World Bank chief urges for rich-poor equilibrium
CALL it rhetorical, term it evocative, the World Bank chief’s opening speech to the delegates of 184 countries at the Dubai 2003 Annual Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund was a reiteration of the organisation’s appeal for a ‘greater balance between the rich and the powerful.’
Spearheading an agency that has often been criticised for being too pro-Western, the World Bank President James D Wolfensohn was clearly in a mood to assert the organisation’s balanced outlook, with the thrust of his remarks being the ‘need for a new global equilibrium.’
Wolfensohn has indeed been pushing the cause from Day 1 in Dubai. In his customary pre-Annual Meeting media briefing too, Wolfensohn had repeatedly called on the ‘need for a new balance in the relationship between rich and poor nations.’
This becomes significant especially in the wake of the WTO Cancun impasse, where, “developing countries signalled that for there to be peace and sustainable development, there must be a different set of priorities. There must be greater co-operation,” observed Wolfensohn.
Emphasising that ‘action on trade is important,’ he said “it is inconsistent to preach the benefits of free trade and then maintain the highest subsidies and barriers for precisely those goods in which the poor countries have a comparative advantage.”
Urging leaders to renew their commitment to fight global poverty, which has always been a priority area for the World Bank, Wolfensohn said there is an “imbalance between what rich countries spend on development assistance — $56 billion a year — compared with the $300 billion they spend on agricultural subsidies and $600 billion for defence. The poor countries themselves spend $200 billion on defence, more than what they spend on education.”
Painting a grim picture of a ‘world out of balance,’ Wolfensohn called upon to ‘take a cold, hard look at the future.’
“Too few control too much and too many have too little to hope for. Too much turmoil, too many wars. Too much suffering,” he orated. Adding that he does not ‘speak like a dreamer or a philosopher,’ the bank chief said the “demographics of the future speak to a growing imbalance of people, resources and the environment. If we act together now, we can change the world for the better. If we do not, we shall leave greater and more intractable problems for our children.”
Re-asserting that the solutions he proposes are not exotic adjectives, he exhorted global leaders to “join in a common effort to make a better world,” where every one has a chance for a life that is secure, “with a right to expression; equal rights for women; rights for the disabled and disadvantaged; the right to a clean environment; the right to learn; and the right to development.”
Reproaching the developing nations for ‘not fast enough’ reforms, Wolfensohn said that “there is not enough bold and consistent action against corruption, particularly at the higher levels of influence.”
He knuckled developed nations for not ‘matching the promises made’ in their commitment made in Monterrey towards in increase in aid of $16 billion a year by 2006.
Wolfensohn said that despite committing to the Education For All (EFA) Fast Track initiative that requires several billion dollars of incremental grand funding, “only seven countries received a promise of funding, only for $200 million over three years, and reaching less than 5 per cent of the 115 million children who are not in school.”
He said while developing countries feel they have made significant efforts to fulfil their part of the global bargain, “they do not see enough delivery on the other side. They worry that only half of existing aid flows actually reach them in direct cash transfers for their programmes. And they worry that repayments of debt are crippling their capacity to grow.”
Wolfensohn said that aid is at the ‘lowest level ever,’ falling from 0.5 per cent of the GDP in the early 1960s to 0.22 per cent today. Against this background, the Bank works towards attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) “through better policies, more effective use of aid and higher aid levels.”
The World Bank chief stressed the need to realise that the rich and poor alike are “linked not only by trade and finance but by migration, environment, disease, drugs, crime, conflict and, yes, terrorism.”
He also made an emotional plea to learn about other countries and cultures and respect their values and aspirations. “We need to teach our children about the rest of the world.”
