Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1968 - 1992 (Creation)
Level of description
Series
Extent and medium
46.33 linear feet of textual records
Context area
Name of creator
Repository
Archival history
Most of the records were transferred directly from the Office of the Director (PHRDR) to the Archives in accordance with approved records retention and disposition schedules. Other records were maintained in the Non-Regional Information Center (NRIC) that centrally managed records created by sector departments including PHN and predecessors until NRIC's closure in 1987; these centralized files were accessioned into the Archives holdings in 1994. The records of Dr. Anthony Measham were transferred to the Archives separately in 1992.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Series consists of records created and maintained by the front office of the Population, Health and Nutrition Division (PHRHN) and predecessor units that date from 1968 to 1992, including the Population Projects Department (PNP) in existence from 1969 to 1972. The records document the activities of the office in overseeing the population, health, nutrition portfolio and strategy, directing the research and policy work of the department, and managing the Bank's relationship with external partners in the sector. Records cover the tenure of the following directors: Dr. Kandiah Kanagaratnam (1969 - 1979); Dr. John R. Evans (1979 - 1983); John D. North (1983 - 1987); and Ann O. Hamilton (1987 - 1993).
The series is primarily comprised of subject files. Types of records within the files include, but are not limited to: internal memoranda between the department, divisions, Bank president, and other Bank departments; incoming and outgoing letters; back-to-office reports; terms of reference; draft and final research study and concept papers; Board and committee meeting records; panel reports; demographic and country briefs; minutes or summaries of meetings; research proposals; copies of journal articles; and external reports.
A large volume of records relate to the department's relationship and collaboration with international organizations, universities and research institutes, national aid agencies, private foundations, and Nongovernment Organizations (NGOs) during the years 1968 - 1983. Organizations include, but are not limited to: American Public Health Association (APHA); United Nations (UN); United Nations Children?s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and committees; World Health Organization (WHO); Population Reference Bureau; Population Service International; European Economic Community and European Parliament; World Population Society; Harvard University; Ford Foundation; Asian Development Bank; Smithsonian Institute; Rockefeller Foundation; Population Council; and United States Congress. Liaison correspondence details operations between the sector and partners, summaries of meetings, participation in Bank missions, coordination of aid and perspective investments in countries, comments on papers, and exchange of information on various health topics. A smaller volume of records relate to the sector's involvement in collaborative disease-prevention programs (1973 - 1983) such as the Onchocerciasis Control Program (OCP, or river blindness) that was administered within the Africa Regional Vice Presidency.
Other records relate to: the work of the external panels and review groups and the Bank's follow-up, such as the 1975 Board-appointed External Advisory Panel on population chaired by Dr. Bernard Berelson; formulation of the 1973 nutrition policy and 1974 health policy; conferences, seminars, lectures, and trainings organized or attended by the Director and staff; population and health lending program; project supervision and disbursement; research and policy papers prepared by the department, such as contraceptive research and development and Kenya health and worker productivity studies; World Development Report (WDR); and specific health topics including public health, environmental health, and HIV/AIDS. The correspondence regarding HIV/AIDS dates from 1986 to 1988, prior to the time when the Bank formed the HIV/AIDS Global Program Unit under the Human Development Network, in 2002. The series also contains two files relating to education and educational projects (1970 - 1980).
Records maintained by Ann O. Hamilton, director, Population and Human Resources Department (PHRDR) who served from 1987 to 1992 include correspondence with the Bank president (1987 - 1992) as well as correspondence and other records related to: the Bellagio Conference of the Task Force on Child Survival (1987 - 1988); FY 1989 and 1990 annual sector review; work program FY 1991; and HIV/AIDS (1988).
Series also contains records maintained by Dr. Anthony R. Measham from 1981 to 1987 while he served as public health specialist, PHND3 (1982 - 1984) followed by health adviser in the director's office (April 1984 to May 1988) prior to becoming division chief, PHRHN 1988 - 1992. Measham's records primarily relate to his economic research and involvement in external partnerships in the health sector as well as participation in conferences, seminars, and workshops. Records include: internal memoranda; letters; cables; reports and studies authored by Meashamand others; briefing notes; conference press kit as well as draft conference program, workshop proposal, and participants list; and minutes of meetings of the Task Force for Child Survival on which Measham served as the Bank representative. Memoranda is mainly between Measham and PHN divisions, and correspondence is with colleagues external to the Bank such as task force representatives, some letters detailing the Bank's support and views. Specific topics covered in the files include Tobacco Working Group,maternal mortality, WHO programs and strategy, health sector survey, and the first Safe Motherhood conference in February 1987. Measham and Division Chief Barbara Herz, Women in Development (PHRWD), participated in coordinating Safe Motherhood conference donors, participants, and prepared papers to be presented at the conference. The conference was followed by Measham and Herz's World Bank Discussion Paper publication The Safe Motherhood Initiative: Proposals for Action no. WDP 9, published in May 1987. There are also records related to Measham's recruitment and management of staff and consultants. The health sector survey file contains material in Chinese such as surveys and research data regarding hospital costs.
Also included in the series are several correspondence files (1974 - 1986) authored by department senior management and advisers that were originally sent to the Non-Regional Information Center (NRIC) and arranged under the Bank-wide classification. Files are titled 'health', 'population', 'nutrition', 'external advisory panel', and 'general' and include mostly memoranda and letters that cover the various sector activities such as policy work, research, review of projects, and partnerships. Much of the correspondence is between director and division chiefs, and Operations Vice Presidency (VPOPS) and some is with external agencies, mostly within the United Nations family. Reports, discussion papers, and guidelines are occasionally filed with the correspondence.
A small volume of records in the series relate to the management of the division, work plan, 1975 relocation of the nutrition division, management team meeting minutes (1987 - 1990), and involvement in the Board of Governors Annual Meetings.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
Accruals are expected.
System of arrangement
Files are arranged by subject under the general headings of organization or institution, country, region, issue, or theme.
Certain "series" of records originally maintained in the semi-centralized Non-Regional Information Center (NRIC) that relate to a specific function or unit, in this case the Population, Health, and Nutrition Sector "general: files, were arranged in this functional department series when there was a clear distinction.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Records are subject to the World Bank Access to Information Policy.
Conditions governing reproduction
Records are subject to the Copyright Policy of the World Bank Group.
Language of material
- English
- Chinese
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Internal World Bank Group Archives rules
Disclosure status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
15 July 2020