Strong leadership in the developing world was a vital key to
success in reducing poverty around the globe, World Bank President
Paul Wolfowitz said.
In a speech marking the official opening of the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund annual meetings in Washington,
Wolfowitz also called for stronger coordination among the
development community, as well as donor nations, to help cut
poverty.
For his first address to the annual meetings, Wolfowitz drew on
the words of a former strong leader – Nelson Mandela – urging not
only the development community but all countries to help turn
Mandela's call to "make poverty history" into reality.
Wolfowitz told how he'd stood with 50,000 young people the night
before the July meeting of the G8 group of industrialized nations
in Gleneagles – a meeting which resulted in a pledge to double aid
to Africa and cancel the debt of the poorest countries.
"All eyes were riveted on the man who appeared on the giant
video screen -- the father of South Africa's freedom.? And the
crowd roared with approval when Nelson Mandela summoned us to a new
struggle - the calling of our time - to "make poverty history."
Wolfowitz said the call to end poverty reached across
generations, continents and nationalities, spanning religious,
gender and politics.
Urgent need for action
"Anyone who faced the facts would agree there was an urgent need
for action. Every day, thousands of people living in extreme
poverty, many of them children, die from preventable diseases," he
said.?
"The scale of death and deprivation in Africa is particularly
alarming.? Since 1981, the number of Africans living on less
than $1 a day has nearly doubled from 164 million to 314
million.
"But much can be done to help people escape from poverty, to
save lives and to create hope."
However Wolfowitz said while strong leadership was vital, it
alone was not enough to defeat poverty.
"Development is a team sport, so leadership is not a matter of
individual performance; it must stand on bedrock of trust, respect
and teamwork.? As Nelson Mandela told me, real leadership
requires understanding, that you're not acting as an individual,
that you represent the collective.??
Or, as he also put it plainly many years ago, "There's no limit
to what you can achieve as long as you don't give a damn that gets
the credit."
Accountability is vital
Wolfowitz said effective leaders also recognized they were
accountable to their people.
"Effective leaders listen. Institutions of accountability like
civil society organizations (CSOs) and a free press help leaders
listen, hold them accountable for results and are key to
controlling corruption.
"Corruption drains resources and discourages investments. It
benefits the privileged and deprives the poor. It threatens their
hope for a better quality of life and a more promising future.
"
Wolfowitz described civil society organizations as the "engine
of growth and instruments of opportunity" and said they contributed
to accountability by providing an important bridge between citizens
and their governments.
Empowering women
"And civil society organizations are important for empowering
women, a key factor in successful growth.? As one poor woman
told me in Pakistan, "Development is like a cart with two
wheels—one man and one woman. If one of the wheels doesn't move as
fast as the other, the cart will not go forward."
Wolfowitz said millions of women had benefited from vigorous
CSOs like the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee and the
Grameen Bank, which provide small loans to help them start
businesses.? The profits from these businesses are being used
to send children, especially daughters, to school.
He said sustained economic growth – essential for development
and reducing poverty – depended not only on leadership,
accountability, civil society and the rule of law but also on the
private sector, labor and capital.
Greater emphasis
And in line with that, Wolfowitz pledged a greater emphasis by
the Bank on health, education, energy, infrastructure and
agriculture.
?Wolfowitz described the private sector as an "important
engine of growth and job creation."
And he pledged the Bank would explore new ways to allow small
and medium businesses to access credit.
"One of the biggest obstacles to growth of small and medium
businesses is lack of credit.? The Bank has provided sound
policy advice to support micro-lending, but we must explore
innovative ways to expand access to financial services, including
both local and regional needs and approaches," he said.
Education funding
On education, Wolfowitz said the Bank through the Education for
All Fast Track Initiative, the Bank planned to join other donors to
double the enrollment of girls in 60 countries over the next five
years.?
"We have a plan.? Now we need the resources. We will need
to raise at least $2.5 billion per year to fulfill the dreams of
thousands of school children eager for a brighter future," he
said.
Wolfowitz also pledged to deliver results on the Bank's
commitment to increased spending on malaria.
He said when 3,000 African children died of malaria every day,
the Bank must act.
"In Africa, the World Bank will commit $600 million over the
next three years to a new "Booster Program" to control
malaria.? We have set clear targets for ourselves:? we
will make bed-nets available so that 60 percent of the population
will be covered; and within 24 hours of symptoms, 60 percent of the
population will have access to treatment."
Call for infrastructure
Since taking over the Bank presidency, Wolfowitz said one clear
persistent message he'd heard from people in developing countries
was the need to restore the Bank's role in infrastructure
investment.
He described infrastructure as the lifeline to many other things
- to health care, education, jobs and trade.
"We will not see an end to poverty when 90 percent of businesses
in Nigeria rely on backyard generators for power.? We will not
see incomes grow when poor Latin American farmers have no roads to
transport their produce to market.? And we will not see
improvements in health as long as more than 1 billion people lack
access to clean water.
"But in addressing these infrastructure challenges we need to
learn the right lessons from past mistakes.? Intelligent
management of a country's natural resources are essential to ensure
that short term gains are not made at the expense of long term
health of the poor and the environment, " he said.
Wolfowitz also pledged the Bank would investigate innovative use
of new technologies to promote energy and sustainable
development.
"We will strengthen our cooperation with middle income partners
like Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa who face an
increasing demand for energy.? The goal is to achieve a new,
more climate friendly development path, that meets the energy
demands of the developing world.
Helping middle income countries
Wolfowitz said the bank would not overlook the middle income
countries – home to more than one billion people living in extreme
poverty.
"We must not forget them.? To help the middle income
countries grow and prosper, we need to continue to tailor our
knowledge and financing to their specific needs.
And while signaling a greater focus on agriculture, the World
Bank leader also called for a successful outcome at the next Doha
Round of trade talks in Hong Kong to bring an end to agricultural
subsidies which "distorted prices and restricted market access for
poor farmers."
Potential in Africa
Wolfowitz said the hardest work for the World Bank Group and
other donors lay in Africa.
"With staggering needs in education, nutrition, clean water and
sanitation, healthcare and jobs, the challenges are daunting.
"Nonetheless, I am hopeful. As Nigeria's President Obasanjo said
to me in June, "Africa is a continent on the move".
"If we can 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."
But Wolfowitz said the international efforts to end poverty did
not lay solely with the developing world.
He said it was now clear Africans were stepping up to their
responsibilities and taking charge of their future.
"But the responsibility cannot be left to the developing world
alone. At Gleneagles, a partnership was forged between Africa and
the G-8 countries—a partnership designed to deliver results.?
Those partners pledged performance for assistance."
Wolfowitz said whether investing in education, health,
infrastructure, agriculture, the environment, the World Bank must
be sure to deliver results.
Team effort
"And we must remember we are but one player in this global
effort, which must be guided and defined at the country
level.? We must remember that we are part of a team.
"In Rwanda, I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Agnes Binaghwaho
who heads the National AIDS Council.? She told me with great
pride that if a man shows up at a clinic, he is sent to bring his
wife and children before he can receive care.
"Dr. Binaghwaho stands her ground on another equally important
point. She politely but firmly insisted that Rwanda's donors
support one integrated health plan - - - no more special interest
spending, she says."
Wolfowitz said by asking for better coordination in assistance
to improve results, Dr Binaghwaho and her small medical team wasted
less time with donors and spent more time saving lives.?
"Expanding country coordination will demand greater
participation from Bank staff in the field.? We must continue
efforts to decentralize our team; moving more of the right people
to the field will better serve our partners' development needs.
"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 for these results," Wolfowitz said.
(China.org.cn September 27, 2005)