Wolfowitz speech will set new course for World Bank
WASHINGTON, Sept 24: In his first policy speech to member countries as World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz on Saturday will demand tangible results from bank programs to fight poverty in developing countries.
A preview of the speech, which will be delivered at the semi-annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, gave the first clear presentation of how Wolfowitz will lead the world’s main development agency.
Bank officials said Wolfowitz will lay out an agenda that focuses the priorities of the bank, which critics say has deviated too far from its main mission of reducing poverty.
The Bush administration appointee will promote anti-corruption measures, accountability, good governance, women’s empowerment, education, health, increased infrastructure and agriculture.
Whether investing in education, health, infrastructure, agriculture, the environment, we in the World Bank must be sure that we deliver results, Wolfowitz will say, according to bank officials.
And by results, let me be clear. I mean results that have a real impact in the day-to-day lives of the poor. We stand accountable to them, according to a section of Wolfowitz’s speech that was cited by bank officials.
By pushing results-driven programs, Wolfowitz will be responding to a long-standing US government objective that was a source of friction between former World Bank president James Wolfensohn and the Bush Treasury Department.
The Bush administration clashed with Wolfensohn over the bank’s lending practices. The administration wanted more evidence that projects were reducing poverty and not being wasted in ill-conceived programs or bureaucracy.
Mr Wolfowitz is saying that to succeed in creating opportunity for the poorest people, we must prioritize our efforts and focus on producing measurable results on the ground where it counts, said a senior World Bank official.
Wolfowitz also will reiterate that Africa is a priority for the World Bank, which he says is seeking to keep the global focus on a continent beset by poverty.
Soon after the former US Deputy Secretary of Defense took the reins of World Bank in June, Wolfowitz visited Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Rwanda and South Africa.
If we can help liberate the energies of the African people and unleash the potential of the private sector to create jobs, Africa will not only become a continent of hope but a continent of accomplishment, Wolfowitz will say.
Wolfowitz will call for political accountability.
Effective leaders also recognize that they are accountable to their people, he will say, according to the text. Effective leaders listen. Institutions of accountability like civil society and a free press help leaders listen, hold them accountable for results and are key to controlling corruption.
Since his appointment, Wolfowitz has said he favoued continuing what Wolfensohn started — sending more staff to countries that have World Bank programmeinstead of keeping them in Washington.
He will say that our efforts to develop capacity must include our own staff, particularly from developing countries. —Reuters
