The World Bank is warning that the global economy has "deteriorated dramatically" in recent months, especially in the developing world which it says is facing a "human and development calamity."
In a communique released after meetings on the weekend, the World Bank's development committee said the recession has forced 53 million people into extreme poverty, particularly women and children.
"We must alleviate its impact on developing countries and facilitate their contribution to global recovery," the statement said.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick called on nations to accelerate efforts to protect the world's most vulnerable.
"There is a widespread recognition that the world faces an unprecedented economic crisis, poor people could suffer the most and that we must continue to act in real time to prevent a human catastrophe," Zoellick said.
The statement came at the conclusion of the meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which included finance ministers from the G20.
In the communique, the group called on member countries to achieve their funding commitments and to pledge more to help solve the economic crisis.
"We welcomed the additional contributions that have been made and urged governments to consider further support," the statement said.
The bank is increasing its lending to $100 billion over three years and will tackle social protection, public works and agriculture issues.
The communique outlined the following measures by the World Bank, saying they represented a "timely response" that also met the group's longterm goals.
- The Vulnerability Financing Facility which includes food crisis response, rapid social response and micro-financing projects.
- The expansion of the Global Trade Finance Program from $1 to $3 billion and the launch of a program expected to support $50 billion in trade in three years.
- The Infrastructure Recovery and Assets Platform that will lend up to $15 billion a year for infrastructure.
- The Capitalization Fund which will provide funding for banks in developing countries.
The general consensus at the meetings was that the world economy is stabilizing but it will take until the middle of next year before the recession is left behind.
Efforts such as stimulus packages and bank recapitalization appear to be working, said Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali, chair of the IMF' International Monetary and Financial Committee.
"Carefully, cautiously, we can say that there is a break in the clouds," Boutros-Ghali said.
He added that some financial markets are showing improvement, "but there are still downside risks."
