guiding the IMF’s communications—established by the Executive Board in 2007—has enabled the institution to respond flexibly to the changing global context. The framework is based on four guiding principles: (i) deepening understanding and support for the Fund’s role and policies; (ii) better integrating communications into the IMF’s daily operations; (iii) raising the impact of new communications materials and technologies; and (iv) rebalancing outreach efforts to take account of different audiences. In addition, greater emphasis has been placed on strengthening internal communications to help ensure institutional coherence in the Fund’s outreach activities. Continued efforts are needed to strengthen communications going forward. Several issues deserve particular attention. First, taking further steps to ensure clarity and consistency in communication in a world where demand for Fund services continues to rise. Second, doing more to assess the impact of IMF communications and thus better inform efforts going forward. Third, engaging strategically and prudently with new media—including social media.

The age of international philanthropy is upon us. Today, many of America's most prominent foundations support institutions or programs abroad, but few have been active on the global stage for as long as Carnegie Corporation of New York. A World of Giving provides a thorough, objective examination of the international activities of Carnegie Corporation, one of America's oldest and most respected philanthropic institutions, which was created by steel baron Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support the “advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding.” The book explains in detail the grantmaking process aimed at promoting understanding across cultures and research in many nations across the world. A World of Giving highlights the vital importance of Carnegie Corporation's mission in guiding its work, and the role of foundation presidents as thought and action leaders. The presidents, trustees, and later on, staff members, are the human element that drives philanthropy and they are the lens through which to view the inner workings of philanthropic institutions, with all of their accompanying strengths and limitations, especially when embarking on international activities. It also does not shy away from controversy, including early missteps in Canada, race and poverty issues in the 1930s and 1980s related to South Africa, promotion of area studies affected by the McCarthy Era, the critique of technical assistance in developing countries, the century-long failure to achieve international understanding on the part of Americans, and recent critiques by Australian historians of the Corporation's nation-transforming work there. This is a comprehensive review of one foundation's work on the international stage as well as a model for how philanthropy can be practiced in a deeply interconnected world where conflicts abound, but progress can be spurred by thoughtful, forward-looking institutions following humanistic principles.