Activists Say Wolfowitz Scandal Exposes
Urgent Need for World Bank Reform
The president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz,
on the opening day of the Spring meetings
of the World Bank and International Monetary
Fund (IMF) found himself in the midst of
a personal scandal, following his admission
that he personally intervened in the awarding
of a pay rise and promotion to a bank official
with whom he is romantically involved.
Nessa Ní Chasaide, co-ordinator
of Debt and Development Coalition Ireland
commented from Washington, “The personal
scandal surrounding Wolfowitz highlights
the urgent need to address the deep lack
of integrity of the World Bank as a development
institution. We call on the Irish government
to demand the immediate resignation of Wolfowitz
and to seriously tackle the fundamental
inequalities and lack of democracy at the
World Bank”.
Since the establishment of the World Bank,
the president of the institution is always
a US citizen, effectively put in place by
the US government, the most powerful member
of the Bank. The governance of the Bank
is severely skewed towards rich countries
which dominate its influential decision-making
regarding aid and loan allocations and policy
advice to impoverished countries.
Ms Ní Chasaide added, ‘The
World Bank has wrecked havoc on the economies
of impoverished countries through attaching
damaging conditions to its loans and aid.
Impoverished countries have little opportunity
to challenge this situation due to the unequal
governance structure of the Bank. As a member
of the World Bank, the Irish government
should work to reverse this situation, to
create an institution that is driven by
the needs of poor countries rather than
one that shuts out their voices and dictates
policy conditions to them. The leader of
the World Bank must also be chosen through
an open and transparent selection process,
strictly based on the candidates capacity
to do the job’.
In an unprecedented move, in advance of
the Spring meetings, the chair of the World
Bank Staff Association, Alison Cave said
that Wolfowitz, ‘must acknowledge that
his conduct has compromised the integrity
and effectiveness of the World Bank Group
and has destroyed the staff's trust in his
leadership. He must act honourably and resign’.
More information:
The World Bank / IMF spring Meetings are
taking place in Washington from Sat 14th
– Sun 15th April 2007. For more information:
http://www.imf.org/external/spring/2007/
Statement By Paul Wolfowitz 12/4/07: http://web.worldbank.org
Frequent updates on the Wolfowitz scandal
are provided on the blog www.worldbankpresident.org.
Public statement to European heads of state
on the World Bank president nomination which
includes the signatures of 1660 indviduals
and organisations protesting the nomination
of Paul Wolfowitz to head the World Bank.
http://www.eurodad.org/whatsnew/articles.aspx?id=966
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