This week, global financial leaders are gathering in Washington DC in the United States for the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). At the heart of the gathering are meetings of the IMF's International Monetary and Financial Committee and the joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee, which discusses progress on the work of the IMF and World Bank. The event is a special kind because it provides the ideal forum for thousands of government officials, the private sector, journalists, civil society representatives and other interested observers from all over the world to discuss current developments and the global economic future.