10 September 2007

GPPi publishes article on reform of the World Bank

GPPi Associate Director Thorsten Benner outlines the perspectives for World Bank reform in an article published in the fall edition of Internationale Politik – Global Edition. Benner argues that at the onset of the Zoellick presidency the world’s premier development organization finds itself in a crisis that goes deeper than the controversy over its failed chief, Paul Wolfowitz. 

Benner writes that both the member states and the new president urgently need to demonstrate leadership for its own long overdue modernization. This includes the modernization of the Bank’s credit business, the strengthening of the programs for the poorest countries, and a concerted expansion of the World Bank’s role in the provision of global public goods. Reform should also include the Bank’s internal governance. The Bank should start to practice what it preaches by instituting a new, transparent selection process for the president, an enhanced role for independent evaluations of its work, and a gradual adjustment of the voting rights for the Boards of Governors and Executive Directors to give developing countries a greater stake and voice.

Benner also argues that there should be a coherent EU position on the Bank’s future and a united effort in support of this vision in Washington. Given the increasingly important roles played by private donors like the Gates Foundation, countries with highly dubious motives such as Venezuela and Iran and rising powers like China and India, it is in the European Union’s own best interest to promote the independent, public, and multilateral development organization that is the World Bank.  

Please click here for the full article (in English).

Please click here for the German version.  

For further questions please contact Thorsten Benner.

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